New Delhi: CPI(M) today sought swift action against Hindutva activists for allegedly whipping up communal frenzy in the name of ‘love jihad' and said it was “shocking” that BJP was also “involved” in such propaganda to create enmity between communities.
“I write to draw your attention to the Meerut case in which a personal relationship between two consenting adults who happen to belong to different religious communities was converted into a criminal matter of rape and forcible conversion by Hindutva organisations,” party General Secretary Prakash Karat said in a letter to UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav.
Observing that these organisations “manipulated and used some members of the woman's family for their nefarious game,” he said it was “shocking that along with these organisations, BJP was also “involved in the crime of false and communal propaganda aimed at creating enmity between two communities”.
Referring to the woman's statement before a magistrate, Karat said she had clarified that she had a consensual relationship with one Kaleem and had been pressurised by some family members “who in turn were being used by the Hindutva forces even reportedly bribed by them, to make false charges of gang rape and forcible conversion against him”.
Noting that ten people, including Kaleem were now in jail, he said, “They are innocent of the crimes they have been accused of. There was no victim except the Constitution of India.”
“In these circumstances it is essential to take immediate steps to release the innocent men and women from jail. It is also necessary to punish those who are responsible for the false propaganda and communal frenzy in the name of ‘love jihad',” Karat said.
While the young woman has declared her intention to marry Kaleem, “some of the Hindutva organisations have dared to threaten her and have declared they will not allow such a marriage. The father of the woman is also being threatened again,” he said.
He asked the state government to “act firmly and swiftly to punish these men who must be taught the secular laws of India” and make provision of security to the woman, besides the others on their release.
