BJP’s mahapanchayat against ‘love jihad’

Ahead of the Assembly by-elections in Uttar Pradesh, Bharatiya Janata Party leaders are busy building up their politics around the issue of “love jihad.” Party MLA Sangeet Singh Som on Monday announced a ‘mahapanchayat’ in protest against “love jihad” in his constituency of Sardhana in Meerut.

The by-election is being held to 11 Assembly seats, including four in the sensitive western areas of the State.

“We are concerned at the fact that youths of a particular community are being trained, with the involvement of terror groups, to lure Hindu girls and then marry them in order to convert them. To discuss ‘love jihad,’ which is growing at a fast pace in this region, we are planning to call a mahapanchayat,” the MLA told

The Hindu .

Mr. Som, an accused in the Muzaffarnagar communal riots last year, said dates had not been fixed for the event. He had called a meeting of his supporters to decide on the date.

Mr. Som said he had data to substantiate his claims on the issue. “More than hundreds of families have approached me about how their daughters are ‘eve-teased’ and the local administration did not take the issue seriously. In fact, we have to take up the issue because the local administration and the police are not acting on those complaints,” he added.

Mr. Som is not the only BJP leader to raise the issue. Last week, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh put ‘love jihad’ on the covers of its Hindi and English mouthpieces —

Panchjanya and

Organiser .