Mumbai: Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said Friday that the state was looking at “love jihad” laws prevalent in different states, and would accordingly decide on having one.
Fadnavis’ statement came after a meeting with Vikas Walkar whose daughter Shraddha was murdered in May by her live-in boyfriend Aaftab Poonawalla. He then chopped her body into 35 pieces and scattered the parts across east Delhi.
Fadnavis told reporters: “We haven’t thought about yet but are looking at laws in other states with respect to ‘love jihad’. Accordingly, we will decide and formulate one,” Fadnavis said.
‘Love jihad’ is a term some use to describe interfaith relationships or marriages involving a Hindu girl – allegedly with the aim to converting her.
On Friday, Shraddha Walkar’s father said: “There should be a proper mechanism and counselling for young kids who join certain apps and land into such relationships. There should be an awareness about one’s religion and faith.”
Several BJP-ruled states, including Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, have introduced or proposed laws to tackle what party leaders call “love jihad.”
After Shraddha’s murder was detected, many right wing organisations and BJP leaders have demanded a country-wide law that thwart relationships which are aimed at religious conversion.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, in an interview to NDTV, said that “love jihad was a reality” and that the country needed a “strict law” against it.
Earlier this week, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said the state would have a fresh law against “love jihad” if need be.
He said the state would not allow anyone to “delude its daughters and chop them into 35 pieces”.
The Vishva Hindu Parishad has demanded a central law to stop “love jihad” in India. The outfit has said Shraddha’s murder was a “clear cut case of love jihad”.
The right-wing outfit has will run a “Dharam Raksha (save religion)” campaign from 21 December to 31 December. The women’s wing of the VHP, the Durga Vahini, will also undertake programs to make girls “aware” of love jihad.
Also read: India’s first ‘love jihad’ conviction—a volatile mix of POCSO, kidnapping, abuse, conversion