'Love Jihad' campaigns by religious heads trigger concerns in Kerala

Kerala is witnessing increasing instances of a section in the Christian community, including bishops, unleashing the 'Love Jihad' campaign not just over instances of inter-faith marriages by women in the community, but even over women missing.

Even as any investigation agencies were yet to come out with any evidence for 'Love Jihad' and those involved in the inter-faith marriages rubbished the allegations, the campaigners are trying to substantiate their stand.

But known persons within the community are strongly condemning the campaigns and suspecting attempts by bishops to keep the community members under control by triggering a fear factor.

Being an issue involving two minority communities, the mainstream political parties maintain a dilly-dallying stand over the issue to protect their vote bank interests.

In a recent instance at Kodenchery in Kozhikode district members of the Christian community staged a police station march raising slogans against 'Love Jihad' after a 26-year old woman from the community, Joisna Joseph, eloped with a local CPM worker Shejin M S. Even as the women, who are working as a nurse abroad, rubbished the 'Love Jihad' allegations, forums like Christian Association and Alliance for Social Action (CAASA) were sticking to it.

The dilly-dallying of the CPM was exposed as party former MLA George M Thomas openly backed the 'Love Jihad' allegation initially, but later retracted and even faced action from the party.
CAASA state president Kevin Peter alleged that in many instances of inter-faith marriages involving Muslim youths the couple was being backed by members of Muslim fundamentalist outfits. He also alleged that in most such cases the women were being forced to convert to Islam, which raises the suspicions of 'Love Jihad'.

CAASA was also raising suspicions of 'Love Jihad' over the disappearance of a 20-year-old student Jasna Mariya James from Pathanamthitta district in 2018.

A few months back a bishop in Kerala stated that jihadis were resorting to 'Love Jihad' and 'narcotic-jihad' to destroy non-Muslims. Some other bishops also backed it.

It took more than ten days for Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to condemn the controversial statement of Mar Joseph Kallarangatt, bishop of Pala in Kottayam district, despite communally sensitive protest.

Strongly flaying the 'Love Jihad' campaign, Christian theologian and former principal of Delhi St Stephen's College Valson Thampu alleged that the church heads seemed to be trying to keep the members of the community under their control by unleashing a campaign that the religion was in danger.

"Being a Christian I feel embarrassed over bishops spreading falsehood. If women from the community are falling into such traps, it is due to the failure of the churches in properly educating the community members," he told DH.

Thampu, who is a left-leaning thinker, also said that the stand of the left-front government, as well as the Congress on the issue, was disappointing. Kerala was being led to the jaws of communal confrontation, he cautioned.

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