Amid violent protests and agitation against the Citizenship Amendment Act throughout the country, an old statement by Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid, which was ignored by mainstream media, is doing the rounds on Social media now. An article published in Muslim Mirror, suggests that he delivered the hateful speech 6 years ago in 2014, when PM Modi came to power. Imam urged Muslim youths to engage in Love Jihad and convert Hindu girls to Islam. He indicted this is the best way to spread Islam.
He urged Muslim youths to convert Hindu girls and marry them. While addressing a gathering, Ahmed advised Muslim youths to lure girls from the majority community in the name of Love Jihad and push them to convert to Islam. He asked them to get Hindu girls into their bluff. Muslim youngsters should lead the relationship to the ultimate goal- conversion non Muslim girls to Islam, he said. However he added that this is a response to ‘Ghar Wapsi’.
It is an alarming situation for the majority who are being manipulated in the name of love. People have expressed their concern over the ongoing practice of Love Jihad in the country. The police should implement effective measures to curb the threat of the practice. It was Kerala high court which first coined the term ‘Love Jihad’ drew our attention to the pain causing issue.
Love Jihad starts with love, conversion takes place once the love settles in and it eventually leads to marriage. Targets in India are mostly Hindu and Christian girls. It is a serious matter that many of us overlook.
Shahi Imam said that Muslims do not like to be the status of second class citizens in this country. We (Muslim) will keep on fighting for our rights and Muslims can never forget the Gujarat riots of 2002.
Ever since the new citizenship law came into force, Maulanas and religious clerics can be seen delivering hate speech which can trigger riots between the two communities. Videos of their speech, some of them are old though, are being spread on social networking sites for a purpose. It is noticed that after their speeches several protests were held across the country. Delhi has seen the most horrific protest in which over 45 people have been killed and several others injured. Several Maulanas have delivered inflammatory lectures over CAA. They have tried to instigate Muslims for protests against the new citizenship law on the pretext of CAA. After their hate speech, Delhi was set on fire by rioters in the national capital.
It is learnt that, in many cases young women converted to Islam were taken abroad to join ISIS. They are made to live with more than one person and some are even forced to become sex slaves. It has been noted that the police are not considering the matter seriously and no effective steps have been taken to control the situation. Hundreds of complaints have been registered in various police stations across the country in connection with Love Jihad. But no strict action is taken in such cases.
The Youth believes Love is beyond religion, caste or language. Love can never be bound by any social hindrances. However, we need to speak against Maulanas such as Imam Bukhari who try to misuse this sacred feeling. Questions must be raised- why only girls need to change their religion to Islam? Why not boys? And if at all, the boy believes in true love, he should respect the faith of the girl- which is her personal matter. If any Muslim boy tries to impose his religious belief upon the girl, this can never be a true love.
Source: OpIndia, Muslim Mirror, Satyavijay Pinterest, Archive link
