Stop ’Love Jihad’: BJP’s New Poll Cry in Uttar Pradesh

mangaloretoday.com/ NDTV

Vrindavan, UP, August 24:  In Uttar Pradesh, it seems the old war cry ’Jai Shri Ram’ is a thing of the past. The BJP now seems to be moving from love for a Ram temple to ’Love jihad’.

’Love jihad’ is now subtly but officially part of the BJP’s Uttar Pradesh agenda. It is reflected in the political resolution being discussed at the party’s Vrindavan meet today.

 

The term is a recent saffron parivar creation which refers to girls from majority religion being converted to minority religion using love and marriage as bait in an organised manner.

Key points in the political resolution indicate that polarization may be key to party’s future strategy. The resolution notes that accused in many "crimes against women of one community" belong to "one particular community" and that instances of communal tension are rising due to "such crimes against women." It also adds that the Akhilesh Yadav government in the state "shields the accused in such crimes against women of one community."

It also notes that the Samajwadi Party’s schemes like financial assistance to girl students benefit minority girls more.

The party has had already prepared a list of incidents highlighting these biases.

"Of all the cases of communal clashes in Uttar Pardesh, 71 incidents had crimes against women as the cause," the state BJP president Laxmikant Bajpayee said backing the resolution.

Vinay Katiyar, one time poster boy of Ram-janambhoomi temple movement, was more explicit in his charge. "Love jihad is on. If one goes to the depth of the incidents of communal clashes which are happening we find "they" try to befriend girls from one community. If the attempts fail "they" don’t just rape but even kill the girl. This is what happened in Amaniganj in Faizabad," he said.

Another senior BJP leader said, "In many recent riots, the story is the same. A girl is raped or killed while she is in a relationship with a boy or man from the minority community."

The Muzaffarnagar riots ahead of the Lok Sabha polls and the ensuing polarization helped the BJP.  The party and its allies won 73 of 80 seats. A rise of 63 seats compared to 2009 saw not even a single candidate from the minority community win from UP, where it has 20% population.

Since it worked in 2014, the BJP has less incentive to change tack for Uttar Pradesh in 2017.