Shreyas H S
Daijiworld Media Network - South Kerala/ Mangalore
South Kerala/Mangalore, Sep 25: The concept of 'Love Jihad', where Muslim youth are allegedly 'trained' to lure non-Muslim girls in order to convert them and thereby expand the community, has gained much attention over the last few years, so much so that the lines between hype, propoganda and truth often seem to be blurred.
The journey inside south Kerala to unearth the true facets of Love Jihad brought to light some interesting facts, chiefly that despite all the tall claims, there is no substantial evidence to prove its existence. In fact, based on the statements of persons interviewed and observations made during the course of this enlightening journey through the pockets of Kerala, the one conclusion that seemed to be staring at us was that Love Jihad in essence is a well-crafted ‘defense mechanism-cum-polarization’ tactic to contain Hindu women, especially those involved in love affairs, from embracing Islam and thereby to protect the Hindu hegemony.
Daijiworld, in order to report a comprehensive understanding of Love Jihad and try to distinguish between truth and propaganda, moved through south Kerala visiting many of the stakeholders in the controversial issue. We travelled to various places like Kollam (in Ernakulam), Ponnani (in Malappuram), Kasargod, and Kozhikode.
Hindu Cultural Center run by the VHP at Kollam in Ernakulam
Office of the Kerala Hindu Helpline functioning at Kollam
The idea of travelling across the region to dissect the concept of Love Jihad came about from a statistics prepared by the Kerala Hindu Help Line (KHHL), which said as many as 402 incidents of Love Jihad had been reported to the helpline activists. “This is the statistical record of Love Jihad reported to our office from 14 districts of Kerala and around 390 young girls have been rescued from being converted to Islam,” said Rajeesh, a co-ordinator of the helpline who sits in the head office at Kollam in the building of the Hindu Cultural Center of VHP (Vishwa Hindu Parishad).
Rajeesh claimed, "There have been reports of about 402 Hindu girls being enticed by Muslim boys funded by Saudi Arabia from the month of January to August this year." However, he failed to produce any corroborative evidence regarding the alleged 'victims'. He contended that documentation of the cases was still underway and the end result will be available within three weeks.
"The ploy is funded internationally to convert non-Muslims to the religion as part of a larger phenomenon for the expansion of Muslim population across the world, in other words—demographic aggression. The Muslim boys are trained by radical Islamic organizations to stealthily lure Hindu and Christian girls through love and romance and to convert them to Islam. Radical groups like Popular Front of India (PFI) and Social Democratic Party of India are conspiring to influence non-Muslim women," he claimed.
“The girls thus lured, are brought to Ponnani’s Maunathul Islam Association for conversion. There are also two other conversion centers operating in Kerala—Tarbiyatul in Kozhikode and Sathya Sarani at Manjeri, which offer conversion classes to non-Muslims,” he said.
On the other hand, a visit to the Islamic conversion center of Maunathul Islam Association (MIA) located in Ponnani, a place that tops the hit list of the Sangh Parivar and the Bajrang Dal which claim that it is highly 'dangerous' even to enter the centre's premises, indicated that the conversions were legal and with full consent of the individuals involved, and arguments to the contrary were mere propaganda by the right wing outfits.
A brief talk with one of the inmates at the center for religious conversion revealed that the decision to embrace Islam is taken by Hindus and Christians mostly after they fall in love with a Muslim boy or a Muslim girl, due to the obligations in Islam and the fear of being ousted from the Muslim community after marriage.
Besides, it became evident from the place that Islam encourages conversion, but not by conspiracy branded as 'Love Jihad'. However, instances of following Islam after spiritual understanding of the religion are declining, as against acceptance of Islam for the sake of one's love interest.
A journalist, Saheed Roomy of Malappuram district, sub-editor of ‘Deshabhimani’ Malayalam newspaper, the voice of the CPI (M), observes that the complex phenomenon of Love Jihad is a propaganda by RSS and others. Producing documents procured through RTI by the police department in reply to his question on Love Jihad, he said that the investigations had found no substantial evidence of organized conspiracy to promote conversion of non-Muslim girls. The reply was given from the police headquarters situated at Thiruvananthapuram in 2012 to Roomy.
Journalist-cum-writer Saheed Roomy of Malappuram
Roomy, who has co-authored the Malayalam book ‘Njaan Qutubudin Ansari’ (I am Qutubudin Ansari), said that conservative Muslims are too sentimental about religion. He pointed out that this sentiment drives Muslim families to encourage conversion of non-Muslim men or women falling in love with anyone in their family.
Further, he stressed that this phenomenon was widely misinterpreted by the Sangh Parivar to give a communal colour to squeeze out political gains. “In my view there is no conspiracy termed as ‘Love Jihad’,” he reiterated.
'Victim' of Love Jihad
Daijiworld's attempts to interview some of the alleged victims of Love Jihad largely proved futile but we managed to meet a victim-turned-Hindu religious counsellor focusing on rehabilitation of Hindu girls who fall in love with Muslims and later wish to return to Hinduism. A Hindu organization Asha Vidhya Samajam (AVS), in Ernakulum district, counsels the girls from the Hindu community brought back from conversion centers by either advising the parents to file a habeas corpus in the court or by breaking a love affair midway.
Ramya (name changed), working at AVS, refused to admit that she was a victim of Love Jihad and asked that questions on Love Jihad be kept general in nature before she agreed to meet Daijiworld. (The girl was made to stay for a few days at MIA, Ponnani, until she was brought back by the activists of Hindu Aikya Vedi recently). “The lack of knowledge about Hinduism leads girls to fall in love with Muslim boys and later convert to Islam,” said Ramya.
According to Ramya, she has counseled at least 20 Hindu girls and succeeded in reverting all the girls by preaching Hinduism. “The Muslim boys are paid exorbitantly to lure the girls,” she claimed, and added that after a girl completely surrenders herself to a Muslim boy, he speaks about Islam and finally proposes the idea of converting to Islam.
The boys were trained to spot the weaknesses of non-Muslim girls to appease them and get them to fall in love, she said. "The boys give them alcohol and cigarettes as part of their tactics and many girls are often misused after conversion. Many times the girl is forced to sleep with random Muslim men and even trafficked into the flesh trade," she claimed.
When asked to provide substantial proof for her statements, she said that the workers of the Hindu helpline themselves are evidence as the activists have been conducting research all these years. She turned down the request to allow a few victims to speak to us, claiming the victims’ families wish to keep the matter secret.
"I also came across the fact that the boys use black magic on girls," said Ramya adding that she was trying to understand how black magic really works.
No Forced Conversion
The Munatul Islam Association (MIA), Ponnani, since 1900 has been organizing conversion programmes for those who willingly stay at the centre. The association then was registered under the Company Act. If any police case is registered by the parents of a girl (missing case), the organization directly hands her over to the parents. “We do not want to take up troublesome cases as it generates a heap of problems for us,” said Abdul Khader, in-charge of MIA.
Maunathul Islam Association
Mohammad Ali, Islamic teacher at Markaz Islamic Institution at Kozhikode
Recalling an old incident from Puttur (Dakshina Kannada), he cited the case of Maya Bhat that occurred 15-20 years ago. The girl was made to stay for a few days in the center but the Karnataka police continued to interrogate the people at the center even after she left the place. “We will not take up such cases now as it will damage the integrity of the association,” added Khader.
When asked about why people convert to Islam nowadays, he quipped that it was mostly due to love affairs. "The instances of people developing attraction towards the religion after understanding and reading religious scripts is on the decline," he said, admitting that love affairs guide non-Islamic men and women alike to Islam. “The center deals with each case meticulously as it stays under the surveillance of RAW, IB, and Kerala Special Police,” he added.
Officials from these three institutions visit the place once in 15 days and record statements from the operators and check the record books. He claimed confidently there were no cases of Love Jihad identified by the top intelligence agencies. “We never convert anyone forcibly or tactfully but only if they agree to convert do we facilitate them to take up Islam and handover the certificate to ascertain and authenticate the conversion,” said Khader.
All of Daijiworld’s attempts to meet the girls staying in a separate block at Ponnani were unsuccessful. Khader repeatedly insisted that that as per Islam, it was prohibited for males to visit the girls.
He said that those who decide to embrace Islam have to stay at the center for 60 days and participate in lessons on Islam.
Male Inmates of MIA Speak
“Leanings towards Islam these days is largely for the sake of marriage,” observed Mohammad Dileep who converted to Islam in 1983. He had arrived in Ponnani to collect his certificate of Islam. He was converted under the influence of his Muslim father who married a Hindu girl. He said that the numbers of those convinced to convert by reading the Quran are declining as the generation is heading towards material comforts.
Pointing fingers at the inmates, he said, “Had you quizzed them, they would not have spoken out about the reality of their stance. They prefer to keep the issue concealed.” Dileep added that many find it shameful to admit that being a man they are converting for a Muslim girl. “If a non-Muslim falls in love with a Muslim, the only solution in Islam is to convert,” he said, admitting that the community ousts a member if he or she fails to convert the lover before the marriage ceremony.
When quizzed about their reasons to convert to Islam, a few men said they were 'inspired' by male Muslim friends. "I made up my mind to convert due the environment I grew up in, where I happened to befriend only Muslims," said Mohammad Siddique (formerly known as Gopinath).
View of a Teacher of Islam
“Islam does believe in expanding its population. It does not mean the religion is converting non-Muslims forcibly,” said Mohammad Ali Saqafi (MA in Arabic, Aligarh University), an Islamic teacher, Markaz Islamic Institution, Kozhikode. “To be a Muslim, one has to strongly believe in Islam from heart,” he argued.
He insisted that there was no concept called love jihad in Islam and it was an RSS conspiracy to present Muslims in the wrong light. When asked whether some Muslims had indeed indulged in Love Jihad, just as a few Muslims have taken up terrorism confusing the preachings of the religion, he said that there was nothing of that sort going on and those who interpret Islam wrongly were not considered the followers of Islam.
Oblique Admission
An RSS loyalist from Dakshina Kannada, who does not want to be named in the report, in a chat with Daijiworld (after Daijiworld discussed the observation with him), admitted the campaign of Love Jihad could be a defense strategy to protect the community. "There may be nothing called Love Jihad or an organized conspiracy by Muslims, but they do encourage conversion," he said, adding that it is natural for any community to save itself from external danger.