VHP, church join hands to counter ‘love jihad’

‘Love jihad’, a religious conversion racket which lures gullible girls by feigning love, has brought rivals Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Christian groups in Kerala together. The two have decided to join hands to combat the “social evil’’, which they claim is hitting their respective communities hard.
    Ironically, the two groups had always been at daggers drawn over the issue of conversions. The 2008 Kandhamal riots had, in fact, widened the gulf between the Christians and Hindu hardliners. Adding fuel to the religious hatred, a group of 21 US lawmakers has recently shot off a letter to Orissa CM Naveen Patnaik expressing concern over the alleged intimidation of the minority community in the violence-hit region of the state. The two rival groups now joining hands to fight a “social evil” will certainly cheer peace lovers.
    “Both Hindu and Christian girls are falling prey to the design. So we are cooperating with the VHP on tackling this. We will work together to whatever extent possible,’’ K S Samson, an office-bearer of Kochibased Christian Association for Social Action (CASA), a voluntary Christian association, told TOI.
Samson said some days ago, CASA got to know about a Hindu family in a Christian parish where a school girl was the victim. “We immediately referred it to the VHP,’’ he said, adding the saffron outfit has helped them in many cases. The Parishad, on its part, has started a ‘Hindu Helpline’, which claims to have received as many as 1,500 calls in the last three months. “Many of these callers wanted to congratulate us for our efforts and some were threats,’’ said Vineesh, who manages the helpline.
    The Kerala Catholic Bishops Council has come out with a set of guidelines for Christian parents warning them to be more careful about their wards. “It’s shocking but it is happening. Many Christian families are getting affected,’’ said Father Johny Kochuparambil, secretary of the Council’s Commission for Social Harmony and Vigilance. “We are careful as this is a sensitive issue and could even lead to a religious conflict. But now that the high court too has interfered in the matter, we have decided to take a stand,’’ said Kochuparambil. The HC has asked the DGP to probe the charges and report to it.
    Some of the suggestions by the commission to parents include a call to parents to “monitor the cellphones’’ of children, making girls aware of the problem, and monitoring computer usage details of their wards.

What’s love jihad?
    Ajihadi movement that has been started in Kerala to target college girls for the purpose of conversion by feigning love. Taking serious note of the matter, the Kerala high court had on September 30 directed the state police and the Union home ministry to probe the movement. It also asked the state and the Centre to look into the sources that fund ‘love jihad’ while rejecting the bail petitions of two Muslim youths, accused of ‘luring’ two MBA students into marriage for the purpose of conversion
source :Timesofindia