Communities on Facebook and Orkut have started warning young girls not to fall in the trap of youths trying to woo them and convert them to work for jihad at a later stage, reports Bangalore Mirror.
While the police in Karnataka and Kerala are yet to investigate allegations of ‘Love Jihad', exclusive communities have cropped up on Facebook and Orkut to wage war on this variety of Jihad.
The concept of ‘Love Jihad' came to the fore when a section of the media alleged that some terror groups were luring college-going girls into their fold by flashing the romance card, the report said.
The news reports alleged that scores of girls were trapped by Romeos, who are sponsored from the Middle-East. It is believed that ‘Love Jihad' is widespread in coastal Karnataka, though there is no concrete evidence to prove this.
These communities are mostly owned by hardliners. Interestingly, one of these communities even offers a helpline number (0-9495323905) for young girls and students. The community warns people, especially girls, not to be trapped by the terror lasso.
A post by Rahul Ezham Thamburan on his community “Anti Love Jihad” reads: “Hi my dear Indians, I created this community to make my brothers/sisters beware(sic) of nasty and anti-social organisation called LOVE JIHAD. Their hidden agenda is to molest young indian(sic) girls. Come on friends... Let's join our hands and show the power of Indians against terrorism.”
Eight such communities have cropped up recently and most of them in this month.
Another community claims that youth who succeed in Love Jihad get Rs 1 lakh to set up a business. It reads, “Trapping naive girls in the web of love in order to convert them is the modus operandi of the said organisation. Already more than 4000 girls have been converted by these Jihadi Romeos. Special branch of police started investigation when marriages of such largescales(sic) are reported within last 6 months”.
“As per the instructions to recruits of this organisation, each Romeo is to love a … girl within the time frame of two weeks and brainwash them to get converted and marry within 6 months. Special instructions to breed at least 4 kids have also been given. If the targeted girl does not reciprocate within the first two weeks, the Romeos are instructed to leave them and move on to another girl”, the message reads.
These communities have also started forums and polls. A person named Vivek S Menon has appealed to everyone to join hands to fight the social evil. He also pleads for raising awareness through emails and networking sites.
‘Love Jihad' created a furore when a 21-year-old girl, Siljaraj, disappeared from her home in Chamarajnagar on August 8. Her father, C Selvaraj, received a call from Kannur district in Kerala a few days later informing him that she had married a Muslim boy as per the Islamic law.
Later, Selvaraj was told that she had converted to Islam and was in a madrasa. Subsequently, he filed a Habeas Corpus petition in the High Court of Karnataka. The girl appeared before the court and denied that she was being held against her will in the madrasa - spiking all allegations of ‘Love Jihad'.
Meanwhile, the Karnataka High Court, last week, directed a DGP-level inquiry into allegations of Love Jihad made in connection with Siljaraj's case and asked the report to be submitted within three weeks.
The court observed: The girl being a major is free to marry anybody but the facts create suspicion with ramifications of national magnitude concerning national security besides the question of unlawful trafficking. We deem it necessary that the DGP should get the matter thoroughly investigated.
The court also recommended that a special cell be set up to look into cases pertaining to missing girls. Statistics revealed that from January to May 31 this year, 2,521 cases of missing women and girls were registered, out of which 1,001 are yet to be traced.
Meanwhile, Karnataka government on Monday ordered an CID inquiry into 'love jihad' where young non-Muslim girls are allegedly lured into marriage and converted to Islam following a recent High Court directive to probe such incidents.
A high level meeting of police officials chaired by Home Minister Dr V S Acharya discussed the alleged incidents of 'love jihad' reported from parts of Kerala and Karnataka.
"It has been decided that DGP, CID would collect more information on the menace, including from Kerala and submit a report to the government suggesting measures to curb it within a fortnight," Acharya told reporters after the meeting in Bangalore.
The probe will also focus on whether girls were being lured for conversion, any organisation was promoting and funding such activities and to find out who is behind it, he said.
After receiving the report, the government would decide the action to be initiated to check "love jihad", he said.
The Kerala High Court on Monday expressed dissatisfaction over the state DGP's report on 'Love Jihad', where girls from other religious background are allegedly lured to marriage and converted to Islam, even as Karnataka government ordered a CID probe into such incidents.
The court directed DGP Jacob Punnose to produce reports by November 11 in a sealed cover on the basis of which he had prepared the report.
The Karnataka High Court had directed the state and Kerala police to conduct a joint probe and submit a report to it before November 13. Prior to this, Kerala High Court had directed the state to provide information on Love Jihad.
At Kochi on Monday, Justice K T Sankaran observed that some answers furnished in the DGP's report were 'vague' and it also appeared that statements in different paragraphs did not 'reconcile' with each other.
The DGP, in a statement on October 22, told the Court there were reasons to suspect 'concentrated attempts' to persuade non-Muslim girls to convert to Islam after they fall in love with Muslim boys, but that no organisation called "Love Jihad" had been identified so far in the state.
