Kerala has become a communist hotbed ever since Pinarayi Vijayan assumed power. Kerala who continues to switch between Congress and the Left, has seen itself being plunged into minority appeasement of unprecedented levels as both the Left and Congress jostle for the 26% Muslim vote.
Despite being aware of the political repercussions, Christian bodies are acknowledging the ‘love jihad’ phenomenon as after an influential Christian sect in Kerala raised its voice against “love jihad” incidents in the state, a high-power decision-making body of the Catholics has said that “secular political parties” should accept that it exists. Christians make up 19% of Kerala’s population.
Kerala Catholics Bishop Council deputy general secretary Varghese Vallikkat has stood up against the phenomenon and said that: “love jihad” should be addressed at a broader level and “secular political parties should at least accept” that it existed in Kerala.
“A small group of people in the state is continuously getting radicalised and it has its links to international and global Islam. It varies in names, but people and the leadership of these groups are almost the same,” said Vallikkat. Secular parties in Kerala were not interested in discussing “love jihad’, he said.
A series of killings had taken place but no mainstream party had addressed the issue, he added. “Love jihad” was not about a girl getting married to a boy from another religion. “In these cases, we don’t see them living happily after the marriage,” said Vallikkat, adding that love was being used as a weapon.
This statement by Vallikkat comes close to the heels of a Syro-Malabar Media Commission report which claimed that Christian girls are targeted and killed in the name of ‘love Jihad’ in Kerala. “It is a matter of concern that ‘love Jihad’ is increasing in Kerala causing danger to the secular harmony and societal peace in Kerala,” the report claimed. According to multiple reports, the Synod claimed that there was a ‘love jihad’ focussed on Christian girls, stating that over half of the 21 women who joined Islamic State hailed from the Christian community.
“Many are even scared to use the term ‘love jihad’ but the synod has now come out and said the exact words. There are reports of Christian girls getting converted and taken abroad. They are not living an ideal pious life either. They are made to live with more than one person and some are even pushed into becoming sex slaves,” said the Syro-Malabar Media Commission secretary FR Antony Thalachelloor, as reported by TOI.
The Church has been raising its concerns over love jihad as in September last year, Thalachelloor had claimed that: “It is a cause of great worry that Christian girls are the most targeted lot. The CBI, the NIA and the IB have all reported that such cases are occurring in the state and the country. It is saddening and worrying that despite the existence of a mechanism to counter efforts by religious terrorist groups to entrap gullible girls, these are not being tackled efficiently”.
It is deplorable that the so-called secular parties like the Indian National Congress and all the Left parties that run in Kerala are turning a blind eye to the issue as minority votes are key.