Whether one likes it or not, but “The Kerala Story” has brought forward the menace of illegal conversions in Kerala the way it should have been. The issue of “Love Jihad” is now once again the talk of the town, and many term it as an “RSS conspiracy”. However, what if I tell you that term was actually mainstreamed by Kerala Christians, way before one could even think about it?
Read about the Kerala Christian connection behind the term “Love Jihad”, and why this menace is not just limited to one state or community alone.
The summer of 2009
2009: This was the time when Congress had surprised everyone by storming back into power, and “Ganga Jamuni Tehzeeb” was at an all-time high. It was an article in the much talked about “Open Magazine” that invoked a certain degree of interest in many political observers.
That Love Jihad article was about the Kerala church council publication of ‘Love Religious Terrorism; Parents Beware’ in their Oct’2009 edition of the community newsletter.
Also read: Dear mothers and fathers, watch “The Kerala Story” with your daughters immediately
That piece warned the Catholic parents to observe their daughters as they are being wooed by young MusIim men, who are a squad of “Love jihad” or “Romeo jihad”, with the intention to convert them to lsIam. The council estimated around 2500 victim girls of this squad, and this was way back in 2009. Lest we forget, not many Christian org would be speaking this openly, but it’s deniable that Christian girls have been equally victims of these gangs. Mind it, out of the four ISIS girls whose picture and case study are widely known, three are/were Christian.
Do you know how the term 'love jihad' came to the fore?
Its not a Hindu org (as widely perceived) but a Catholic Church Council raised concern in Oct'2009 about the huge number of Christian girls falling into the trap.
This is an article by Open Magazine Oct'2009 about same.
1/ pic.twitter.com/9t1T0FsBQB— The Hawk Eye (@thehawkeyex) May 8, 2023
This is serious!
This article came at a time, when the term “Love Jihad” wasn’t even mainstream. While VHP was already working on this issue, trying to make the masses alert about the menace, it wasn’t until 2009 when the Keralite Christians, most of whom had negligible support from either the state or the clergy, had launched investigations on their own.
Also read: Tharoor and his ilk must be congratulated for promoting The Kerala Story without a fee
Interestingly, in 2009, a local magazine, The Kerala Kaumudi magazine, dated 5-Oct-2009 talked about “Romeo Jihad” and stated that the “Intel bureau had warned about it eight months ago”.
Interestingly, the then bench of Kerala High Court had some interesting observations. In December 2009, during a bail plea of two accused Shahan Sha and Shirajudhin who allegedly trapped a Christian and a Hindu girl, even Kerala HC took serious note observing this term in court and asked govt to frame specific laws.
Is there no way out?
However, despite the then CM, VS Achuthanandan maintaining on record that this is not something to ignore, nothing was done about it. Worse, Oommen Chandy, the Congress CM who stormed to power in 2011, did just lip service. Consequently, by the time ISIS emerged as a dreaded terror force in the middle east, things had already turned worse for the state of Kerala.
Also read: Kerala’s future in doldrums – Time to wake up for Vijayan government
As such, the only way out is to accept the reality, and not attempt to mock it by terming it as “propaganda”, “anti secular”, “defamatory” and what not. Even if we assume that “The Kerala Story” is completely fictional, the conversions that actually happened weren’t, and it is not just the problem of the Keralite Hindus.
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