Mumbai: There are increasing incidents of ‘love jihad‘ in Maharashtra, and the state govt views this seriously, CM Devendra Fadnavis said while responding to media questions on a 7-member committee set up to recommend a legal framework for a law against such incidents.
Speaking to the media in Nagpur after participating in a Mahakumbh programme on Sunday, Fadnavis said it is not wrong for a person from one religion to marry a person from another religion. “However, to defraud someone by creating a false identity, making false promises, having children, and then abandoning them is wrong. There are increasing incidents of ‘Love Jihad’ in Maharashtra, and the state govt views this seriously,” he said.
The chief minister said that the Supreme Court decision acknowledged the existence of Love Jihad, and the Kerala High Court too mentioned it.
The seven-member committee set up under director general of police Sanjay Verma will suggest measures to tackle complaints related to forced conversions and ‘love jihad’. It will also review existing laws in other states and recommend legal provisions.
The other members of the panel include senior officials from the women and child welfare, minority affairs, law and judiciary, social justice, special assistance, and home depts.
The issue of Love Jihad, wherein Muslim men allegedly lure Hindu women into a relationship, often posing as Hindus, and convert them to Islam, has been raised by the BJP following the Shraddha Walkar case. Walkar, a 27-year-old woman, was allegedly murdered, and her body was chopped into multiple pieces by her live-in partner Aaftab Poonawala in 2022.