A clubhouse chatroom named “Christian Youths, This Way” has been in the news for the last few days. A section of Christians on the platform indulged in a discussion over the menace of ‘Love Jihad’ which has spread its tentacles in the states down South after encircling the Hindi heartland states. According to a report by the New Indian Express, in the chatroom, some of the speakers had raised the delicate issue and allegedly made some communal remarks against the minority community which appears to have irked some of the Muslim leaders.
“Some of the utterances in the session were not merely anti-Muslim, but also anti-human. It was indeed shocking to hear such comments in the public space,” Sunni scholar Basheer Faizy Desamangalam was quoted as saying by the publication.
“Speakers referred to incidents such as chopping the hands of Professor T J Joseph, which was condemned by all Muslim organisations. They were harping on ‘Love Jihad’, a charge that has been dismissed by all investigating agencies and the courts,” he further added.
However, Father Noble Thomas Parakkal, who was also one of the participants in the discussion, said the issue was ‘Love Jihad’ which cannot be fully written off as baseless though all interfaith marriages cannot be put under the category.
The Christian Priest also added that there is a feeling that the entire Muslim community supported the Popular Front of India (PFI) in the Hadiya Love Jihad case. Panakkad Sadiq Ali Thangal’s newspaper article hailed the conversion of Hagia Sofia into a mosque, which was also provocative, Father Noble said.
Reported previously by TFI, PC George an independent MLA from Kerala had recently remarked that ‘Love Jihad’ is real and India must be declared a ‘Hindu Rashtra’ as ‘Muslims plan to make India an Islamic country.
“How far will this go? SC has said there is no love jihad. I know love jihad is real, I will say there is ‘love jihad. When I’m saying where we are headed, don’t misunderstand. There is only one solution to put an end to this. Respected Bharath must be declared a Hindu Rashtra,”
Kerala MLA PC George says 'love jihad' is real and India must be declared a Hindu Rashtra. CPI-M leader Sebastian Paul slams George for his controversial remarks, says nobody takes him seriously@kitaab31 @OommenRicks pic.twitter.com/X1OqlTR0xJ
— India Ahead News (@IndiaAheadNews) April 12, 2021
PC George is not the first Christian leader in Kerala to sound the bugle on the rising ‘love jihad’ cases where not only Hindu women but Christian women are being forcefully converted to Islam. As reported by TFI, Kerala’s biggest Church, the Syro-Malabar Church had raised the alarms last year by claiming that Christian girls were being targeted and killed in the name of Love Jihad.
“It is a matter of concern that ‘love Jihad’ is increasing in Kerala causing danger to the secular harmony and societal peace in Kerala,” a Syro-Malabar Media Commission report had claimed. According to multiple reports, the Synod claimed that there was a ‘love jihad’ focused on Christian girls, stating that over half of the 21 women who joined the Islamic State hailed from the Christian community.
In November last year, to counter the growing threat of love jihad, the Syro Malabar Church of Kerala announced that it will issue guidelines to all bishops, strictly instructing them to ensure that all interfaith marriages involving Christian women and men are solemnised while strictly adhering to ‘Canon Laws’, failing which they might even be declared null and void.
More recently it was Metro man and BJP leader E Sreedharan who startled the liberal media of the country from its deep slumbers by pointing out that the threat of love jihad was indeed a reality. “Love jihad, yes, I see what’s happened in Kerala. How Hindus are being tricked in a marriage and how they suffer…not only Hindus, Muslims, the Christian girls are being tricked in a marriage. Now that sort of a thing I certainly will oppose,” Sreedharan had said.
The youth of the South is waking up to the threat of Love Jihad. Scholars like Basheer are trying to muzzle their voices by playing the victim card. However, unless and until the minority community and its influential leaders do not sit together and reflect upon the actions of its few radical elements, such conversations and chatrooms will not stop.