Muslim scholar denies any love jihad in India, calls it a divisive stunt by politicos

A Muslim religious and literary scholar has denied reports of their being any ulterior motive behind the issue of 'Love Jihad', and brushed it off as a mere political stunt to create divisions within the society.

The discussion over 'Love Jihad' was taken up during the Bharatiya Janata Party council meet on Saturday in Mathura, Uttar Pradesh.

The decision came days after the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) launched a campaign against 'Love Jihad', which refers to Hindu girls of the state being allegedly converted to Islam after marriage.

Indian Muslim religious and literary scholar, Mukarram Ahmad, said Muslims of this country are neither interfering into others' religion nor are they are waging a jihad against anybody.

"There is no racket going on. Muslims are not involved in any such matter. Muslims are citizens of this country. They are not waging any jihad or love jihad. Neither they want to interfere into any religion nor do they want to trouble the women of other religions. Muslims do not want all this. There are some miscreants in the society who want to play politics behind the veil of society by indulging into social matters, whose motto is solely elections," said Ahmad.

However, veteran RSS leader M. G. Vaidya, asked Muslims if they were really secular.

"If a Hindu girl marries a Muslim boy, they rejoice it. But if a Muslim girl marries a Hindu boy, then they react differently. They should think about it when they call themselves secular. If the number of Hindus goes down, it will weaken the nation. There is a majority of Hindus in this country. That is why there is democracy," said Vaidya.

BJP lawmaker and India's minority affairs minister Najma Heptulla described it as a social issue, and blamed other political parties for giving it a communal colour.

During Raksha Bandhan, the RSS had started a weeklong campaign in which it appealed to Hindus to support the curbing of 'Love Jihad'.

They warned Hindu girls to be guarded against such boys who lure them to get converted. It is believed this is done so that the Muslims can spread their religion.