Nobody is using the politically loaded term ‘love jihad’ yet, but the anxieties that a handful of conversions has unleashed has ripped through the fragile peace they have established in the Kashmir conflict for decades.
A plaque embossed in the wall of a gurdwara where 17 of 35 Kashmiri Sikh men were lined up and shot dead is now gone. All that remains are bullet holes.
This is the game every nation is now learning to play. Some are finding new allies or seeing value among nations where they’d seen marginal interest. The starkest example is India & Europe.
Iam replying to the second comment by the way: I think you severely lack braincells my good brother. Guru Nanak Ji took sayings from persecuted saints and it was Guru Angad who compiled the Aad Granth for the first time, the saints at the time – including the so called ‘muslim’ ones were not muslim by any accord and were put to death and severely persecuted by fellow muslims as kaffirs or violaters of the faith. Please refrain from such bogus statements, Sikhi has scriptures from multiple walks of life due to the overarching concept of oneness and equity, that God does not belong to no one and espically not to those with egos such as yours, how do you read about the plight of the sikhs and turn it into something like this? Well, many have tried to kill us over the years, be it muslims, hindus, christians, athiests, you name it — but still the blood of our martyrs keeps the tree of sikhi alive, you can never trample the truth, it will continue to grow and grow. Rab rakha.
It’s pointless to expect objective reportage from The Print. It’s a part of the Left-liberal family and will do nothing that goes against the rules of the family. Criticising Islam is a strict no-no. The religion of Islam, it’s prophet – Muhammad, it’s holy book – Quran and it’s followers – Muslims, are beyond the pale of criticism.
Unfortunately, all Indic faiths (such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, etc.) are fair targets for such criticism.
the truth is sikh founder guru nanak was a disciple of Baba Fareed. Guru nanak learnt Islam and compared it with his religion and then he came up with a new so called religion of sikh or sikhism taking some practices from Islam and some from his parental religion… that blend !!
This is in response to the comment posted by Mr. Akhil.
Islam and Hinduism simply cannot be compared. It would take Islam eons to produce philosophies of the calibre of Vedanta.
Even so far as social justice is concerned, Islamic society lags far behind every other religion.
Secularism, as a way of life, is alien to Islam. And it simply cannot dissociate the temporal from the religious.
Hope you know that Islam allows for four wives and oral triple talaq for dissolution of marriage. As far as marital rape is concerned, nobody even talks about it in Islamic societies – as if it does not exist or is something alien.
Regarding freedom of an individual to choose a religion or the option to believe (or not believe) in God, the less said the better. The whole world knows how much individual freedom is granted by Islam to it’s adherents.
Your attempt at drawing an equivalence between Hinduism and Islam is laughable indeed.
Mr. Dilip , I never Said Islam is better than Hinduism when it comes to freedom of individual. But all my points are still valid. Both religions need to value the individuals freedom over the collective identity. Human dignity and respect for human rights will come only with giving due respect to individual freedom. And it is sad to see Hindutva reverse the gains made by Hinduism. The prevalence of cancel culture, unswritten blashpemy laws that target comedians, artists etc, cow vigilantism which is also one form of blasphemy law where everyone should adhere to what Hindutva thinks about cows no matter how illogical it is. Any opposition is punishable by death through mob lynching. Governments stance on Marital rape mirrors the stance of those who consider women as a property of their Husband rather than an Individual human being with autonomy which is what many Islamists also argue for.
Shameful. And pathetic.
Islam just cannot co-exist in peace and brotherhood with people of other faiths. No matter what, it just has to get into confrontations.
Those who are defending such conversions, will they be just as accepting of conversions from Islam to Sikhism or Hinduism? Will Islamic society be able to accept such conversions by their daughters for the sake of love?
At least Hinduism and Sikhism provide women with the freedom to make a choice. Can the same be said for Islam?
Yes, most of those accepting conversions will accept other conversions too. We are a secular country. That is one of our greatest strengths as a nation.
Why do people feel like they own their children? It’s pretty obvious when you live in Kashmir, your children will marry Kashmiris. Be happy they find someone good to marry and let go everything else.
@Sandeepan Sharma
Thanks for your reply to the comment.
I hope you know the punishment prescribed in Islam for renouncing the faith and accepting some other faith.
Indeed, we are a secular country. Unfortunately, not every religion has bothered to uphold the ideals of secularism. Secularism has been more of a burden placed on the shoulders of the Indic faiths which have been inherently tolerant, accepting and secular across centuries.
Even Christianity operates in a secular spirit. But Islam has steadfastly refused to accept the ideal of secularism. It is obvious to anyone who cares to observe the society around him.
Of the Abrahamic faiths, it is Islam alone which refuses to introspect and improvise. The Renaissance led to massive changes in the Judeo-Christian view of the world and rationality and scientific temper became an integral part of European society.
So far, Islam has obstinately refused to adapt or assimilate with other cultures, religions and philosophies.
The result is that the world is increasingly categorising Islam as a threat to the advancement of humanity.
Hinduism and Islam both need the same renaissance. People still consider women as their property in India. Marital rape criminalization is being opposed by the Govt itself. Individual freedom of a human is suppressed and he/she has to oblige by illogical societal norms just for the sake of continuing tradition. Most people have to live in a fear of offending society.
What Ms. Sagarika Kissu cleverly hides is the fact that a Sikh or a Hindu girl has the agency to get into a relationship with a Muslim boy. This eventually leads to conversion to Islam as this is set as a precondition to marriage by the Muslim boy’s family. Without conversion, they will never agree to the marriage.
Can the same be said about Muslim girls? Does their society provide them the freedom to convert for the sake of ‘love’? Are they allowed to renounce Islam and accept Sikhism or Hinduism?
Of course, The Print and it’s reporters will not address such questions.
Iam replying to the second comment by the way: I think you severely lack braincells my good brother. Guru Nanak Ji took sayings from persecuted saints and it was Guru Angad who compiled the Aad Granth for the first time, the saints at the time – including the so called ‘muslim’ ones were not muslim by any accord and were put to death and severely persecuted by fellow muslims as kaffirs or violaters of the faith. Please refrain from such bogus statements, Sikhi has scriptures from multiple walks of life due to the overarching concept of oneness and equity, that God does not belong to no one and espically not to those with egos such as yours, how do you read about the plight of the sikhs and turn it into something like this? Well, many have tried to kill us over the years, be it muslims, hindus, christians, athiests, you name it — but still the blood of our martyrs keeps the tree of sikhi alive, you can never trample the truth, it will continue to grow and grow. Rab rakha.
It’s pointless to expect objective reportage from The Print. It’s a part of the Left-liberal family and will do nothing that goes against the rules of the family. Criticising Islam is a strict no-no. The religion of Islam, it’s prophet – Muhammad, it’s holy book – Quran and it’s followers – Muslims, are beyond the pale of criticism.
Unfortunately, all Indic faiths (such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, etc.) are fair targets for such criticism.
the truth is sikh founder guru nanak was a disciple of Baba Fareed. Guru nanak learnt Islam and compared it with his religion and then he came up with a new so called religion of sikh or sikhism taking some practices from Islam and some from his parental religion… that blend !!
This is in response to the comment posted by Mr. Akhil.
Islam and Hinduism simply cannot be compared. It would take Islam eons to produce philosophies of the calibre of Vedanta.
Even so far as social justice is concerned, Islamic society lags far behind every other religion.
Secularism, as a way of life, is alien to Islam. And it simply cannot dissociate the temporal from the religious.
Hope you know that Islam allows for four wives and oral triple talaq for dissolution of marriage. As far as marital rape is concerned, nobody even talks about it in Islamic societies – as if it does not exist or is something alien.
Regarding freedom of an individual to choose a religion or the option to believe (or not believe) in God, the less said the better. The whole world knows how much individual freedom is granted by Islam to it’s adherents.
Your attempt at drawing an equivalence between Hinduism and Islam is laughable indeed.
Mr. Dilip , I never Said Islam is better than Hinduism when it comes to freedom of individual. But all my points are still valid. Both religions need to value the individuals freedom over the collective identity. Human dignity and respect for human rights will come only with giving due respect to individual freedom. And it is sad to see Hindutva reverse the gains made by Hinduism. The prevalence of cancel culture, unswritten blashpemy laws that target comedians, artists etc, cow vigilantism which is also one form of blasphemy law where everyone should adhere to what Hindutva thinks about cows no matter how illogical it is. Any opposition is punishable by death through mob lynching. Governments stance on Marital rape mirrors the stance of those who consider women as a property of their Husband rather than an Individual human being with autonomy which is what many Islamists also argue for.
Shameful. And pathetic.
Islam just cannot co-exist in peace and brotherhood with people of other faiths. No matter what, it just has to get into confrontations.
Those who are defending such conversions, will they be just as accepting of conversions from Islam to Sikhism or Hinduism? Will Islamic society be able to accept such conversions by their daughters for the sake of love?
At least Hinduism and Sikhism provide women with the freedom to make a choice. Can the same be said for Islam?
Yes, most of those accepting conversions will accept other conversions too. We are a secular country. That is one of our greatest strengths as a nation.
Why do people feel like they own their children? It’s pretty obvious when you live in Kashmir, your children will marry Kashmiris. Be happy they find someone good to marry and let go everything else.
@Sandeepan Sharma
Thanks for your reply to the comment.
I hope you know the punishment prescribed in Islam for renouncing the faith and accepting some other faith.
Indeed, we are a secular country. Unfortunately, not every religion has bothered to uphold the ideals of secularism. Secularism has been more of a burden placed on the shoulders of the Indic faiths which have been inherently tolerant, accepting and secular across centuries.
Even Christianity operates in a secular spirit. But Islam has steadfastly refused to accept the ideal of secularism. It is obvious to anyone who cares to observe the society around him.
Of the Abrahamic faiths, it is Islam alone which refuses to introspect and improvise. The Renaissance led to massive changes in the Judeo-Christian view of the world and rationality and scientific temper became an integral part of European society.
So far, Islam has obstinately refused to adapt or assimilate with other cultures, religions and philosophies.
The result is that the world is increasingly categorising Islam as a threat to the advancement of humanity.
Hinduism and Islam both need the same renaissance. People still consider women as their property in India. Marital rape criminalization is being opposed by the Govt itself. Individual freedom of a human is suppressed and he/she has to oblige by illogical societal norms just for the sake of continuing tradition. Most people have to live in a fear of offending society.
What Ms. Sagarika Kissu cleverly hides is the fact that a Sikh or a Hindu girl has the agency to get into a relationship with a Muslim boy. This eventually leads to conversion to Islam as this is set as a precondition to marriage by the Muslim boy’s family. Without conversion, they will never agree to the marriage.
Can the same be said about Muslim girls? Does their society provide them the freedom to convert for the sake of ‘love’? Are they allowed to renounce Islam and accept Sikhism or Hinduism?
Of course, The Print and it’s reporters will not address such questions.