Maharashtra has received over 100k ‘love jihad’ complaints: CM Fadnavis

The state government has set up a committee to prepare a draft for a “love jihad” law, with an aim “to control Hindu girls getting married to Muslim men”.

Mumbai: Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday again advocated the need for a “love jihad” law in the state, saying the government has received over 100,000 complaints of such cases and that there is “methodical madness” behind them.

Mumbai, Mar 08 (ANI): Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in a group picture with women journalists on the occasion of International Women's Day, at Sahyadri guest house in Mumbai on Saturday. (ANI Photo) (CMO Maharashtra X)

He added that the law’s enactment will be based on the findings of a committee formed last month under state police chief Rashmi Shukla. The committee was tasked with preparing a draft for a law “to prevent love jihad and fraudulent or forced conversions.”

Love jihad is a controversial term used by Hindu nationalists who believe that Muslim men are luring Hindu women to marry them and convert them to Islam in a bid to take over the country.

Interacting with women journalists on the occasion of International Women’s Day at the Sahyadri Guest House on Saturday, Fadnavis said, “Initially, they seemed to be one-off cases, but now they appear to be cases of methodical madness with a design behind them. The people involved in them had a radical mindset of cheating women. We will study the committee’s report, and the enactment of the law will be based on it.”

The state government had set up a committee on February 14 to prepare a draft for a love jihad law, with an aim “to control Hindu girls getting married to Muslim men”. Apart from director general of police Shukla, the committee has six other members, including the secretaries of the women and child welfare, law and judiciary, minority welfare, and social justice departments.

On Friday, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Atul Bhatkhalkar moved a private member bill in the state assembly seeking a ban on forced conversions and making them a cognizable offence. However, it was not tabled in the lower house.

Media monitoring cell

Fadnavis was also asked about his government’s objective behind setting up a media monitoring cell. He replied that the aim was not to control the media but to “keep track of media reports and provide quick responses and clarifications if need be.” The state government recently provided ₹10 crore to set up a media monitoring cell at Manatralaya.