Despite the major jolt BJP received in Uttar Pradesh by-polls, the Hindutva groups are in no mood to give up when it comes to their campaign against ‘love jihad’. This headline grabbing term is used by the Hindutva groups to describe what they believe is an Islamist conspiracy to seduce and convert Hindu women.
In the aftermath of the BJP losing seven of its Assembly seats to the Samajwadi Party, the proponents of anti-‘love jihad’ campaigns in Western UP told The Hindu that their campaigns would go on with the “same or even more vigour and focus”.
Ajay Tyagi, an industrialist who formed Hindu Behen Beti Bachao Sangharsh Samiti, refused to buy the argument blaming Mahant Adityanath’s campaigntime focus on “love jihad” for the electoral drubbing. As part of his samiti’s work, Mr. Tyagi has started helpline numbers on which he attends calls, as he claimed, by “distressed” Hindu parents about their daughters being lured in ‘love’ by Muslim men.
He told this correspondent that the BJP would have won more seats, had Adityanath visited mote constituencies and raised the polarizing issue. “Look at the fact. Mahant Adityanath ji visited two constituencies-Noida and Lucknow and talked about ‘love jihad’ and the BJP won both of them,” he said.
“In fact, had he visited more campaign meetings in other seats and raised the conspiracy of extremist Muslims against Hindus by luring their daughters, we would have won more seats,” added Mr. Tyagi, a civil engineer by education.
“As far as our campaign is concerned, we would continue with the same or in fact more vigour and focus,” he said with a reinforced evangelical conviction.
He agreed with what Sakshi Maharaj the BJP MP from Kannouj had said three days back, that Madarsa institutions were a "hub of terror" and they also "encourage" Muslim youths to do ‘love jihad’.
“We are going to file a petition in Allahabad High Court asking for a SIT investigation on madarsa’s links with terror and ‘love jihad’,” said Mr. Tyagi, while boasting the contribution of his team of hundred odd RSS volunteers who attend calls, upload Facebook messages, go door-to-door and hold protests in western UP against ‘love jihad’.
“Even today we received several calls from different areas of western UP from worried Hindu parents who have been troubled by Muslim youths,” he added.
Mr. Tyagi reminded about the ‘mahapanchayat’ against ‘love jihad’ which was announced early this month by Sangeet Som, the BJP MLA from Saradhana Assembly constituency in Meerut.
When contacted the mobile phone of Som, also an accused in the Muzaffarnagar riots, was switched off. But his close aide Vinod said action against ‘love jihad’ should not be seen through “electoral prism.”
“If we get to know any case of ‘love jihad’ and eve teasing of our sisters we would act against them,” he said.
