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{{short description|Islamophobic conspiracy theory}}
{{About-distinguish2|Love Jihad|]}}
{{distinguish|Sexual jihad|A Jihad for Love}}
'''Love Jihad''', also called '''Romeo Jihad''', is an alleged activity under which young Muslim boys and men are said to reportedly target young girls belonging to non-Muslim communities for ] by feigning love.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/muzaffarnagar-love-jihad-beef-bogey-sparked-riot-flames/article1-1120889.aspx |title=Muzaffarnagar: 'Love jihad', beef bogey sparked riot flames |publisher=Hindustan Times |date=12 Sep 2013 |accessdate=2014-04-18}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|author=Stephen Brown |url=http://www.frontpagemag.com/2009/stephenbrown/the-%E2%80%9Clove-jihad%E2%80%9D-by-steven-brown/ |title=The "Love Jihad" |publisher=Front Page Mag |date=2009-10-16 |accessdate=2014-04-18}}</ref><ref name="Common">{{cite news|author=Ananthakrishnan G |url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Love-Jihad-racket-VHP-Christian-groups-find-common-cause/articleshow/5117548.cms |title='Love Jihad' racket: VHP, Christian groups find common cause |publisher=Times of India |date=2009-10-13 |accessdate=2014-04-18}}</ref> Arising in a background of national religious tension, the alleged activity is based on the power of emotional appeal in religious conversion. The controversial issue has garnered international attention. Even though individual reports have spread, all official investigations in India launched in 2009, 2010, 2012 and 2014 have found no evidence of the activity.
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'''Love jihad''' (or '''Romeo jihad'''){{refn |<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Khatun |first=Nadira |date=14 December 2018 |title='Love-Jihad' and Bollywood: Constructing Muslims as 'Other' |url=https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/jrf/vol22/iss3/8 |journal=Journal of Religion & Film |publisher=University of Nebraska Omaha |volume=22 |issue=3 |issn=1092-1311 |access-date=9 January 2021 |archive-date=20 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201120204931/https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/jrf/vol22/iss3/8/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Gupta-2009">{{Cite journal |last=Gupta |first=Charu |year=2009 |title=Hindu Women, Muslim Men: Love Jihad and Conversions |journal=Economic and Political Weekly |volume=44 |issue=51 |pages=13–15 |jstor=25663907 |issn=0012-9976 }}</ref><ref name="Rao-2011">{{Cite journal |last=Rao |first=Mohan |date=1 October 2011 |title=Love Jihad and Demographic Fears |journal=Indian Journal of Gender Studies |volume=18 |issue=3 |pages=425–430 |doi=10.1177/097152151101800307 |s2cid=144012623 |issn=0971-5215}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Khalid |first=Saif |date=24 August 2017 |title=The Hadiya case and the myth of 'Love Jihad' in India |url=http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2017/08/hadiya-case-myth-love-jihad-india-170823181612279.html |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=3 October 2017 |archive-date=3 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171003175039/http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2017/08/hadiya-case-myth-love-jihad-india-170823181612279.html |url-status=live }}</ref>}} is an ]{{refn |name=Islamophobia |<ref name="Farokhi-2020" />{{rp |226–227 |q=The exponents of this conspiracy assert that innocent Hindu women are converted to Islam in order to increase the Muslim population, thereby waging jihad or holy war against Hindus (Gupta, 2009). By evoking demographic fears and anxiety, this campaign demonizes Muslims and works to advance the patriarchal idea of saving Hindu girls from an imagined Muslim menace (Das, 2010).}}<ref name="Jenkins-2019">{{cite book |last1=Jenkins |first1=Laura Dudley |chapter=Persecution: The Love Jihad Rumor |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J22RDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA180 |title=Religious Freedom and Mass Conversion in India |year=2019 |doi=10.9783/9780812296006-007 |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |isbn=978-0-8122-9600-6 |s2cid=242173559 |quote=The masterplot of love jihad is not just literary imaginings but also a potent brew of Islamophobia and patriarchy that harms Muslims and women. Akin to some of the post-9/11 rhetoric in the United States, contemporary Hindu nationalists propagate "a mythical history of medieval Muslim tyranny and present-day existential threat, demanding mobilization and revenge." |access-date=6 May 2023 |archive-date=13 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230513114814/https://books.google.com/books?id=J22RDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA180 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Sharma-2020">{{cite journal |last1=Sharma |first1=Ajita |title=Afrazul's murder: Law and love jihad |journal=Jindal Global Law Review |date=1 April 2020 |volume=11 |issue=1 |pages=77–95 |doi=10.1007/s41020-020-00114-5 |publisher=Springer |s2cid=220512241 |quote=The fake claim by the Hindu right-wing that love jihad forces Hindu women to love and marry a Muslim man and convert to Islam is perpetuating an already existing anti-Muslim narrative in the country. The love jihad phenomenon has thus become a tool of hate and anger towards Muslims. Afrazul's killing by Raigher is an extreme demonstration of this form of hate and anger towards Muslims.| issn = 0975-2498}}</ref><ref name="Upadhyay-2020">{{cite journal |last1=Upadhyay |first1=Nishant |title=Hindu Nation and its Queers: Caste, Islamophobia, and De/coloniality in India |journal=Interventions |date=18 May 2020 |volume=22 |issue=4 |pages=464–480 |doi=10.1080/1369801X.2020.1749709 |url=https://www.academia.edu/43040799 |publisher=Routledge |s2cid=218822737 |via=Academia.edu |quote=Heterosexual couples who defy caste and religious structures often face violence, some of which results in death through honor killings and lynching targeting specifically Muslim and Dalit men. For instance, the Hindutva campaign against what it calls the "love jihad" is an attempt to protect Hindu women from Muslim men, as the latter are imagined/blamed to convert Hindu women to Islam through trickery and marriage (Gupta 2018b, 85). Needless to say, these claims are unfounded and Islamophobic imaginations of the Hindu Right. |access-date=30 March 2021 |archive-date=28 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220328033737/https://www.academia.edu/43040799 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Frydenlund-2018">{{cite book |last1=Frydenlund |first1=Iselin |editor1-first=Asbjørn |editor1-last=Dyrendal |editor2-first=David G. |editor2-last=Robertson |editor3-first=Egil |editor3-last=Asprem |chapter=Buddhist Islamophobia: Actors, Tropes, Contexts |title=Handbook of Conspiracy Theory and Contemporary Religion |series=Brill Handbooks on Contemporary Religion |volume=17 |year=2018 |pages=279–302 |doi=10.1163/9789004382022_014 |publisher=Brill |isbn=9789004382022 |s2cid=201409140 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yoN1DwAAQBAJ |via=Academia.edu |chapter-url=https://www.academia.edu/37554959}}</ref>{{rp |289 |q=The third trope concerns capitalism and market competition, while the latter three consider another aspect of global Islamophobic discourses, namely that there is a plot to spread Islam around the world through population growth, or so-called Demographic Jihad. This in turn can be divided into three subfields according to the means by which Muslims are claimed to use in their Demographic Jihad to eradicate Buddhism: 'Birth Jihad', 'Rape Jihad', and 'Love Jihad'.}}}} ]{{refn |name=conspiracy theory |<ref name="Farokhi-2020">{{Cite book |last=Farokhi |first=Zeinab |chapter=Hindu Nationalism, News Channels, and "Post-Truth" Twitter: A Case Study of "Love Jihad" |editor-last=Boler |editor-first=Megan |pages=226–239 |editor-last2=Davis |editor-first2=Elizabeth |title=Affective Politics of Digital Media: Propaganda by Other Means |publisher=Routledge |year=2020 |isbn=978-1-00-016917-1 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_8T2DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT171 |chapter-url-access=limited |access-date=6 May 2023 |archive-date=6 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230506153834/https://books.google.com/books?id=_8T2DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT171 |url-status=live }}</ref>{{rp |226–227 |q=This chapter examines the conspiracy theory of "Love Jihad" across traditional and social media discourse in India as a way to show how affective strategies promoting Islamophobia are employed through logics of "digital governmentality" (Badouard et al., 2016). "Love Jihad" is a campaign started by right-wing Hindu nationalists in 2009 (Gökarıksel et al., 2019) alleging that Muslim men feign love to lure non-Muslim women to marry them in order to convert them to Islam (Rao, 2011).}}<ref name="Strohl-2018">{{Cite journal |last=Strohl |first=David James |date=11 October 2018 |title=Love jihad in India's moral imaginaries: religion, kinship, and citizenship in late liberalism |journal=Contemporary South Asia |publisher=Routledge |volume=27 |issue=1 |pages=27–39 |doi=10.1080/09584935.2018.1528209 |s2cid=149838857 |issn=0958-4935 }}</ref>{{rp |1–2 |q=Since at least 2009, a host of activists have used grassroots campaigns and mass-media to spread rumors throughout India of a vast conspiracy by the Muslim community to train young men to seduce, marry, and convert Hindu women. Some politicians and activists draw on these conspiracy theories to drum up support from Hindus in electoral campaigns and to fuel moralizing crusades throughout the country aimed at saving women from these imagined threats.}}<ref name="Nair-2019">{{cite journal |last1=Nair |first1=Rashmi |last2=Vollhardt |first2=Johanna Ray |date=6 May 2019 |title=Intersectional Consciousness in Collective Victim Beliefs: Perceived Intragroup Differences Among Disadvantaged Groups |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/332904170 |journal=Political Psychology |publisher=Wiley |volume=40 |issue=5 |pages=2 |doi=10.1111/pops.12593 |s2cid=164693982 |via=ResearchGate |quote=Muslims form about 15% of India's population and have suffered severe marginalization in education and employment, since the partition of Hindu-majority India and Muslim-majority Pakistan in 1947 (Alam, 2010). They have since faced recurrent riots (Varshney, 2003). Other hostilities include false accusations of love jihad (a conspiracy theory claiming Muslim men feign love with non-Muslim women to convert them to Islam) and attempts to convert Muslims to Hinduism by Hindu fundamentalist organizations (Gupta, 2009). |access-date=19 September 2020 |archive-date=19 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240419133532/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/332904170_Intersectional_Consciousness_in_Collective_Victim_Beliefs_Perceived_Intragroup_Differences_Among_Disadvantaged_Groups |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="George-2016">{{Cite book |last=George |first=Cherian |author-link=Cherian George |title=Hate Spin: The Manufacture of Religious Offense and Its Threat to Democracy |publisher=MIT Press |year=2016 |isbn=978-0-262-33607-9 |pages=96–101 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M4wnDQAAQBAJ |url-access=limited |access-date=22 March 2023 |archive-date=28 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230428152240/https://books.google.com/books?id=M4wnDQAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}</ref>{{rp |96–97 |q=The "love jihad" is a bizarre myth about a Muslim campaign to conquer Hindus by stealing their girls, one heart at a time. It is apparently easier to blame a mythical love jihad conspiracy than to confront uglier truths—that the obsession with social status sometimes turns young romance into needless tragedy; or that poverty and ignorance makes families easy prey for dowry-bearing human traffickers.}}<ref name="George-2020">{{Cite book |last=George |first=Cherian |author-link=Cherian George |chapter=The Scourge of Disinformation-Assisted Hate Propaganda |editor-last1=Zimdars |editor-first1=Melissa |editor-last2=McLeod |editor-first2=Kembrew |editor-link2=Kembrew McLeod |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1WPMDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA145 |title=Fake News: Understanding Media and Misinformation in the Digital Age |publisher=MIT Press |year=2020 |isbn=978-0-262-53836-7 |pages=147–148 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1WPMDwAAQBAJ |url-access=limited |access-date=22 March 2023 |archive-date=24 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624145109/https://www.ocregister.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/cropped-ocr_icon11.jpg?w=192 |url-status=live }}</ref>{{rp |147 |q=Elaborate and influential conspiracy theories have been manufactured in the United States by the Islamophobia industry about the incursion of sharia law; in India, by the Hindu Right about Muslim men mounting "love jihad" on Hindu women and girls; in Indonesia, by Muslim hard-liners about a resurgent communist threat; and in Europe, by anti-immigrant groups against sexual predators or "rapefugees."}}<ref name="Anand-2011">{{Cite book |last=Anand |first=Dibyesh |chapter=Pornosexualizing "The Muslim" |title=Hindu Nationalism in India and the Politics of Fear |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-230-60385-1 |pages=51, 63–69 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BYbFAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA51 |access-date=6 May 2023 |archive-date=13 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230513114813/https://books.google.com/books?id=BYbFAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA51 |url-status=live }}</ref>{{rp |69 |q=If they are not conjuring this story up, why not encourage the Hindutva youth to search for the Maulavi who they accuse of ordering Muslim men to seduce Hindu girls? They do no such thing because it is clear that they are indulging in scare mongering. In the blogosphere, the tales of a love jihad conspiracy circulate without any serious questioning of what the evidence is. One extremist Web site quotes another, and when you check the second one, they would cite the first one.}}<ref name="George-2017">{{cite journal |last1=George |first1=Cherian |author-link=Cherian George |title=Journalism's crisis of reason |journal=Media Asia |date=3 April 2017 |volume=44 |issue=2 |pages=71–78 |doi=10.1080/01296612.2017.1463620 |publisher=Routledge |s2cid=158269410 |issn=0129-6612 }}</ref>{{rp |74 |q=One example of clever disinformation is the "love jihad" conspiracy theory. The story is that young Muslim men are seducing away innocent Hindu girls and then forcing them to convert to Islam. The grand plan is to turn India, which is now almost 80% Hindu, into a Muslim nation.}}<ref name="Udupa-2019">{{cite journal |last1=Udupa |first1=Sahana |last2=Venkatraman |first2=Shriram |last3=Khan |first3=Aasim |title="Millennial India": Global Digital Politics in Context |journal=Television & New Media |publisher=SAGE |date=11 September 2019 |volume=21 |issue=4 |page=353 |doi=10.1177/1527476419870516 |doi-access=free |quote=Vigilante action is targeted against what right-wing attackers describe as "love jihad," finding cause in the conspiracy theory of conniving Muslim men seducing gullible Hindu women into marriage and submission. "Love jihad" is a violent expression of the broader politics of regulating female sexuality—a core element of online Hindu nationalism manifest variously as shaming and abuse (Udupa 2017). }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bhat |first1=M. Mohsin Alam |title=The Case for Collecting Hate Crimes Data in India |journal=Law & Policy Brief |date=1 September 2018 |volume=4 |issue=9 |url=https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3367329 |publisher=] |ssrn=3367329 |via=Social Science Research Network |quote=A Muslim migrant worker was bludgeoned to death and his dead body set on fire, with all this being recorded on video, while his attacker blamed him for "love jihad" — a phrase used by the extremist members of Hindu right-wing organizations to refer to a conspiracy theory that Muslims are forcibly or fraudulently converting Hindu women on the pretext of marriage. |access-date=21 February 2021 |archive-date=1 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210401185959/https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3367329 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Purewal-2020">{{cite news |last1=Purewal |first1=Navtej K. |date=3 September 2020 |title=Indian Matchmaking: a show about arranged marriages can't ignore the political reality in India |url=http://theconversation.com/indian-matchmaking-a-show-about-arranged-marriages-cant-ignore-the-political-reality-in-india-144441 |work=The Conversation UK |quote=One popular conspiracy theory shared by the Hindu right is "Love Jihad". This is the idea that Muslim men target women belonging to non-Muslim communities to convert them to Islam by feigning love. It is an invention to incite suspicion and hatred against Muslims in India. |access-date=19 September 2020 |archive-date=11 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200911172440/https://theconversation.com/indian-matchmaking-a-show-about-arranged-marriages-cant-ignore-the-political-reality-in-india-144441 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Byatnal |first1=Amruta |date=13 October 2013 |title=Hindutva vigilantes target Hindu-Muslim couples |newspaper=The Hindu |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/hindutva-vigilantes-target-hindumuslim-couples/article5231849.ece |issn=0971-751X |quote=They see themselves as warriors against what they call "Love Jihad," a conspiracy theory floated by Hindutva groups like the Hindu Janjagruti Samiti which claims that Muslim men lure Hindu women into marriage with the aim of increasing their own population. |access-date=19 September 2020 |archive-date=11 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201111190514/https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/hindutva-vigilantes-target-hindumuslim-couples/article5231849.ece |url-status=live }}</ref>}} promoted by right-wing ] activists.{{refn |<ref name="Farokhi-2020" /><ref name="Strohl-2018" />{{rp |4 |q=As I explore below, a variety of moral entrepreneurs further the Hindutva cause by stoking fears about love jihad to further marginalize Muslims, mobilize Hindu voters, and renew people's commitments to traditional religious values. I situate these activities within a broader range of Hindutva campaigns in contemporary India and discuss the ways in which earlier Hindu majoritarian campaigns to 'save' women prefigure the current uproar about love jihad.}}<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Sarkar |first=Tanika |date=1 July 2018 |title=Is Love without Borders Possible? |journal=Feminist Review |volume=119 |issue=1 |pages=7–19 |doi=10.1057/s41305-018-0120-0 |s2cid=149827310 |issn=0141-7789}}</ref><ref name="Waikar-2018">{{Cite journal |last=Waikar |first=Prashant |year=2018 |title=Reading Islamophobia in Hindutva: An Analysis of Narendra Modi's Political Discourse |journal=Islamophobia Studies Journal |volume=4 |issue=2 |pages=161–180 |doi=10.13169/islastudj.4.2.0161 |jstor=10.13169/islastudj.4.2.0161 |issn=2325-8381 }}</ref>}} The conspiracy theory purports that ] men target ] women for ] by means such as seduction,{{refn |<ref name="George-2020" /><ref name="Anand-2011" /><ref name="Nair-2014"/><ref>{{Cite news |last=Kazmin |first=Amy |date=4 December 2020 |title=Hindu nationalists raise spectre of 'love jihad' with marriage law |work=Financial Times |url=https://www.ft.com/content/04e9e662-dc8e-4d62-b243-bc918782f8e9 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20201204035221/https://www.ft.com/content/04e9e662-dc8e-4d62-b243-bc918782f8e9 |archive-date=4 December 2020 |url-status=unfit }}</ref>}} feigning love,{{refn |<ref name="Farokhi-2020" /><ref name="Nair-2019" /><ref name="Purewal-2020" /><ref name="Leidig-2020" />}} deception,{{refn |<ref name="Waikar-2018" /><ref name="Nair-2014" />}} ],{{refn |<ref name="Gupta-2009" /><ref name="Grewal-2014">{{cite news |last=Grewal |first=Inderpal |author-link=Inderpal Grewal |date=7 October 2014 |title=Narendra Modi's BJP: Fake Feminism and 'Love Jihad' Rumors |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/narendra-modis-bjp-fake-f_b_5940276 |work=Huffington Post |access-date=2 October 2020 |archive-date=18 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201218132228/https://www.huffpost.com/entry/narendra-modis-bjp-fake-f_b_5940276 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Banaji-2018">{{Cite journal |last=Banaji |first=Shakuntala |date=2 October 2018 |title=Vigilante Publics: Orientalism, Modernity and Hindutva Fascism in India |journal=Javnost – the Public |publisher=Taylor & Francis |volume=25 |issue=4 |pages=333–350 |doi=10.1080/13183222.2018.1463349 |issn=1318-3222 |doi-access=free}}</ref>}} and marriage,{{refn |<ref name="Farokhi-2020" /><ref name="Waikar-2018" /><ref name="Ramachandran-2020">{{Cite journal |last=Ramachandran |first=Sudha |year=2020 |title=Hindutva Violence in India: Trends and Implications |journal=Counter Terrorist Trends and Analyses |volume=12 |issue=4 |pages=15–20 |jstor=26918077 |issn=2382-6444 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Ravindran |first=Gopalan |title=Deleuzian and Guattarian Approaches to Contemporary Communication Cultures in India |publisher=Springer |year=2020 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IxHUDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA78 |isbn=978-981-15-2140-9 |pages=78 |access-date=6 May 2023 |archive-date=13 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230513114816/https://books.google.com/books?id=IxHUDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA78 |url-status=live }}</ref>}} as part of a broader demographic "war" by Muslims against India,{{refn |<ref name="Rao-2011" /><ref name="Farokhi-2020" /><ref name="Chacko-2019">{{Cite journal |last=Chacko |first=Priya |date=March 2019 |title=Marketizing Hindutva: The state, society, and markets in Hindu nationalism |journal=Modern Asian Studies |volume=53 |issue=2 |pages=377–410 |doi=10.1017/S0026749X17000051 |hdl=2440/117274 |s2cid=149588748 |issn=0026-749X |hdl-access=free}}</ref>}} and an organised international conspiracy,{{refn |<ref name="Gupta-2009" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Punwani |first=Jyoti |year=2014 |title=Myths and Prejudices about 'Love Jihad' |journal=Economic and Political Weekly |volume=49 |issue=42 |pages=12–15 |jstor=24480870 |issn=0012-9976 }}</ref><ref name="Jayal-2019">{{Cite journal |last=Jayal |first=Niraja Gopal |date=2 January 2019 |title=Reconfiguring Citizenship in Contemporary India |journal=South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies |publisher=Taylor & Francis |volume=42 |issue=1 |pages=33–50 |doi=10.1080/00856401.2019.1555874 |issn=0085-6401 |doi-access=free}}</ref>}} for domination through ] and replacement.{{refn |<ref name="Gökarıksel-2019">{{Cite journal |last1=Gökarıksel |first1=Banu |last2=Neubert |first2=Christopher |last3=Smith |first3=Sara |date=15 February 2019 |title=Demographic Fever Dreams: Fragile Masculinity and Population Politics in the Rise of the Global Right |url=https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/pdf/10.1086/701154 |journal=Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society |publisher=University of Chicago Press |volume=44 |issue=3 |pages=561–587 |doi=10.1086/701154 |s2cid=151053220 |issn=0097-9740 |access-date=9 January 2021 |archive-date=19 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210419054500/https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/pdf/10.1086/701154 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Maiorano |first=Diego |date=3 April 2015 |title=Early Trends and Prospects for Modi's Prime Ministership |journal=The International Spectator |publisher=Taylor & Francis |volume=50 |issue=2 |pages=75–92 |doi=10.1080/03932729.2015.1024511 |s2cid=155228179 |issn=0393-2729}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Tyagi |first1=Aastha |last2=Sen |first2=Atreyee |date=2 January 2020 |title=Love-Jihad (Muslim Sexual Seduction) and ched-chad (sexual harassment): Hindu nationalist discourses and the Ideal/deviant urban citizen in India |journal=Gender, Place & Culture |publisher=Taylor & Francis |volume=27 |issue=1 |pages=104–125 |doi=10.1080/0966369X.2018.1557602 |s2cid=165145583 |issn=0966-369X}}</ref>}}
The concept first rose to national attention in India in 2009, with claims of widespread conversions in ] and ], but claims have subsequently spread throughout India and beyond, into Pakistan and the United Kingdom. With waves of publicity in 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2014, the allegations of Love Jihad in India have raised concerns in various ], ] and Christian organizations, while Muslim organisations have denied the allegations. The concept has remained a source of political contention and social concern for many, although as of 2014 the idea of an organized Love Jihad was still widely regarded as a ] by the Indian mainstream, according to '']''.<ref name=":4" />


The conspiracy theory relies on ] to conduct its hate campaign,<ref name="George-2020" /> and is noted for its similarities to other historic hate campaigns as well as contemporary ] conspiracy theories and Euro-American Islamophobia.<ref name="Gökarıksel-2019" /><ref name="George-2020" /><ref name="Farokhi-2020" /> It features ] portrayals of Muslims as barbaric and ],<ref name="Leidig-2020" /> and carries the ] and ] notions that Hindu women are passive and victimized, while "any possibility of women exercising their legitimate right to love and their right to choice is ignored".<ref name="Gupta-2009"/> It has consequently been the cause of ] assaults, murders and other violent incidents,{{refn |<ref name="Strohl-2018" />{{rp |2 |q=Other right-wing activists use the hysteria surrounding love jihad to file false legal cases and launch vigilante campaigns against women and men in inter-religious relationships.}}<ref name="Udupa-2019" /><ref name="Trivedi-2020" /><ref name="Waikar-2018" /><ref name="Banaji-2018" /><ref name="Ramachandran-2020" /><ref name="Jayal-2019" />}} including the ].{{refn |name=third}}
== Background ==
]


Created in 2009{{refn |<ref name="Anand-2011" /><ref name="Gökarıksel-2019" />}} as part of a campaign to foster fear and paranoia, the conspiracy theory was disseminated by Hindutva publications, such as the '']'' and the ] website, calling Hindus to protect their women from Muslim men who were simultaneously depicted to be attractive seducers and lecherous rapists.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Anand |first=Dibyesh |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BYbFAAAAQBAJ |title=Hindu Nationalism in India and the Politics of Fear |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-230-60385-1 |pages=51, 63–69 |chapter=Pornosexualizing "The Muslim" |url-access=limited |access-date=22 March 2023 |archive-date=24 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624144955/https://www.google.com/books/edition/Hindu_Nationalism_in_India_and_the_Polit/BYbFAAAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}</ref> Organisations including the ] and the ] have since been credited for its proliferation in India and abroad, respectively.{{refn |<ref name="Banaji-2018" /><ref name="Chacko-2019" />}} The conspiracy theory was noted to have become a significant belief in the state of ] by 2014 and contributed to the success of the ] campaign in the state.<ref name="George-2016" />
=== Religious conversion through emotional appeal ===
''The Oxford Handbook of Religious Conversion'' notes that the effectiveness of emotional appeals in converting people from one faith to another is well known and often exploited by religious leaders.<ref name="RamboFarhadian2014">{{cite book|last1=Rambo|first1=Lewis R.|last2=Farhadian|first2=Charles E.|title=The Oxford Handbook of Religious Conversion|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U03gAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA145|date=18 February 2014|publisher=Oxford University Press, USA|isbn=978-0-19-971354-7|page=145}}</ref> Religious groups have utilized techniques like ] and ] to interest potential recruits.<ref name="RamboFarhadian2014" /> Love Jihad is an alleged activity wherein Muslim youth utilize such emotional appeals, using charm to entice girls into conversion by feigning love – in some reports, as an organized, funded behavior.<ref name="Common" /><ref name="Piqued">{{cite news | title = 'Love jihad' piqued US interest | date = 6 Sep 2011 | url = http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Love-jihad-piqued-US-interest/articleshow/9877883.cms?referral=PM| work = The Times of India | accessdate = 2012-09-08}}</ref><ref name="Handsome">{{cite news | first = Dean | last = Nelson | title = Handsome Muslim men accused of waging 'love jihad' in India | date = 13 Oct 2009 | publisher = Telegraph Media Group Limited | url = http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/6316966/Handsome-Muslim-men-accused-of-waging-love-jihad-in-India.html | work = The Telegraph | accessdate = 2012-09-14}}</ref>


The concept was institutionalised in India after the election of the Bharatiya Janata Party led by Prime Minister ].{{refn |<ref name="Farokhi-2020" /><ref name="Waikar-2018" /><ref name="Gökarıksel-2019" />}} ] pro-government television media, such as ] and ], and social media disinformation campaigns are generally held responsible for the growth of its popularity.<ref name="Farokhi-2020" /> Legislation against the purported conspiracy has been initiated in a number of states ruled by the party and implemented in the state of Uttar Pradesh by the ] government, where it has been used as a means of ] on Muslims and crackdown on ]s.{{refn |<ref name="Wire Nov 2020" /><ref>{{Cite news |last=Biswas |first=Soutik |date=8 December 2020 |title=Love jihad: The Indian law threatening interfaith love |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-55158684 |access-date=9 January 2021 |archive-date=25 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210125193012/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-55158684 |url-status=live }}</ref>}}

In ], the conspiracy theory has been adopted by the ] as an allegation of Islamisation of Buddhist women and used by the ] as justification for ].{{refn |<ref name="Frydenlund-2018" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Kingston |first=Jeff |title=The Politics of Religion, Nationalism, and Identity in Asia |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |year=2019 |isbn=978-1-4422-7688-8 |pages=117–119}} </ref>}} It has extended among the non-Muslim ] and led to formation of alliances between Hindutva groups and Western ] organisations such as the ].<ref name="Farokhi-2020" /> It has also been adopted in part by the clergy of the ] in ] to dissuade ] among Christians.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Jenkins |first=Laura Dudley |title=Religious Freedom and Mass Conversion in India |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |year=2019 |isbn=978-0-8122-9600-6 |chapter=Chapter 6. Persecution: The Love Jihad Rumor |pages=180–215 |doi=10.9783/9780812296006-007 |s2cid=242173559 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-09-09 |title=Young Christians being targeted through ‘love and narcotics jihad’: Catholic Bishop in Kerala |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/india/kerala/young-christians-targeted-through-love-narcotics-jihad-catholic-bishop-kerala-7499399/ |access-date=2024-11-11 |website=The Indian Express |language=en}}</ref>

== Background ==
=== Regional historical tensions === === Regional historical tensions ===
]
In a piece picked up by the '']'', '']'' correspondent Siddhartha Mahanta reports that the modern Love Jihad conspiracy has roots in the 1947 ].<ref name=":3" /> This partition led to the creation of the ]s of the ] (it later split into the ] and the ]) and the ] (later ]). The creation of two countries with different majority religions led to large-scale migration, with millions of people moving between the countries and rampant reports of sexual predation and forced conversions of women by men of both faiths.<ref name=":3" /><ref name="BHAVNANI2014">{{cite book|last=Bhavnani|first=Nandita|title=The Making of Exile: Sindhi Hindus and the Partition of India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n_8aBAAAQBAJ&pg=PT253|date=29 July 2014|publisher=Westland|isbn=978-93-84030-33-9|pages=253–255}}</ref><ref name="HuynhD'Costa2015"/> Women on both sides of the conflict were impacted, leading to "recovery operations" by both the Indian and Pakistani governments of these women, with over 20,000 Muslim and 9,000 non-Muslim women being recovered between 1947 and 1956.<ref name="HuynhD'Costa2015">{{cite book|last1=Huynh|first1=Kim|author2=Bina D'Costa|author3=Katrina Lee-Koo|title=Children and Global Conflict|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uAS7BwAAQBAJ&pg=PA276|date=30 April 2015|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-316-29876-3|pages=274–275}}</ref> This tense history caused repeated clashes between the faiths in the decades that followed as well, according to Mahanta, as cultural pressure against interfaith marriage for either side.<ref name=":3" />


In a piece picked up by the '']'', '']'' correspondent Siddhartha Mahanta reports that the modern Love Jihad conspiracy has roots in the 1947 ].<ref name="Mahanta-2014" /> This partition led to the creation of India and Pakistan. The creation of two countries with different majority religions led to large-scale migration, with millions of people moving between the countries and rampant reports of sexual predation and forced conversions of women by men of both faiths.<ref name="Mahanta-2014" /><ref name="Bhavnani-2014">{{cite book |last=Bhavnani |first=Nandita |title=The Making of Exile: Sindhi Hindus and the Partition of India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n_8aBAAAQBAJ&pg=PT253 |date=29 July 2014 |publisher=Westland |isbn=978-93-84030-33-9 |pages=253–255 }}</ref><ref name="Huynh-2015" /> Women on both sides of the conflict were impacted, leading to "recovery operations" by both the Indian and Pakistani governments of these women, with over 20,000 Muslim and 9,000 non-Muslim women being recovered between 1947 and 1956.<ref name="Huynh-2015">{{cite book |last1=Huynh |first1=Kim |author2=Bina D'Costa |author3=Katrina Lee-Koo |title=Children and Global Conflict |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uAS7BwAAQBAJ&pg=PA276 |date=30 April 2015 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-316-29876-3 |pages=274–275 |access-date=16 March 2016 |archive-date=19 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240419133434/https://books.google.com/books?id=uAS7BwAAQBAJ&pg=PA276#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref> This tense history caused repeated clashes between the faiths in the decades that followed as well, according to Mahanta, as cultural pressure against interfaith marriage for either side.<ref name="Mahanta-2014" />
As of 2014, Hindus were the leading religious majority in India, at 81%, with Muslims at 13%.<ref name=":5">{{Cite news|url = https://online.wsj.com/articles/hindu-activists-in-india-warn-women-to-beware-of-love-jihad-1409874089|title = Hindu Activists in India Warn Women to Beware of 'Love Jihad'|last = Mandhana|first = Niharika|date = 4 September 2014|work = The Wall Street Journal|accessdate = 6 September 2014}}</ref>

As of 2011, Hindus were the leading religious majority in India, at 80%, with Muslims at 14% an increase from 9% from 1951 while the Hindu population of Pakistan has remained at 2% and that of Bangladesh fallen to 8%.<ref name="Mandhana-2014">{{Cite news |url=https://online.wsj.com/articles/hindu-activists-in-india-warn-women-to-beware-of-love-jihad-1409874089 |title=Hindu Activists in India Warn Women to Beware of 'Love Jihad' |last=Mandhana |first=Niharika |date=4 September 2014 |work=The Wall Street Journal |access-date=14 March 2017 |archive-date=19 October 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141019135920/http://online.wsj.com/articles/hindu-activists-in-india-warn-women-to-beware-of-love-jihad-1409874089 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6367773.stm|title=Hindus feel the heat in Pakistan|date=2 March 2007|accessdate=7 August 2023|via=news.bbc.co.uk|archive-date=14 August 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100814193916/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6367773.stm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://tribune.com.pk/story/1719994/headcount-finalised-sans-third-party-audit?amp=1|title=Headcount finalised sans third-party audit|date=26 May 2018|website=The Express Tribune|accessdate=7 August 2023|archive-date=30 September 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230930130928/https://tribune.com.pk/story/1719994/headcount-finalised-sans-third-party-audit?amp=1|url-status=live}}</ref> In the 1951 census, ] (now ]) had 1.3% Hindu population, while ] (now ]) had 22.05%.<ref name="D'Costa-2011">{{cite book |last=D'Costa|first=Bina|title=Nationbuilding, Gender and War Crimes in South Asia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ivzKjY5LncIC&pg=PA100|year=2011|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-415-56566-0|page=100}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031217071856/http://www.statpak.gov.pk/depts/pco/statistics/area_pop/area_pop.html|url=http://www.statpak.gov.pk/depts/pco/statistics/area_pop/area_pop.html |archive-date=17 December 2003 |work=Statistics Division, Ministry of Economic Affairs and Statistics, Government of Pakistan |title=Area, Population, Density and Urban/Rural Proportion by Administrative Units}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.banbeis.gov.bd/bd_pro.htm |title=Census of Bangladesh |publisher=Banbeis.gov.bd |access-date=2013-06-08 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706132048/http://www.banbeis.gov.bd/bd_pro.htm |archive-date=6 July 2011 |df=dmy-all}}</ref>


=== Marriage traditions and customs === === Marriage traditions and customs ===
{{See also|Interfaith marriage in Islam|Interfaith marriage#Views of Hinduism}} {{See also |Interfaith marriage in Islam |Interfaith marriage#Views of Hinduism}}
India has a long tradition of ], wherein the bride and groom do not self-select their partners; one 2000 book reported that 90% of marriages in India at the time had been arranged, mostly within ].<ref>{{Cite book|title = Invasion of the Genes: Genetic Heritage of India|last = Ahloowalia|first = B. S.|publisher = Strategic Book Publishing|year = 2009|isbn = 978-1-60860-691-7|location = |page = 159}}</ref> Through the 2000s and 2010s, India witnessed a rise in ], although tensions continue around interfaith marriages, along with other traditionally discouraged unions.<ref name=":6">{{Cite news|url = http://www.voanews.com/content/indian-laws-culture-boost-inter-faith-marriages-147373205/180237.html|title = Indian Laws, Culture Boost Inter-Faith Marriages|last = |first = |date = 12 August 2002|work = Voice of America|accessdate = 7 September 2014}}</ref><ref name=":7">{{Cite news|url = http://www.mumbaimirror.com/others/sunday-read/Jihad-in-the-time-of-love/articleshow/41290908.cms|title = Jihad in the time of love|last = |first = |date = 31 August 2014|work = Mumbai Mirror|accessdate = 7 September 2014}}</ref> In 2012, '']'' reported that illegal intimidation against consenting couples engaging in such discouraged unions, including inter-religious marriage, had surged.<ref>{{Cite news|url = http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/law-commissions-new-draft-wants-khap-panchayats-on-marriages-declared-illegal/article2829231.ece|title = Law Commission's new draft wants khap panchayats on marriages declared illegal|last = Dhar|first = Aarti|date = 24 January 2012|work = The Hindu|accessdate = 7 September 2014}}</ref> That year, Uttar Pradesh saw the proposal of an amendment to remove the requirement to declare religion from the marriage law in hopes of encouraging those who were hiding their interfaith marriage due to social norms to register.<ref name=":6" /> India has a long tradition of ], wherein the bride and groom do not choose their partners. Through the 2000s and 2010s, India witnessed a rise in ], although tensions continue around interfaith marriages, along with other traditionally discouraged unions.<ref name="VOA Aug 2002">{{Cite news |url=http://www.voanews.com/content/indian-laws-culture-boost-inter-faith-marriages-147373205/180237.html |title=Indian Laws, Culture Boost Inter-Faith Marriages |date=12 August 2002 |work=Voice of America |access-date=7 September 2014 |archive-date=7 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140907171718/http://www.voanews.com/content/indian-laws-culture-boost-inter-faith-marriages-147373205/180237.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Mumbai Mirror">{{Cite news |url=http://www.mumbaimirror.com/others/sunday-read/Jihad-in-the-time-of-love/articleshow/41290908.cms |title=Jihad in the time of love |date=31 August 2014 |work=] |access-date=7 September 2014 |archive-date=25 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160825201102/http://www.mumbaimirror.com/others/sunday-read/Jihad-in-the-time-of-love/articleshow/41290908.cms |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2012, '']'' reported that illegal intimidation against consenting couples engaging in such discouraged unions, including inter-religious marriage, had surged.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/law-commissions-new-draft-wants-khap-panchayats-on-marriages-declared-illegal/article2829231.ece |title=Law Commission's new draft wants khap panchayats on marriages declared illegal |last=Dhar |first=Aarti |date=24 January 2012 |work=The Hindu |archive-date=1 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140301200257/http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/law-commissions-new-draft-wants-khap-panchayats-on-marriages-declared-illegal/article2829231.ece |url-status=dead}}</ref> That year, Uttar Pradesh saw the proposal of an amendment to remove the requirement to declare religion from the marriage law in hopes of encouraging those who were hiding their interfaith marriage due to social norms to register.<ref name="VOA Aug 2002" />


One of the tensions surrounding interfaith marriage relates to concerns of required, even ], ].<ref name=":7" /><ref>{{cite web|title=Two booked for forcing wives to embrace Islam in Madhya Pradesh|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Two-booked-for-forcing-wives-to-embrace-Islam-in-Madhya-Pradesh/articleshow/41251910.cms|website=Times of India|accessdate=28 February 2015}}</ref> ] is a legal contract with requirements around the religions of the participants. While Muslim women are only permitted within the contract to marry Muslim men, Muslim men may marry "]", interpreted by most to include ] and ], with the inclusion of ] disputed.<ref>{{Cite book|title = Voices of Islam: Voices of life : family, home, and society|last = Cornell|first = Vincent J.|publisher = Greenwood Publishing Group|year = 2007|isbn = 9780275987350|location = |page = 61|quote = This includes Jew, Christians and Sabeans (a sect that most Muslims believe no longer exists). Zoroastrians, certain types of Hindus, and Buddhists are accepted by some Muslims as 'People of the Book' as well, but this is a matter of dispute.}}</ref> According to a 2014 article in the '']'', some non-Muslim brides in Muslim-Hindu marriages convert, while other couples choose a ] under the ].<ref name=":7" /> One of the tensions surrounding interfaith marriage relates to concerns of required, even ], ].<ref name="Mumbai Mirror" /><ref>{{cite news |title=Two booked for forcing wives to embrace Islam in Madhya Pradesh |url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Two-booked-for-forcing-wives-to-embrace-Islam-in-Madhya-Pradesh/articleshow/41251910.cms |newspaper=The Times of India |access-date=28 February 2015 |archive-date=27 April 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150427202619/http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Two-booked-for-forcing-wives-to-embrace-Islam-in-Madhya-Pradesh/articleshow/41251910.cms |url-status=live }}</ref> ] is a legal contract with requirements around the religions of the participants. While Muslim women are only permitted within the contract to marry Muslim men, Muslim men may marry "]", interpreted by most to include ] and ], with the inclusion of ] disputed.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Voices of Islam: Voices of life : family, home, and society |last=Cornell |first=Vincent J. |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-275-98735-0 |page=61 |quote=This includes Jew, Christians and Sabeans (a sect that most Muslims believe no longer exists). Zoroastrians, certain types of Hindus, and Buddhists are accepted by some Muslims as 'People of the Book' as well, but this is a matter of dispute.}}</ref> According to a 2014 article in the '']'', some non-Muslim brides in Muslim-Hindu marriages convert, while other couples choose a ] under the ].<ref name="Mumbai Mirror" /> Marriage between Muslim women and Hindu men (including Sikh, Jaina, and Buddhist) is legal civil marriage under The Special Marriage Act of 1954.


=== Hindu nationalism and right wing politics ===
==Scope and history==
{{See also |Hindu nationalism |Hindutva}}
Allegations of Love Jihad first rose to national awareness in September 2009.<ref name="Piqued" /><ref>{{cite news | url=http://frontpagemag.com/2009/stephenbrown/the-%E2%80%9Clove-jihad%E2%80%9D-by-steven-brown/ | title = The "Love Jihad" |work = Front Page Mag | first = Stephen | last = Brown | date = 16 Oct 2009}}</ref> Love Jihad was initially alleged to be conducted in Kerala and Mangalore in the coastal Karnataka region. According to the Kerala Catholic Bishops Council, by October 2009 up to 4,500 girls in Kerala had been targeted, whereas ] claimed that 30,000 girls had been ] in Karnataka alone.<ref name="beware">{{cite news |title=Beware of ‘love jihad’ |url=http://www.mathrubhumi.org/news.php?id=24804|newspaper= ] |publisher=mathrubhumi.org |location= ], ], ] |accessdate= 2009-10-18| date = 2009-10-15}}{{dead link|date=April 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.rediff.com/report/2009/oct/14/is-love-jihad-terrors-new-mantra.htm |title=Is 'Love Jihad' terror's new mantra? |publisher=Rediff |date=2009-10-14 |accessdate=2014-04-18}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.daijiworld.com/news/news_disp.asp?n_id=66952 |title=Mangalore: Eight Hindu Organisations to Protest Against ‘Love Jehad’ |publisher=Daijiworld.com |date=14 October 2009 |accessdate=2014-04-18}}</ref> Alleged incidents spread. ] general secretary ] said that there had been reports in Narayaneeya communities of "Love Jihad" attempts.<ref>{{cite news |title = SNDP to campaign against Love Jihad: Vellappally |url = http://www.asianetindia.com/news/sndp-protest-love-jihad-vellappally-2_91229.html |archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20120310203936/http://www.asianetindia.com/news/sndp-protest-love-jihad-vellappally-2_91229.html |archivedate = 2012-03-10 |publisher = ] |author = |date = 19 October 2009 |accessdate = 20 October 2009 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title = SNDP to join fight against ‘Love Jihad’ |url = http://newindianexpress.com/states/kerala/article140981.ece |publisher = ExpressBuzz |author = |date = 19 October 2009 |accessdate = 20 October 2009 }}</ref> Reports of similar activities have also emerged from Pakistan and the United Kingdom.<ref>{{cite news|author=Yudhvir Rana |url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/Not-just-White-girls-Pak-Muslim-men-sexually-target-Hindu-and-Sikh-girls-as-well/articleshow/7254035.cms?referral=PM |title='Not just White girls, Pak Muslim men sexually target Hindu and Sikh girls as well |publisher=Times of India |date=2011-01-10 |accessdate=2014-04-18}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.standard.co.uk/news/police-protect-girls-forced-to-convert-to-islam-7256407.html |title=Police protect girls forced to convert to Islam |publisher=Thisislondon.co.uk |date=2007-02-22 |accessdate=2014-04-18}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|author=metrowebukmetro |url=http://metro.co.uk/2007/02/22/hindu-girls-targeted-by-extremists-108990/ |title=Hindu girls targeted by extremists |publisher=Metro.co.uk |date=2007-02-22 |accessdate=2014-04-18}}</ref> According to an opinion piece by ''Liberal Politics'' blogger ], "In the 90s, an anonymous leaflet (suspected to be by Hizb ut-Tahrir followers) urged Muslim men to seduce Sikh girls to convert them to Islam."<ref>{{cite web|author=Sunny Hundal |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/belief/2012/jul/03/edl-sikh-men-women |title=EDL and Sikh men unite in using women as pawns &#124; Sunny Hundal &#124; Opinion |publisher=The Guardian |date= |accessdate=2016-09-12}}</ref>
Love jihad in politics has been closely tied to Hindu nationalism, particularly the more extremist form hindutva associated with ] ] ].<ref name="Chandra Pandey-2013" /> The anti-Islamic stances of many right wing hindutva groups like ] (VHP) are usually hostile to inter-religious marriage and religious pluralism, which can sometimes result in mob violence motivated by allegations of love jihad.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Sarkar |first=Tanika |date=1 July 2018 |title=special guest contribution: is love without borders possible? |journal=] |volume=119 |issue=1 |pages=7–19 |doi=10.1057/s41305-018-0120-0 |s2cid=149827310 |issn=1466-4380}}</ref>


== Timeline ==
In 2014, reports have originated from diverse regions, including ],<ref>{{Cite news|url = http://daily.bhaskar.com/news/BIH-now-love-jihad-case-in-bihar-girl-forced-to-change-her-religion-pleads-for-justi-4731591-PHO.html|title = Now ‘Love Jihad’ case in Bihar, girl forced to change her religion, pleads for justice|last = |first = |date = 2 September 2014|work = Daily Bhaskar|accessdate = 6 September 2014}}</ref> ],<ref>{{Cite news|url = http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/love-jihad-taekwondo-national-player-from-kanpur-up/1/380151.html|title = Taekwondo national player from UP says she is love jihad victim|last = |first = |date = 1 September 2014|work = India Today|accessdate = 6 September 2014}}</ref> ],<ref>{{Cite news|url = http://daily.bhaskar.com/news/MP-BHO-nurse-accuses-husband-for-religion-conversion-and-nikah-in-gwalior-4733844-PHO.html|title = MP Love-Jihad: Nurse accuses husband for religion conversion and nikah|last = |first = |date = 4 September 2014|work = Daily Bhaskar|accessdate = 6 September 2014}}</ref> and ].<ref name="HT Correspondent">{{Cite news|url = http://www.hindustantimes.com/punjab/amritsar/love-jihad-exploitation-of-uk-sikh-girls-by-pak-youths-worries-akal-takht/article1-1177246.aspx|title = 'Love jihad': UK Sikh girls' exploitation worries Takht|last = HT Correspondent|first = |date = 27 January 2014|work = Hindustan Times|accessdate = 6 September 2014}}</ref>
=== Early origins and beginnings ===
Similar controversies over inter religious marriage were relatively common in India from the 1920s until independence in 1947, when allegations of forced marriage were typically called "abductions".<ref>{{cite news |first=Chandrima |last=Banerjee |title=Ram Sene coined 'love jihad', but first 'case' goes back a century |newspaper=Times of India |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/ram-sene-coined-love-jihad-but-first-case-goes-back-a-century/articleshow/78744013.cms |access-date=14 November 2020 |archive-date=20 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201120101539/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/ram-sene-coined-love-jihad-but-first-case-goes-back-a-century/articleshow/78744013.cms |url-status=live }}</ref> They were more common in religiously diverse areas, including campaigns against both Muslims and Christians, and were tied to fears over religious demographics and political power in the newly emerging Indian nation. Fears of women converting was also a catalyst of the ] that occurred during that period. However, allegations of Love Jihad first rose to national awareness in September 2009.<ref name="Piqued">{{cite news |date=6 September 2011 |title='Love jihad' piqued US interest |work=The Times of India |url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Love-jihad-piqued-US-interest/articleshow/9877883.cms?referral=PM |access-date=18 April 2014 |archive-date=14 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180914070513/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Love-jihad-piqued-US-interest/articleshow/9877883.cms?referral=PM |url-status=live }}</ref>


According to the Kerala Catholic Bishops Council, by October 2009 up to 4,500 girls in Kerala had been targeted, whereas ] claimed that 30,000 girls had been ] in Karnataka alone.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.rediff.com/report/2009/oct/14/is-love-jihad-terrors-new-mantra.htm |title=Is 'Love Jihad' terror's new mantra? |work=Rediff |date=14 October 2009 |access-date=16 February 2010 |archive-date=11 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131211052832/http://news.rediff.com/report/2009/oct/14/is-love-jihad-terrors-new-mantra.htm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.daijiworld.com/news/news_disp.asp?n_id=66952 |title=Mangalore: Eight Hindu Organisations to Protest Against 'Love Jehad' |work=Daijiworld.com |date=14 October 2009 |archive-date=5 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131105102617/http://www.daijiworld.com/news/news_disp.asp?n_id=66952 |url-status=dead }}</ref> ] general secretary Vellapally Natesan said that there had been reports in Narayaneeya communities of "Love Jihad" attempts.<ref>{{cite news |title=SNDP to campaign against Love Jihad: Vellappally |url=http://www.asianetindia.com/news/sndp-protest-love-jihad-vellappally-2_91229.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120310203936/http://www.asianetindia.com/news/sndp-protest-love-jihad-vellappally-2_91229.html |archive-date=10 March 2012 |work=] |date=19 October 2009 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=SNDP to join fight against 'Love Jihad' |url=http://newindianexpress.com/states/kerala/article140981.ece |work=The New Indian Express |date=19 October 2009 |access-date=24 May 2013 |archive-date=6 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131106084257/http://newindianexpress.com/states/kerala/article140981.ece |url-status=dead }}</ref> Following the controversy's initial flare-up in 2009, it flared again in 2010, 2011 and 2014.<ref name="Criticized">{{cite news |url=http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2010-07-27/news/27572286_1_love-jihad-love-jihad-hindu |title=Kerala CM criticised for speaking out against 'love jihad' |date=27 July 2010 |work=] |access-date=18 April 2014 |archive-date=12 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110812053206/http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2010-07-27/news/27572286_1_love-jihad-love-jihad-hindu |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="hate">{{cite news |title=Love jihad sparks hate |url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bangalore/Love-jihad-sparks-hate/articleshow/11140332.cms?referral=PM |work=The Times of India |date=17 December 2011 |access-date=18 April 2014 |archive-date=30 January 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160130123742/http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bangalore/Love-jihad-sparks-hate/articleshow/11140332.cms?referral=PM |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="IT Sep 2012" /> On 25 June 2014, Kerala Chief Minister ] informed the state legislature that 2,667 young women converted to Islam in the state between 2006 and 2014. However, he stated that there was no evidence for any of them being forced to convert, and that fears of Love Jihad were "baseless."<ref name="IT Sep 2012">{{cite news |url=http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/love-jihad-oommen-chandy-islam-kerala-muslim-marriage/1/215942.html |title=Over 2500 women converted to Islam in Kerala since 2006, says Oommen Chandy |work=India Today |date=4 September 2012 |access-date=16 July 2014 |archive-date=4 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140904045700/http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/love-jihad-oommen-chandy-islam-kerala-muslim-marriage/1/215942.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Muslim organizations such as the '']'' and the ''Campus Front'' have been accused of promoting this activity.<ref name="Nelson-2009">{{cite news |last=Nelson |first=Dean |date=13 October 2009 |title=Handsome Muslim men accused of waging 'love jihad' in India |work=] |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/6316966/Handsome-Muslim-men-accused-of-waging-love-jihad-in-India.html |access-date=4 April 2018 |archive-date=24 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200124190122/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/6316966/Handsome-Muslim-men-accused-of-waging-love-jihad-in-India.html |url-status=live }}</ref> In Kerala, some movies have been accused of promoting Love Jihad, a charge which has been denied by the filmmakers.<ref>{{cite news |first=Rohit |last=Raj |title=Filmmakers protest Love Jihad slur in social media |date=27 July 2012 |url=http://www.deccanchronicle.com/local/kochi/filmmakers-protest-love-jihad-slur-social-media-082 |work=] |access-date=18 April 2014 |archive-date=3 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131103081046/http://www.deccanchronicle.com/local/kochi/filmmakers-protest-love-jihad-slur-social-media-082 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Bollywood films ] and ] were accused of promoting Love jihad by Hindu outfits.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.deccanherald.com/content/449522/pk-supports-love-jihad-hindu.html |title='PK' supports 'Love Jihad', Hindu outfit seeks a ban |date=24 December 2014 |work=Deccan Herald |access-date=8 March 2022 |archive-date=8 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220308162832/https://www.deccanherald.com/content/449522/pk-supports-love-jihad-hindu.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.dnaindia.com/entertainment/report-bajrangi-bhaijaan-is-not-about-love-jihad-2039556 |title=Bajrangi Bhaijaan is not about Love Jihad |newspaper=Daily News and Analysis |date=29 November 2014 |access-date=6 May 2023 |archive-date=6 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230506153833/https://www.dnaindia.com/entertainment/report-bajrangi-bhaijaan-is-not-about-love-jihad-2039556 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/jan/02/bollywood-film-pk-hindu-nationalist-protests-india-aamir-khan |title=Bollywood film fans fall in love with PK despite Hindu nationalist protests |date=2 January 2015 |work=the Guardian |access-date=8 March 2022 |archive-date=8 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201108202152/http://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/jan/02/bollywood-film-pk-hindu-nationalist-protests-india-aamir-khan |url-status=live }}</ref> The actors and directors denied that their films promoted Love jihad.<ref>{{Cite magazine |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/movies/bollywood/story/aamir-khan-pk-anti-hindu-hindutva-love-jihad-rajkumar-hirani-twitter-anti-religion-232488-2014-12-23 |title=Aamir Khan defends PK: Not targetting any particular religion |date=December 26, 2014 |magazine=India Today |access-date=8 March 2022 |archive-date=8 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220308162830/https://www.indiatoday.in/movies/bollywood/story/aamir-khan-pk-anti-hindu-hindutva-love-jihad-rajkumar-hirani-twitter-anti-religion-232488-2014-12-23 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/movies/bollywood/story/salman-khan-bajrangi-bhaijaan-kabir-khan-kareena-kapoor-229316-2014-12-01 |title=Bajrangi Bhaijaan is a masala film, not about love jihad: Kabir Khan |date=December 1, 2014 |magazine=India Today |access-date=8 March 2022 |archive-date=8 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220308162830/https://www.indiatoday.in/movies/bollywood/story/salman-khan-bajrangi-bhaijaan-kabir-khan-kareena-kapoor-229316-2014-12-01 |url-status=live }}</ref>
The Sikh Council received reports in 2014 that girls from British Sikh families were becoming victims of Love Jihad. Furthermore, these reports stated that these girls were being exploited by their husbands, some of whom afterwards abandoned them in Pakistan. According to the Takht jathedar, "The Sikh council has rescued some of the victims (girls) and brought them back to their parents."<ref name="HT Correspondent"/>


Around the same time that the conspiracy theory was beginning to spread, accounts of Love Jihad also began becoming prevalent in ].<ref>{{cite book |title=Formatting Religion: Across Politics, Education, Media, and Law |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yj6IDwAAQBAJ |page=89 |author=Marius Timmann Mjaaland |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-0-429-63827-5 |year=2019 |access-date=22 September 2020 |archive-date=19 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240419133348/https://books.google.com/books?id=yj6IDwAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}</ref> ], the leader of ], has said that Muslim men pretend to be Buddhists and then the Buddhist women are lured into Islam in Myanmar.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://europe-solidaire.org/spip.php?article43249 |title=South Asia: Murderous majorities |author=Kesavan Mukul |access-date=22 September 2020 |archive-date=9 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200809181028/https://www.europe-solidaire.org/spip.php?article43249 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.academia.edu/37554959 |title=Buddhist Islamophobia: Actors, Tropes, Contexts |author=Iselin Frydenlund |journal=Academia |access-date=22 September 2020 |archive-date=24 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624145005/https://www.academia.edu/37554959 |url-status=live }}</ref> He has urged to "protect our Buddhist women from the Muslim love-jihad" by introducing further legislation.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bangkokpost.com/world/417974/buddhist-backlash-against-fear-of-love-jihad-in-myanmar |title=Buddhist backlash against fear of 'love-jihad' |year=2014 |work=] |access-date=22 September 2020 |archive-date=24 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624145026/https://www.bangkokpost.com/world/417974/buddhist-backlash-against-fear-of-love-jihad-in-myanmar |url-status=live }}</ref> Reports of similar activities also began emerging from the United Kingdom's Sikh diaspora.<ref>{{cite news |author=Yudhvir Rana |url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/Not-just-White-girls-Pak-Muslim-men-sexually-target-Hindu-and-Sikh-girls-as-well/articleshow/7254035.cms?referral=PM |title='Not just White girls, Pak Muslim men sexually target Hindu and Sikh girls as well |work=The Times of India |date=10 January 2011 |access-date=18 April 2014 |archive-date=28 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140828021118/http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/Not-just-White-girls-Pak-Muslim-men-sexually-target-Hindu-and-Sikh-girls-as-well/articleshow/7254035.cms?referral=PM |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/police-protect-girls-forced-to-convert-to-islam-7256407.html |title=Police protect girls forced to convert to Islam |work=] |date=22 February 2007 |access-date=4 April 2018 |archive-date=16 February 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140216023003/http://www.standard.co.uk/news/police-protect-girls-forced-to-convert-to-islam-7256407.html |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2014, The Sikh Council alleged that it had received reports that girls from ] families were becoming victims of Love Jihad. Furthermore, these reports alleged that these girls were being exploited by their husbands, some of whom afterwards abandoned them in Pakistan. According to the Takht jathedar, he alleged that "The Sikh council has rescued some of the victims (girls) and brought them back to their parents."<ref name="HT Correspondent">{{Cite news |url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/punjab/amritsar/love-jihad-exploitation-of-uk-sikh-girls-by-pak-youths-worries-akal-takht/article1-1177246.aspx |title='Love jihad': UK Sikh girls' exploitation worries Takht |last=HT Correspondent |date=27 January 2014 |work=Hindustan Times |archive-date=6 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140906234735/http://www.hindustantimes.com/punjab/amritsar/love-jihad-exploitation-of-uk-sikh-girls-by-pak-youths-worries-akal-takht/article1-1177246.aspx |url-status=dead}}</ref>
The fundamentalist Muslim organization ''Popular Front of India'' and the ''Campus Front'' have been accused of promoting this activity.<ref name="Handsome" /><ref>{{cite news | first = B. S. | last = Raghavan | title = Kerala's demographic trends bear watching | date = 30 July 2010 | publisher = The Hindu Business Line | url = http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/todays-paper/tp-opinion/article999860.ece?ref=archive | work = The Hindu Business Line | accessdate = 2012-09-14}}</ref> In Kerala, some movies have been accused of promoting Love Jihad, a charge which has been denied by the filmmakers.<ref>{{cite news | first = Rohit | last = Raj | title = Filmmakers protest Love Jihad slur in social media | date = 27 July 2012 | publisher = Deccan Chronicle | url = http://www.deccanchronicle.com/local/kochi/filmmakers-protest-love-jihad-slur-social-media-082 | work = Deccan Chronicle | accessdate = 2012-09-16}}</ref>


=== Congress Party era (2009–2014) ===
Following the controversy's initial flare-up in 2009, it flared again in 2010, 2011 and 2014.<ref name="Criticized">{{cite news | url = http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2010-07-27/news/27572286_1_love-jihad-love-jihad-hindu | title = Kerala CM criticised for speaking out against ‘love jihad’ | date = 27 July 2010 | accessdate = 28 July 2010 | work = ]}}</ref><ref name="hate">{{cite news | title = Love jihad sparks hate | url= http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bangalore/Love-jihad-sparks-hate/articleshow/11140332.cms?referral=PM | work = The Times of India | date = 17 December 2011 | accessdate = 22 December 2011}}</ref><ref name=":0" /> On 25 June 2014, Kerala Chief Minister ] informed the state legislature that 2667 young women were converted to Islam in the state since 2006. However, he stated that there was no evidence for any of them being forced conversions, and that fears of Love Jihad were "baseless."<ref name=":0">{{cite news|url=http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/love-jihad-oommen-chandy-islam-kerala-muslim-marriage/1/215942.html |title=Over 2500 women converted to Islam in Kerala since 2006, says Oommen Chandy |publisher=India Today |date=2012-09-04 |accessdate=2014-07-16}}</ref> In connection with an alleged case in ], India TV indicated in September 2014 that the number of cases of reported Love Jihad were rapidly increasing admidst "intense debates" over relationships between Muslim boys and Hindu girls.<ref>{{Cite news|url = http://www.indiatvnews.com/news/india/love-jihad-hindu-girl-commit-suicide-after-conversion-41273.html|title = Love Jihad: Hindu girl commits suicide after conversion|last = India TV Web Desk|first = |date = 2 September 2014|work = India TV|accessdate = 6 September 2014}}</ref>
The initial formations of the conspiracy theory were solidified when various organisations began joining. Christian groups, such as the Christian Association for Social Action, and the ] (VHP) banded against it, with the VHP establishing the "Hindu Helpline" that it started answered 1,500 calls in three months related to "Love Jihad".<ref name="Ananthakrishnan G-2009">{{cite news |author=Ananthakrishnan G |url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Love-Jihad-racket-VHP-Christian-groups-find-common-cause/articleshow/5117548.cms |title='Love Jihad' racket: VHP, Christian groups find common cause |work=The Times of India |date=13 October 2009 |access-date=16 February 2010 |archive-date=5 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140805051759/http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Love-Jihad-racket-VHP-Christian-groups-find-common-cause/articleshow/5117548.cms |url-status=live }}</ref> The ] (UCAN) has reported that the ] was concerned about this alleged phenomenon.<ref name="Concerned">{{cite news |date=13 October 2009 |title=Church, state concerned about ´love jihad´ |work=Union of Catholic Asian News |url=http://www.ucanews.com/2009/10/13/church-state-concerned-about-love-jihad |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091018162826/http://www.ucanews.com/2009/10/13/church-state-concerned-about-love-jihad |archive-date=18 October 2009}}</ref> In September, posters of right-wing group ] warning against "Love Jihad" appeared in ], ].<ref name="Babu Thomas-2009">{{cite news |author=Babu Thomas |title=Poster campaign against 'Love Jihad' |url=http://newindianexpress.com/cities/thiruvananthapuram/article157178.ece |work=The New Indian Express |date=26 September 2009 |access-date=24 May 2013 |archive-date=6 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131106084303/http://newindianexpress.com/cities/thiruvananthapuram/article157178.ece |url-status=dead }}</ref> The group announced in December that it would launch a nationwide "Save our daughters, save India" campaign to combat "Love Jihad".<ref>{{cite news |url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bangalore/Rama-Sene-to-launch-Save-our-daughters-Save-India/articleshow/5181924.cms?referral=PM |title='Rama Sene to launch 'Save our daughters Save India' |work=The Times of India |date=31 October 2009 |access-date=18 April 2014 |archive-date=5 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305225552/http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bangalore/Rama-Sene-to-launch-Save-our-daughters-Save-India/articleshow/5181924.cms?referral=PM |url-status=live }}</ref> Muslim organizations in Kerala called it a malicious misinformation campaign.<ref name="misinformation">{{cite news |url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/thiruvananthapuram/Love-Jihad-a-misinformation-campaign-Kerala-Muslim-outfits/articleshow/5189444.cms?referral=PM |title='Love Jihad' a misinformation campaign: Kerala Muslim outfits |work=The Times of India |date=2 November 2009 |access-date=18 April 2014 |archive-date=22 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160822125655/http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/thiruvananthapuram/Love-Jihad-a-misinformation-campaign-Kerala-Muslim-outfits/articleshow/5189444.cms?referral=PM |url-status=live }}</ref> ] (PFI) committee-member Naseeruddin Elamaram denied that the PFI was involved in any "Love Jihad", stating that people convert to Hinduism and Christianity as well and that religious conversion is not a crime.<ref name="Concerned" /> Members of the Muslim Central Committee of ] and ] districts responded by claiming that Hindus and Christians have fabricated these claims to undermine Muslims.<ref>{{cite news |title='Anti Muslim forces phrase 'Love Jihad' |work=Sahilonline.org |date=23 October 2009 |url-status=dead |url=http://www.sahilonline.org/english/news.php?catID=coastalnews&nid=6624 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100620153619/http://www.sahilonline.org/english/news.php?catID=coastalnews&nid=6624 |archive-date=20 June 2010 }}</ref>


In July 2010, the "Love Jihad" controversy resurfaced in the press when Kerala Chief Minister ] referenced the alleged matrimonial conversion of non-Muslim girls as part of an effort to make Kerala a Muslim majority state.<ref name="Criticized" /><ref name="Reignites">{{cite news |url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Kerala-CM-reignites-love-jihad-theory/articleshow/6216779.cms?referral=PM |title=Kerala CM reignites 'love jihad' theory |date=26 July 2010 |work=The Times of India |access-date=18 April 2014 |archive-date=30 January 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160130123742/http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Kerala-CM-reignites-love-jihad-theory/articleshow/6216779.cms?referral=PM |url-status=live }}</ref> PFI dismissed his statements due to the findings of the Kerala probe,<ref name="Reignites" /> but the president of the BJP Mahila Morcha, the women's wing of the conservative ], called for an ] investigation, alleging that the Kerala state probe was closed prematurely due to a tacit understanding with PFI.<ref name="NIA">{{cite news |url=http://newindianexpress.com/cities/thiruvananthapuram/article186554.ece |title=Love jihad cases: Mahila Morcha for NIA probe |date=25 July 2010 |newspaper=New Indian Express |access-date=24 May 2013 |archive-date=6 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131106084238/http://newindianexpress.com/cities/thiruvananthapuram/article186554.ece |url-status=dead }}</ref> The ] in Kerala responded strongly to the Chief Minister's comments, which they described as deplorable and dangerous.<ref name="Criticized" />
India's National shooter Tara Shahdeo in 2014 alleged her husband forced her to convert to Islam and that she was tortured upon her refusal to convert. Her husband was later arrested.<ref name="Shadeo">{{cite news|title=Love jihad: National shooter Tara Shahdeo's husband arrested|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Love-jihad-National-shooter-Tara-Shahdeos-husband-arrested/articleshow/40942634.cms|accessdate=28 February 2015|publisher=TOI}}</ref>


In December 2011, the controversy erupted again in Karnataka legislative assembly, when ] Mallika Prasad of the ] asserted that the problem was ongoing and unaddressed{{snd}} with, according to her, 69 of 84 Hindu girls who had gone missing between January and November of that year confessing after their recovery that "they'd been lured by Muslim youths who professed love."<ref name="hate" /> According to ''The Times of India'', response was divided, with Deputy Speaker N. Yogish Bhat and House Leader ] supporting governmental intervention, while ] ] and ] argued that "the issue was being raised to ] in the district."<ref name="hate" />
One Indian Taekwondo player in 2014 claimed that she was a "victim" of Love Jihad while she was still a minor. Her husband was later arrested for kidnapping and compelling the minor for marriage.<ref name="taekwondo victim">{{cite web|title=Taekwondo national player from UP says she is love jihad victim|url= http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/love-jihad-taekwondo-national-player-from-kanpur-up/1/380151.html|website=India Today|accessdate=28 February 2015}}</ref>


=== Bharatiya Janata Party era (2014–present) ===
== Community responses ==
During the resurgence of the controversy in 2014, protests turned violent at growing concern, even though, according to '']'', the concept was considered "an absurd conspiracy theory by mainstream, moderate Indians."<ref name="Nair-2014">{{Cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/india-religion-modi-idINKBN0GZ2OC20140904 |title='Love Jihad' and religious conversion polarise in Modi's India |last1=Nair |first1=Rupam Jain |date=5 September 2014 |work=Reuters |last2=Daniel |first2=Frank Jack |access-date=9 January 2021 |archive-date=11 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210611172913/https://www.reuters.com/article/india-religion-modi-idINKBN0GZ2OC20140904 |url-status=live }}</ref> Then BJP MP ] alleged that Love Jihad was an international conspiracy targeting India,<ref name="IndiaTV Sep 2014" /> announcing on television that the Muslims "can't do what they want by force in India, so they are using the love jihad method here."<ref name="Mandhana-2014" /> Conservative Hindu activists cautioned women in ] to avoid Muslims and not to befriend them.<ref name="Mandhana-2014" /> In Uttar Pradesh, the influential committee Akhil Bharitiya Vaishya Ekta Parishad announced their intention to push to restrict the use of cell phones among young women to prevent their being vulnerable to such activities.<ref name="Mishra-2014">{{Cite news |url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/In-UP-community-bans-mobiles-for-girls-to-fight-love-jihad/articleshow/41472311.cms |title=In UP, community bans mobiles for girls to fight 'love jihad' |last=Mishra |first=Ishita |date=2 September 2014 |work=The Times of India |access-date=6 September 2014 |archive-date=5 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140905015225/http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/In-UP-community-bans-mobiles-for-girls-to-fight-love-jihad/articleshow/41472311.cms |url-status=live }}</ref>


Following this announcement, '']'' reported that the ] in UP, Shalabh Mathur, "said the term 'love jihad' had been coined only to create fear and divide society along communal lines."<ref name="Mishra-2014" /> Muslim leaders referred to the 2014 rhetoric around the alleged conspiracy as a campaign of hate.<ref name="Mandhana-2014" /> ] voiced concerns that efforts to protect women against the alleged activities would negatively impact ], depriving them of free choice and agency.<ref name="Mumbai Mirror" /><ref>{{Cite news |title=Amid rage over 'Love Jihad' what about what women want? |last=Saha |first=Abhishek |work=Hindustan Times |date=1 September 2014 |url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/amid-rage-over-love-jihad-what-about-what-women-want/article1-1258796.aspx |archive-date=4 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140904065743/http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/amid-rage-over-love-jihad-what-about-what-women-want/article1-1258796.aspx |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=Love Jihad campaign treats women as if they are foolish: Charu Gupta |last=Aravind |first=Indulekha |date=6 September 2014 |work=Business Standard |url=http://www.business-standard.com/article/beyond-business/love-jihad-campaign-treats-women-as-if-they-are-foolish-charu-gupta-114090600699_1.html |access-date=24 October 2014 |archive-date=7 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140907004729/http://www.business-standard.com/article/beyond-business/love-jihad-campaign-treats-women-as-if-they-are-foolish-charu-gupta-114090600699_1.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Netas-using-love-jihad-as-a-tool-for-polarization/articleshow/41142292.cms |title=Netas using love jihad as a tool for polarization |last=Akram |first=Maria |date=29 August 2014 |work=The Times of India |access-date=24 October 2014 |archive-date=1 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140901091628/http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Netas-using-love-jihad-as-a-tool-for-polarization/articleshow/41142292.cms |url-status=live }}</ref>
=== 2009 ===
Various organisations have joined together against this perceived conduct. Christian groups, such as the ], and the ] (VHP) banded against it, with the VHP establishing the ] that it indicates answered 1,500 calls in three months related to "Love Jihad".<ref name="Common" /> The ] (UCAN) has reported that the ] is concerned about this alleged phenomenon.<ref name="Concerned">{{cite web|url=http://www.ucanews.com/2009/10/13/church-state-concerned-about-love-jihad |title=Church, state concerned about ´love jihad´ |publisher=Wayback.archive.org |date= |accessdate=2014-04-22 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20091018162826/http://www.ucanews.com/2009/10/13/church-state-concerned-about-love-jihad |archivedate=18 October 2009 }}</ref> The Vigilance Council of the ] (KCBC) raised an alert for the Catholic community against the practice.<ref name="beware" /> In September, posters appeared in ], ] under the name of right-wing group ] warning against "Love Jihad".<ref name="Poster">{{cite web |author=Babu Thomas |title= Poster campaign against ‘Love Jihad’|url= http://newindianexpress.com/cities/thiruvananthapuram/article157178.ece|publisher= expressbuzz.com |date= 26 September 2009 |accessdate=17 October 2009}}</ref> The group announced in December that it would launch a nationwide "Save our daughters, save India" campaign to combat "Love Jihad".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bangalore/Rama-Sene-to-launch-Save-our-daughters-Save-India/articleshow/5181924.cms?referral=PM |title='Rama Sene to launch 'Save our daughters Save India' |publisher=times of India |date=2009-10-31 |accessdate=2014-04-18}}</ref>


In September 2014, BJP MP ] claimed that Muslim boys in ]s are being motivated for Love Jihad with proposals of rewards of "Rs 11 lakh for an 'affair' with a Sikh girl, Rs 10 lakh for a Hindu girl and Rs 7 lakh for a Jain girl." He claimed to know this through reports to him by Muslims and by the experiences of men in his service who had converted for access.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://indianexpress.com/article/india/politics/bjp-unnao-mp-sakshi-maharaj-claims-madrasas-offering-cash-rewards-for-love-jihad/ |title=BJP Unnao MP Sakshi Maharaj claims madrasas offering cash rewards for love jihad |date=15 September 2014 |work=The Indian Express |access-date=4 July 2015 |archive-date=5 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150705141240/http://indianexpress.com/article/india/politics/bjp-unnao-mp-sakshi-maharaj-claims-madrasas-offering-cash-rewards-for-love-jihad/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Abdul Razzaq Khan, the vice-president of Jamiat Ulama Hind, responded by denying such activities, labeling the comments "part of conspiracy aimed at disturbing the peace of the nation" and demanding action against Maharaj.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bhopal/Muslim-cleric-blasts-Sakshi-Maharaj-for-jihad-factory-remark/articleshow/42701489.cms |title=Muslim Cleric Blasts Sakshi Maharaj for Jihad Factory Remark |work=The Times of India |date=17 September 2014 |access-date=4 July 2015 |archive-date=24 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624145038/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bhopal/Muslim-cleric-blasts-Sakshi-Maharaj-for-jihad-factory-remark/articleshow/42701489.cms |url-status=live }}</ref> Uttar Pradesh minister Mohd ] indicated the statement was "trying to break the country".<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.indiatvnews.com/politics/national/azam-khan-rapist-sakshi-maharaj-madrassa-bjp-love-jihad-isi-20173.html |title=Azam slams Sakshi Maharaj on madarssa issue, calls him "rapist" |work=India TV News |date=17 September 2014 |access-date=4 July 2015 |archive-date=5 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150705130442/http://www.indiatvnews.com/politics/national/azam-khan-rapist-sakshi-maharaj-madrassa-bjp-love-jihad-isi-20173.html |url-status=live }}</ref> In January, ]'s women's wing, ] used actor ]'s morphed picture half covered with ] issue of their magazine, on the theme of Love Jihad.<ref>{{cite news |title=Star Power Kareena Used As Warning Against Love Jihad |url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/star-power-kareena-used-as-warning-against-love-jihad/article1-1304415.aspx |work=Hindustan Times |date=7 January 2015 |archive-date=19 January 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150119155853/http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/star-power-kareena-used-as-warning-against-love-jihad/article1-1304415.aspx |url-status=dead }}</ref> The caption underneath read: "conversion of nationality through religious conversion".<ref>{{cite news |title=Kareena Kapoor is now the face of VHP's love jihad campaign |url=http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/love-jihad-kareena-kapoor-vhp-campaign/1/412032.html |work=India Today |date=8 January 2015 |access-date=19 January 2015 |archive-date=19 January 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150119121847/http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/love-jihad-kareena-kapoor-vhp-campaign/1/412032.html |url-status=live }}</ref> In June 2018, Jharkhand High Court granted a divorce in an alleged love jihad case in which the accused lied about his religion and forcing the victim to convert to Islam after marriage.<ref name="dnaindia2018">{{cite news |url=https://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-jharkhand-love-jihad-case-former-national-shooter-tara-shahdeo-granted-divorce-from-raqibul-hassan-2630045 |title=Jharkhand love jihad case: Former national shooter Tara Shahdeo granted divorce from Raqibul Hassan |work=Daily News and Analysis |date=27 June 2018 |access-date=6 August 2020 |archive-date=18 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210118014152/https://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-jharkhand-love-jihad-case-former-national-shooter-tara-shahdeo-granted-divorce-from-raqibul-hassan-2630045 |url-status=live }}</ref>
Muslim organizations in Kerala called it a malicious misinformation campaign.<ref name="misinformation">{{cite news|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/thiruvananthapuram/Love-Jihad-a-misinformation-campaign-Kerala-Muslim-outfits/articleshow/5189444.cms?referral=PM |title='Love Jihad' a misinformation campaign: Kerala Muslim outfits |publisher=Times of India |date=2009-11-02 |accessdate=2014-04-18}}</ref> ] (PFI) committee-member Naseeruddin Elamaram denied that the PFI was involved in any "Love Jihad", stating that people convert to Hinduism and Christianity as well and that religious conversion is not a crime.<ref name="Concerned" /> Members of the Muslim Central Committee of ] and ] districts have responded by claiming that Hindus and Christians have fabricated these claims to undermine the Muslim faith and community.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.sahilonline.org/english/news.php?catID=coastalnews&nid=6624&viewed=0 |title='Anti Muslim forces phrase 'Love Jihad'&#39; |publisher=Sahilonline.org |date= |accessdate=2014-04-18 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131211033101/http://www.sahilonline.org/english/news.php?catID=coastalnews&nid=6624&viewed=0 |archivedate=11 December 2013 }}</ref>


=== 2010 === ==== 2017 Hadiya court case ====
{{Main |Hadiya case}}
In July 2010, the "Love Jihad" controversy resurfaced in the press when Kerala Chief Minister ] referenced the alleged matrimonial conversion of non-Muslim girls as part of an effort to make Kerala a Muslim majority state.<ref name="Criticized" /><ref name="Reignites">{{cite news | url = http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Kerala-CM-reignites-love-jihad-theory/articleshow/6216779.cms?referral=PM | title = Kerala CM reignites 'love jihad' theory | date= 26 July 2010 | accessdate = 28 July 2010 | work = ]}}</ref> PFI dismissed his statements due to the findings of the Kerala probe,<ref name="Reignites" /> but the president of the ], the women's wing of the conservative ], called for an ] investigation, alleging that the Kerala state probe was closed prematurely due to a tacit understanding with PFI.<ref name="NIA">{{cite web | url = http://newindianexpress.com/cities/thiruvananthapuram/article186554.ece | title = Love jihad cases: Mahila Morcha for NIA probe | date = 25 July 2010 | work = Express News Service | publisher = The New Indian Express Group | accessdate = 28 July 2010}}</ref> The ] in Kerala responded strongly to the Chief Minister's comments, which they described as deplorable and dangerous.<ref name="Criticized" />


In May 2017, the ] annulled a marriage of a converted Hindu woman Akhila alias Hadiya to a Muslim man Shafeen Jahan on the grounds that the bride's parents were not present, nor gave consent for the marriage, after allegations by her father of conversion and marriage at the behest of the ] (ISIS).<ref name=ITangle /> Hadiya's father had claimed that his daughter had been influenced to marry a Muslim man by some organisations so she no longer remained in her parents' custody.<ref name=ITchallenge /> However, Hadiya claimed that she had been following Islam since 2012 and had left her home of her own will. Akhila was married to Shafeen by the time her father's petition was taken up by the court, following which her marriage was annulled.<ref name="ITangle">{{cite news |title=Kerala High Court nullifies woman's marriage with Muslim man after bride's father raises Islamic State angle |url=http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/kerala-high-court-hindu-muslim-islamic-state/1/962622.html |work=India Today |date=25 May 2017 |access-date=16 August 2017 |archive-date=17 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170817054227/http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/kerala-high-court-hindu-muslim-islamic-state/1/962622.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="ITchallenge" />
=== 2011 ===
In December 2011, the controversy erupted again in Karnataka legislative assembly, when ] Mallika Prasad of the ] asserted that the problem was ongoing and unaddressed&nbsp;— with, according to her, 69 of 84 Hindu girls who had gone missing between January and November of that year confessing after their recovery that "they'd been lured by Muslim youths who professed love."<ref name="hate" /> According to ''The Times of India'', response was divided, with Deputy Speaker N. Yogish Bhat and House Leader ] supporting governmental intervention, while ] ] and ] argued that "the issue was being raised to disrupt communal harmony in the district."<ref name="hate" />


The decision of the court was challenged by Shafeen in the ] in July 2017.<ref name="ITchallenge">{{cite news |title=Kerala Muslim man challenges HC decision to nullify marriage with Hindu woman over ISIS link |url=http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/love-jihad-muslim-youth-kerala-supreme-court-hindu-woman-islam/1/995321.html |work=India Today |date=6 July 2017 |access-date=16 August 2017 |archive-date=11 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170811030254/http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/love-jihad-muslim-youth-kerala-supreme-court-hindu-woman-islam/1/995321.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Voluntary marriage not love jihad: man's plea against Kerala HC ruling |url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/voluntary-marriage-not-love-jihad-mans-plea-against-kerala-hc-ruling/article19246201.ece |newspaper=The Hindu |date=9 July 2017 |last1=Rajagopal |first1=Krishnadas |access-date=16 August 2017 |archive-date=14 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200714000218/https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/voluntary-marriage-not-love-jihad-mans-plea-against-kerala-hc-ruling/article19246201.ece |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Supreme Court hears its 1st 'love jihad' case, demands proof from NIA |url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/supreme-court-hears-its-1st-love-jihad-case-demands-proof-from-nia/articleshow/59923249.cms |work=The Times of India |date=4 August 2017 |access-date=16 August 2017 |archive-date=27 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190827004932/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/supreme-court-hears-its-1st-love-jihad-case-demands-proof-from-nia/articleshow/59923249.cms |url-status=live }}</ref> The Supreme Court sought the response from the ] (NIA) and the Kerala government,<ref>{{cite news |title=Supreme Court Hears Case Of 'Love Jihad', Seeks Response From The NIA |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.in/2017/08/05/supreme-court-hears-case-of-love-jihad-seeks-response-from-th_a_23065890/ |work=Huffington Post |date=4 August 2017 |access-date=16 August 2017 |archive-date=16 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170816191218/http://www.huffingtonpost.in/2017/08/05/supreme-court-hears-case-of-love-jihad-seeks-response-from-th_a_23065890/ |url-status=live }}</ref> ordering an NIA probe headed by former SC Judge ] on 16 August. The NIA had earlier submitted that the woman's conversion and marriage was not "isolated" and it had detected a pattern emerging in the state.<ref name="Rajagopal-2017">{{cite news |title=Supreme Court orders NIA probe into Kerala woman's conversion and marriage case |url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/supreme-court-orders-nia-probe-into-kerala-womans-conversion-and-marriage/article19501689.ece |newspaper=The Hindu |date=16 August 2017 |last1=Rajagopal |first1=Krishnadas |access-date=16 August 2017 |archive-date=12 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200712163752/https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/supreme-court-orders-nia-probe-into-kerala-womans-conversion-and-marriage/article19501689.ece |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=4 December 2017 |title=Hadiya's 'husband' was in touch with IS men before their marriage: NIA |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/hadiyas-husband-was-in-touch-with-is-men/articleshow/61908549.cms |newspaper=The Times of India |access-date=4 December 2017 |archive-date=3 December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171203234415/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/hadiyas-husband-was-in-touch-with-is-men/articleshow/61908549.cms |url-status=live }}</ref>
That same month, the alleged phenomenon was raised by ] leader during a protest organized by ] about the arrest and reported mistreatment of 15 people on an unrelated matter, when Sangh suggested that police feared to interfere with Muslim youth who practice "Love Jihad" and cautioned young Hindu women against using cell phones, suggesting these play a major role.<ref>{{cite news | url = http://www.daijiworld.com/news/news_disp.asp?n_id=124942 | title = Sullia: Prabhakara Bhat Resents Injustices Inflicted on Hindu Society | work = ] | date = 17 December 2011 | accessdate = 22 December 2011}}</ref> It was also raised by filmmaker ], who labeled the phenemonen as VHP ].<ref>{{cite news | url = http://archive.indianexpress.com/news/love-sting-aur-dhoka/888514/1 | title = Love, Sting Aur Dhoka | date = 18 December 2011 | first = Paromita | last = Vohra | accessdate = 22 December 2011 | work = The Indian Express}}</ref>


The Supreme Court on 8 March 2018 overturned the annulment of Hadiya's marriage by the Kerala High Court and held that the she had married of her own free will. However, it allowed NIA to continue investigation into the allegations of a terror dimension.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/hadiya-s-marriage-to-shefin-stays-supreme-court-overturns-kerala-high-court-order-1184561-2018-03-08 |title=Hadiya's marriage restored, Supreme Court says no love jihad |work=India Today |date=8 March 2018 |access-date=9 March 2018 |archive-date=8 March 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180308120945/https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/hadiya-s-marriage-to-shefin-stays-supreme-court-overturns-kerala-high-court-order-1184561-2018-03-08 |url-status=live }}</ref> The NIA examined 11 interfaith marriages in Kerala and completed its investigation in October 2018, concluding that "the agency has not found any evidence to suggest that in any of these cases either the man or the woman was coerced to convert".<ref name="Ahuja-2018">{{cite news |last1=Ahuja |first1=Rajesh |title=NIA ends Kerala probe, says there's love but no jihad |url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/nia-ends-kerala-probe-says-there-s-love-but-no-jihad/story-wlpWR7BMNcdJHkb1MUso4J.html |work=Hindustan Times |date=18 October 2018 |access-date=24 March 2021 |archive-date=3 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210303134924/https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/nia-ends-kerala-probe-says-there-s-love-but-no-jihad/story-wlpWR7BMNcdJHkb1MUso4J.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
=== 2012 ===


==== 2020 legislation and outcomes ====
On 25 June 2012, ], then ] of Kerala, tabled some numbers in the state Legislature:<ref>{{cite news | url = http://www.firstpost.com/india/keralas-missing-youths-spate-of-conversions-love-jihad-cases-hint-at-more-disappearances-2890416.html | title = Spate of conversions, ‘love jihad’ cases hint at more disappearances | work = ] | date = 25 June 2012| accessdate = 13 July 2016}}</ref>
{{See also |Prohibition of Unlawful Religious Conversion Ordinance, 2020}}
Despite drawing severe criticisms{{By whom |date=April 2021}}, the ] continued to repeat its stand on "love jihad". According to the church, Christian women are being targeted, recruited to terrorist outfit Islamic State, making them ] and even killed. Detailing this, a circular, issued by Church chief ] Mar George Alencherry, was read out in many parishes at the ].<ref>{{cite news |last=Raghunathan |first=Arjun |date=15 January 2020 |title=Kerala Church says Love Jihad is real, claims Christian women being lured into IS trap |url=https://www.deccanherald.com/national/south/kerala-church-says-love-jihad-is-real-claims-christian-women-being-lured-into-is-trap-794814.html |newspaper=Deccan Herald |access-date=9 March 2020 |archive-date=1 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200301201430/https://www.deccanherald.com/national/south/kerala-church-says-love-jihad-is-real-claims-christian-women-being-lured-into-is-trap-794814.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=16 January 2020 |title=Love Jihad making Kerala girls sex slaves: Church |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kochi/love-jihad-church-says-its-real/articleshow/73281383.cms |newspaper=The Times of India |access-date=9 March 2020 |archive-date=20 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200120072430/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kochi/love-jihad-church-says-its-real/articleshow/73281383.cms |url-status=live }}</ref> In the circular (dated 15 January 2020) that was read out in ] on Sunday, it is stated that ] women are being targeted under a conspiracy through inter-religious relationships, which often grow as a threat to religious harmony. "Christian women from Kerala are even being recruited to ] through this," the circular read.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/amidst-criticisms-kerala-catholic-churches-read-out-love-jihad-circular-sunday-mass-116403 |title=Kerala Catholic churches read out 'love jihad' circular |newspaper=] |date=19 January 2020 |access-date=21 January 2020 |archive-date=19 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200119153627/https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/amidst-criticisms-kerala-catholic-churches-read-out-love-jihad-circular-sunday-mass-116403 |url-status=live }}</ref> Further, Kerala Catholic Bishops Conference's (KCBC) Commission for Social Harmony and Vigilance, claimed that there were 4,000 instances of "love jihad" between 2005 and 2012.<ref>{{cite news |title=Christian girls targeted and killed in name of love jihad: Kerala's Syro-Malabar church |url=https://www.theweek.in/news/india/2020/01/15/christian-girls-targeted-and-killed-in-name-of-love-jihad-kerala-syro-malabar-church.html |date=15 January 2020 |work=The Week |access-date=30 October 2020 |archive-date=1 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201101022754/https://www.theweek.in/news/india/2020/01/15/christian-girls-targeted-and-killed-in-name-of-love-jihad-kerala-syro-malabar-church.html |url-status=live }}</ref>


On 27 September 2020, protests occurred after a young Muslim man attempted to kidnap a 21-year-old Hindu woman near her college campus, and fatally shot her when she resisted. Her family said that he had tried to force her to convert to Islam and marry him.<ref>{{cite news |date=27 October 2020 |title='Love jihad' protests erupt in India after video shows Hindu woman gunned down outside college |newspaper=The Independent |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/faridabad-love-jihad-shooting-video-protests-hindu-muslim-cctv-b1370135.html |access-date=28 October 2020 |archive-date=31 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201031135239/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/faridabad-love-jihad-shooting-video-protests-hindu-muslim-cctv-b1370135.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Joseph |first=Alphonse |date=27 October 2020 |title=Faridabad: Family members of deceased woman claims she was 'forced to convert, marry accused' |url=https://www.oneindia.com/india/faridabad-family-members-of-deceased-woman-claims-she-was-forced-to-convert-marry-accused-3168658.html |work=One India |access-date=28 October 2020 |archive-date=29 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201029230202/https://www.oneindia.com/india/faridabad-family-members-of-deceased-woman-claims-she-was-forced-to-convert-marry-accused-3168658.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
=== 2014 ===
During the resurgence of the controversy in 2014, protests turned violent at growing concern, even though, according to '']'', the concept was considered "an absurd conspiracy theory by mainstream, moderate Indians."<ref name=":4">{{Cite news|url = http://in.reuters.com/article/2014/09/04/india-religion-modi-idINKBN0GZ2OC20140904|title = 'Love Jihad' and religious conversion polarise in Modi's India|last = Nair|first = Rupam Jain|date = 5 September 2014|work = Reuters|accessdate = 6 September 2014|last2 = Daniel|first2 = Frank Jack}}</ref> BJP MP ] alleged that Love Jihad was an international conspiracy targeting India,<ref name=":1" /> announcing on television that the Muslims "can't do what they want by force in India, so they are using the love jihad method here."<ref name=":5" /> Conservative Hindu activists have cautioned women in ] to avoid Muslims and not to befriend them.<ref name=":5" /> In Uttar Pradesh, the influential committee Akhil Bharitiya Vaishya Ekta Parishad announced their intention to push to restrict the use of cell phones among young women to prevent their being vulnerable to such activities.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news|url = http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/In-UP-community-bans-mobiles-for-girls-to-fight-love-jihad/articleshow/41472311.cms|title = In UP, community bans mobiles for girls to fight ‘love jihad’|last = Mishra|first = Ishita|date = 2 September 2014|work = The Times of India|accessdate = 6 September 2014}}</ref>


Many BJP-ruled states, such as ], ], ] and ], then began mulling over laws designed to prevent "forcible conversions" through marriage, commonly referred to as "love jihad" laws.<ref name="Trivedi-2020" /><ref name="Wire Nov 2020" /> In September 2020, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister ] asked his government to come up with a strategy to prevent "religious conversions in the name of love".<ref>{{Cite news |date=18 September 2020 |title=Adityanath govt mulls ordinance against 'love jihad' |work=] |url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/adityanath-govt-mulls-ordinance-against-love-jihad/articleshow/78186587.cms |access-date=19 September 2020 |archive-date=27 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201027135411/https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/adityanath-govt-mulls-ordinance-against-love-jihad/articleshow/78186587.cms |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |agency=PTI |date=18 September 2020 |title=Adityanath govt. mulls ordinance against 'love jihad' -IN |work=The Hindu |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/adityanath-govt-mulls-ordinance-against-love-jihad/article32643089.ece |issn=0971-751X |access-date=19 September 2020 |archive-date=20 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200920022252/https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/adityanath-govt-mulls-ordinance-against-love-jihad/article32643089.ece |url-status=live }}</ref> On 31 October, he announced that a law to curb "love jihad"{{Efn |As of November 2020, "love jihad" is a term not recognized by the Indian legal system.<ref>{{cite news |title=Adityanath Cabinet Approves Ordinance Against 'Love Jihad' |url=https://thewire.in/communalism/adityanath-cabinet-approves-ordinance-against-love-jihad-law |work=The Wire |date=24 November 2020 |access-date=29 December 2020 |archive-date=24 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201124140103/https://thewire.in/communalism/adityanath-cabinet-approves-ordinance-against-love-jihad-law |url-status=live }}</ref> |name= |group=}} would be passed by his government. The law in Uttar Pradesh, which also includes provisions against "unlawful religious conversion," declares a marriage null and void if the sole intention was to "change a girl's religion" and both it and the one in Madhya Pradesh imposed sentences of up to 10 years in prison for those who broke the law.<ref>{{Cite news |date=26 November 2020 |title='Love jihad': Madhya Pradesh proposes 10-year jail term in draft bill |work=] |url=https://scroll.in/latest/979497/love-jihad-madhya-pradesh-proposes-10-year-jail-term-in-draft-bill |access-date=27 November 2020 |archive-date=26 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201126043801/https://scroll.in/latest/979497/love-jihad-madhya-pradesh-proposes-10-year-jail-term-in-draft-bill |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last1=Seth |first1=Maulshree |date=26 November 2020 |title=UP clears 'love jihad' law: 10-year jail, cancelling marriage if for conversion |work=The Indian Express |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/india/up-clears-love-jihad-law-10-year-jail-cancelling-marriage-if-for-conversion-7064474/ |access-date=27 November 2020 |archive-date=26 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201126095622/https://indianexpress.com/article/india/up-clears-love-jihad-law-10-year-jail-cancelling-marriage-if-for-conversion-7064474/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The ordinance came into effect on 28 November 2020<ref>{{Cite news |author=Special Correspondent |date=24 November 2020 |title=Jail term, fine for 'illegal' conversions in Uttar Pradesh -IN |work=The Hindu |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/uttar-pradesh-cabinet-clears-ordinance-against-love-jihad/article33170627.ece |issn=0971-751X |access-date=29 December 2020 |archive-date=24 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201124211523/https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/uttar-pradesh-cabinet-clears-ordinance-against-love-jihad/article33170627.ece |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=28 November 2020 |title=UP Governor Anandiben Patel gives assent to ordinance on 'unlawful conversion' |url=https://www.livemint.com/news/india/up-governor-anandiben-patel-gives-assent-to-ordinance-on-unlawful-conversion-11606545320071.html |work=Mint |access-date=29 December 2020 |archive-date=28 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201128065626/https://www.livemint.com/news/india/up-governor-anandiben-patel-gives-assent-to-ordinance-on-unlawful-conversion-11606545320071.html |url-status=live }}</ref> as the ]. In December 2020, ] approved an anti-conversion law similar to the Uttar Pradesh one.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Siddique |first1=Iram |date=27 December 2020 |title=MP 'love jihad' Bill tougher, but limits who can file FIR |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/india/mp-love-jihad-bill-tougher-but-limits-who-can-file-fir-7121497/ |work=The Indian Express |access-date=13 February 2021 |archive-date=27 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210127024435/https://indianexpress.com/article/india/mp-love-jihad-bill-tougher-but-limits-who-can-file-fir-7121497/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=27 December 2020 |title=MP approves 'love Jihad' law; up to 10 years of jail, Rs 1 lakh fine for forced conversion |url=https://www.businesstoday.in/current/economy-politics/mp-approves-love-jihad-law-up-to-10-years-of-jail-rs-1-lakh-fine-for-forced-conversion/story/426144.html |via=] |agency=] |access-date=13 February 2021 |archive-date=29 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201229205609/https://www.businesstoday.in/current/economy-politics/mp-approves-love-jihad-law-up-to-10-years-of-jail-rs-1-lakh-fine-for-forced-conversion/story/426144.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/12/26/another-bjp-governed-indian-state-plans-anti-conversion-law |title=India's Madhya Pradesh state now plans 'love jihad' law |newspaper=Al Jazeera |date=26 December 2020 |access-date=29 December 2020 |archive-date=28 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201228134710/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/12/26/another-bjp-governed-indian-state-plans-anti-conversion-law |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.deccanherald.com/national/north-and-central/madhya-pradesh-to-take-ordinance-route-to-enforce-anti-conversion-law-932653.html |title=Madhya Pradesh to take ordinance route to enforce anti-conversion law |date=28 December 2020 |work=Deccan Herald |access-date=29 December 2020 |archive-date=24 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624145022/https://www.deccanherald.com/national/north-and-central/madhya-pradesh-to-take-ordinance-route-to-enforce-anti-conversion-law-932653.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://scroll.in/latest/982365/love-jihad-madhya-pradesh-cabinet-approves-anti-conversion-bill |title='Love jihad': Madhya Pradesh Cabinet approves anti-conversion bill |work=] |access-date=29 December 2020 |archive-date=30 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201230015640/https://scroll.in/latest/982365/love-jihad-madhya-pradesh-cabinet-approves-anti-conversion-bill |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/mp-to-enforce-love-jihad-ordinance/story-5kgxJqx27sK39zmwoNSB5O.html |title=Madhya Pradesh to enforce 'love jihad' ordinance |work=Hindustan Times |date=27 December 2020 |access-date=29 December 2020 |archive-date=28 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201228224526/https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/mp-to-enforce-love-jihad-ordinance/story-5kgxJqx27sK39zmwoNSB5O.html |url-status=live }}</ref> As of 25 November 2020, Haryana and Karnataka were still in discussion over similar ordinances.<ref name="Trivedi-2020">{{Cite news |title=India's Most Populous State Brings Law to Fight 'Love Jihad' |work=Bloomberg News |date=25 November 2020 |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-11-25/india-s-most-populous-state-brings-law-to-fight-love-jihad |first1=Upmanyu |last1=Trivedi |access-date=25 November 2020 |archive-date=25 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201125065307/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-11-25/india-s-most-populous-state-brings-law-to-fight-love-jihad |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Wire Nov 2020">{{Cite news |title=After MP, Haryana Says a Committee Will Draft Anti-'Love Jihad' Law |url=https://thewire.in/communalism/haryana-draft-anti-love-jihad-law |date=18 November 2020 |work=The Wire |access-date=25 November 2020 |archive-date=26 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201126121032/https://thewire.in/communalism/haryana-draft-anti-love-jihad-law |url-status=live }}</ref> In April 2021, the Gujarat Assembly amended the Freedom of Religion Act, 2003, bringing in stringent provisions against forcible conversion through marriage or allurement, with the intention of targeting "love jihad".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Langa |first=Mahesh |date=2021-04-01 |title=Gujarat Assembly passes 'love jihad' law -IN |work=The Hindu |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/gujarat-assembly-passes-love-jihad-law/article34217780.ece |issn=0971-751X |access-date=6 June 2021 |archive-date=6 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210606060929/https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/gujarat-assembly-passes-love-jihad-law/article34217780.ece |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=2021-04-02 |title=Gujarat passes Bill to stop 'love jihad' |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/india/gujarat-passes-bill-to-stop-love-jihad-7255067/ |work=The Indian Express |access-date=6 June 2021 |archive-date=6 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210606060929/https://indianexpress.com/article/india/gujarat-passes-bill-to-stop-love-jihad-7255067/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
Following this announcement, '']'' reported, ] Shalabh Mathur "said the term 'love jihad' had been coined only to create fear and divide society along communal lines."<ref name=":2" /> Muslim leaders have referred to 2014 rhetoric around the alleged conspiracy as a campaign of hate.<ref name=":5" /> Feminists voiced concerns that efforts to protect women against the alleged activities would negatively impact ], depriving them of free choice and agency.<ref name=":7" /><ref>{{Cite news|url = http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/amid-rage-over-love-jihad-what-about-what-women-want/article1-1258796.aspx|title = Amid rage over ‘Love Jihad’ what about what women want?|last = Saha|first = Abhishek|date = 1 September 2014|work = New Delhi|accessdate = 6 September 2014}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url = http://www.business-standard.com/article/beyond-business/love-jihad-campaign-treats-women-as-if-they-are-foolish-charu-gupta-114090600699_1.html|title = Love Jihad campaign treats women as if they are foolish: Charu Gupta|last = Aravind|first = Indulekha|date = 6 September 2014|work = Business Standard|accessdate = 6 September 2014}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url = http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Netas-using-love-jihad-as-a-tool-for-polarization/articleshow/41142292.cms|title = ‘Netas using love jihad as a tool for polarization’|last = Akram|first = Maria|date = 29 August 2014|work = Times of India|accessdate = 7 September 2014}}</ref>
The Karnataka state cabinet also approved an anti-conversion ‘love jihad’ bill, making it a law in December 2021.<ref>{{cite news |title=Karnataka state cabinet approves anti-conversion 'love jihad' bill |url=https://www.siasat.com/karnataka-state-cabinet-approves-anti-conversion-love-jihad-bill-2244826/ |work=] |date=20 December 2021 |access-date=30 January 2022 |archive-date=24 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220124172815/https://www.siasat.com/karnataka-state-cabinet-approves-anti-conversion-love-jihad-bill-2244826/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Like UP law, Karnataka anti-conversion Bill addresses right wing demands on 'love jihad' |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/bangalore/karnataka-anti-coversion-bill-right-wing-love-jihad-7684737/ |work=The Indian Express |date=22 December 2021 |access-date=30 January 2022 |archive-date=23 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220123022114/https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/bangalore/karnataka-anti-coversion-bill-right-wing-love-jihad-7684737/ |url-status=live }}</ref>The Congress-led government scrapped the law in June 2023.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Karnataka Cabinet decides to repeal anti-conversion law introduced by BJP |url=https://www.deccanherald.com/india/karnataka/karnataka-cabinet-decides-to-repeal-anti-conversion-law-introduced-by-bjp-1228018.html |access-date=2024-11-25 |website=Deccan Herald |language=en}}</ref>


While campaigning for the ]<ref>{{cite news |title=BJP's 'Love Jihad' Card in the Upcoming Kerala Polls |url=https://thediplomat.com/2021/03/bjps-love-jihad-card-in-the-upcoming-kerala-polls/ |date=March 2021 |work=The Diplomat |access-date=9 April 2021 |archive-date=18 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210318035402/https://thediplomat.com/2021/03/bjps-love-jihad-card-in-the-upcoming-kerala-polls/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=2021-02-27 |title=Will bring in law to prevent 'love jihad' in Kerala if voted to power: BJP |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/india/will-bring-in-law-to-prevent-love-jihad-in-kerala-if-voted-to-power-bjp-7207570/ |work=The Indian Express |access-date=9 April 2021 |archive-date=18 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210318035056/https://indianexpress.com/article/india/will-bring-in-law-to-prevent-love-jihad-in-kerala-if-voted-to-power-bjp-7207570/ |url-status=live }}</ref> and the ],<ref>{{cite news |date=2021-03-27 |title=BJP will tackle 'love jihad', 'land jihad': Amit Shah in Assam |url=https://indianexpress.com/elections/amit-shah-love-land-jihad-elections-7246974/ |access-date=2021-05-24 |work=The Indian Express |archive-date=7 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210407125618/https://indianexpress.com/elections/amit-shah-love-land-jihad-elections-7246974/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=2021-03-24 |title=BJP pledges to enact laws on 'Love Jihad' and 'Land Jihad' in Assam |url=https://thenewsmill.com/bjp-pledges-laws-on-love-jihad-land-jihad-in-assam/ |work=The News Mill -US |access-date=9 April 2021 |archive-date=24 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210324143622/https://thenewsmill.com/bjp-pledges-laws-on-love-jihad-land-jihad-in-assam/ |url-status=live }}</ref> the BJP promised that if it won the elections, it would enact a law that would ban "love jihad" in these states.<ref>{{cite news |title=We are not against love but 'jihad', says Narottam Mishra; bats for 'love jihad' law in WB if BJP forms govt |url=https://www.timesnownews.com/india/west-bengal/article/we-are-not-against-love-but-jihad-says-narotam-mishra-bats-for-love-jihad-law-in-wb-if-bjp-forms-govt/732106 |access-date=2021-06-06 |work=Times Now |archive-date=6 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210606060931/https://www.timesnownews.com/india/west-bengal/article/we-are-not-against-love-but-jihad-says-narotam-mishra-bats-for-love-jihad-law-in-wb-if-bjp-forms-govt/732106 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=2021-03-08 |title=Video: 'Will Bring 'Love Jihad' Law if BJP forms govt in Bengal' says Narottam Mishra |url=https://www.indiatvnews.com/video/politics/will-bring-love-jihad-law-if-bjp-forms-govt-in-bengal-says-narottam-mishra-689623 |work=India TV News |access-date=6 June 2021 |archive-date=6 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210606060931/https://www.indiatvnews.com/video/politics/will-bring-love-jihad-law-if-bjp-forms-govt-in-bengal-says-narottam-mishra-689623 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=2021-03-02 |title=TMC 'Ram-Drohi', BJP Will Bring Law Against Love Jihad Once in Power: Yogi Adityanath at Bengal Rally |url=https://www.news18.com/news/politics/tmc-ram-drohi-bjp-law-against-love-jihad-once-in-power-yogi-adityanath-at-bengal-rally-3490469.html |work=News18 |access-date=6 June 2021 |archive-date=6 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210606060929/https://www.news18.com/news/politics/tmc-ram-drohi-bjp-law-against-love-jihad-once-in-power-yogi-adityanath-at-bengal-rally-3490469.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
], water resources minister and a leader of the Hindu nationalist ], called for communal discussions between leaders of the communities to protect young men and women regardless of religion.<ref>{{Cite news|url = http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/india/11069706/We-need-to-talk-about-Love-Jihad-says-minister-Indias-Muslim-boys-seducing-Hindu-girls-to-force-their-conversion.html|title = 'We need to talk about 'Love Jihad'' says minister: India's Muslim boys seducing Hindu girls to force their conversion|last = Nelson|first = Dean|date = 2 September 2014|work = Telegraph|accessdate = 6 September 2014}}</ref>


==Reliance on tropes==
In September 2014, controversial BJP MP Sakshi Maharaj claimed that Muslim boys in madrasas are being motivated for Love Jihad with proposals of rewards of, "Rs 11 lakh for an “affair” with a Sikh girl, Rs 10 lakh for a Hindu girl and Rs 7 lakh for a Jain girl." He claimed to know this through reports to him by Muslims and by the experiences of men in his service who had converted for access.<ref>{{cite news | url = http://indianexpress.com/article/india/politics/bjp-unnao-mp-sakshi-maharaj-claims-madrasas-offering-cash-rewards-for-love-jihad/ | title = BJP Unnao MP Sakshi Maharaj claims madrasas offering cash rewards for love jihad | date = 15 September 2014 | accessdate = 4 July 2015 | work = Indian Express}}</ref> Abdul Razzaq Khan, the vice-president of Jamiat Ulama Hind, responded by denying such activities, labeling the comments "part of conspiracy aimed at disturbing the peace of the nation" and demanding action against Maharaj.<ref>{{cite news | url = http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bhopal/Muslim-cleric-blasts-Sakshi-Maharaj-for-jihad-factory-remark/articleshow/42701489.cms | title = Muslim Cleric Blasts Sakshi Maharaj for Jihad Factory Remark | work = Times of India | date = 17 September 2014 | accessdate = 4 July 2015}}</ref> Uttar Pradesh minister Mohd Azam Khan indicated the statement was "trying to break the country".<ref>{{cite news | url = http://www.indiatvnews.com/politics/national/azam-khan-rapist-sakshi-maharaj-madrassa-bjp-love-jihad-isi-20173.html | title = Azam slams Sakshi Maharaj on madarssa issue, calls him "rapist" | work = India TV News | date = 17 September 2014 | accessdate = 4 July 2015}}</ref>


The conspiracy theory is noted for its similarities to other historic hate campaigns and instances Euro-American Islamophobia.{{refn |name=first |<ref name="George-2020" /><ref name="Gökarıksel-2019" /><ref name="Leidig-2020">{{Cite journal |last=Leidig |first=Eviane |date=26 May 2020 |title=Hindutva as a variant of right-wing extremism |journal=] |publisher=Taylor & Francis |volume=54 |issue=3 |pages=215–237 |doi=10.1080/0031322X.2020.1759861 |issn=0031-322X |doi-access=free|hdl=10852/84144 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>}}<ref name="Farokhi-2020" /> It features ] portrayals of Muslims as barbaric and ],<ref name="Leidig-2020" /> and carries the ] and ] notions that Hindu women are passive and victimized, while "any possibility of women exercising their legitimate right to love and their right to choice is ignored".<ref name="Gupta-2009"/>{{refn |name=second |<ref name="Gupta-2009" /><ref name="Farokhi-2020" /><ref name="Udupa-2019" /><ref name="Grewal-2014" /><ref name="Gökarıksel-2019" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Ravindran |first=Gopalan |title=Deleuzian and Guattarian Approaches to Contemporary Communication Cultures in India |publisher=] |year=2020 |isbn=978-981-15-2140-9 |pages=38–39}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Basu |first=Amrita |date=2 October 2018 |title=Whither Democracy, Secularism, and Minority Rights in India? |journal=The Review of Faith & International Affairs |volume=16 |issue=4 |pages=34–46 |doi=10.1080/15570274.2018.1535035 |issn=1557-0274 |doi-access=free}}</ref>}} It has consequently been the cause of ] assaults, murders and other violent incidents,{{refn |<ref name="Strohl-2018" />{{rp |2 |q=Other right-wing activists use the hysteria surrounding love jihad to file false legal cases and launch vigilante campaigns against women and men in inter-religious relationships.}}<ref name="Udupa-2019" /><ref name="Trivedi-2020" /><ref name="Waikar-2018" /><ref name="Banaji-2018" /><ref name="Ramachandran-2020" /><ref name="Jayal-2019" />}} including the ].{{refn |name=third |<ref name="George-2016" /><ref name="George-2017" />{{rp |74 |q=The worst riots in India before the 2015 election were in a place called Muzaffarnagar, and subsequent investigations showed that the love jihad narrative had been deliberately stoked up to turn a minor fight into a full-scale riot.}}<ref name="Chandra Pandey-2013">{{cite news |last1=Chandra Pandey |first1=Manish |last2=Pathak |first2=Vikas |date=12 September 2013 |title=Muzaffarnagar: 'Love jihad', beef bogey sparked riot flames |work=Hindustan Times |url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/muzaffarnagar-love-jihad-beef-bogey-sparked-riot-flames/article1-1120889.aspx |archive-url=https://archive.today/20140323022044/http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/muzaffarnagar-love-jihad-beef-bogey-sparked-riot-flames/article1-1120889.aspx |archive-date=23 March 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref>}}
On 13 October, '']'' reported that the woman who claimed in Love-Jihad case that she had been gang-raped and forcefully converted into Islam, changed her statement and said to the Police that she had in fact eloped with the accused. She said that she had given a wrong statement previously as she was threatened by her parents.<ref name=":65">{{Cite news|url = http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/love-jihad-meerut-woman-yogi-adityanath-bjp/1/395471.html|title = Meerut woman denies 'love jihad', says she eloped | date = 13 October 2014|work = India Today}}</ref>


== Official investigations ==
===2015===
=== India ===
In August 2017, the ] (NIA) stated that it had found a common "mentor" in some love jihad cases, "a woman associated with the radical group ]", in August 2017.<ref>{{cite news |date=28 August 2017 |title=NIA finds a common mentor in Kerala 'love jihad' cases |newspaper=The Times of India |url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/nia-finds-a-common-mentor-in-kerala-love-jihad-cases/articleshow/60250975.cms |access-date=10 September 2017 |archive-date=11 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190811143253/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/nia-finds-a-common-mentor-in-kerala-love-jihad-cases/articleshow/60250975.cms |url-status=live }}</ref> According to a later article in '']'', "Repeated police investigations have failed to find evidence of any organised plan of conversion. Reporters have repeatedly exposed claims of 'love jihad' as at best fevered fantasies and at worst, deliberate election-time inventions."<ref name="veconomist">{{cite news |date=30 September 2017 |title=India is working itself into a frenzy about interfaith marriages |newspaper=] |url=https://www.economist.com/news/asia/21729806-hindu-nationalists-warn-muslim-plot-seduce-hindu-women-india-working-itself-frenzy |access-date=30 September 2017 |archive-date=15 February 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180215011632/https://www.economist.com/news/asia/21729806-hindu-nationalists-warn-muslim-plot-seduce-hindu-women-india-working-itself-frenzy |url-status=live }}</ref> According to the same report, the common theme regarding many claims of "love jihad" has been the frenzied objection to an interfaith marriage while "Indian law erects no barriers to marriages between faiths, or against conversion by willing and informed consent. Yet the idea still sticks, even when the supposed 'victims' dismiss it as nonsense."<ref name="veconomist" />


In 2022, the ] and Indian government stated that no more than 100-200 Indians had joined Islamic State, a figure so low that one researcher remarked that "academics and experts often ask the question ‘What had prevented Indian Muslims from joining the Islamic State?'."<ref name="Alt News-2022">{{Cite web |date=2022-11-08 |title='32000 Kerala women in ISIS': Misquotes, flawed math, imaginary figures behind filmmaker's claim |url=https://www.altnews.in/32000-kerala-women-in-isis-misquotes-flawed-math-imaginary-figures-behind-filmmakers-claim/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221203221700/https://www.altnews.in/32000-kerala-women-in-isis-misquotes-flawed-math-imaginary-figures-behind-filmmakers-claim/ |archive-date=3 December 2022 |access-date=2 December 2022 |website=Alt News |language=en-GB}}</ref>
On January, Vishwa Hindu Parishad 's women’s wing, ] used actor ]’s morphed picture half covered with ] issue of their magazine, on the theme of Love Jihaad.<ref>{{cite web |title=Star Power Kareena Used As Warning Against Love Jihad |url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/star-power-kareena-used-as-warning-against-love-jihad/article1-1304415.aspx|publisher=] |date=7 January 2015}}</ref> The caption underneath read: "conversion of nationality through religious conversion".<ref>{{cite web |title=Kareena Kapoor is now the face of VHP's love jihad campaign|url=http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/love-jihad-kareena-kapoor-vhp-campaign/1/412032.html|publisher=] |date=8 January 2015}}</ref>


==== Karnataka ====
==Official investigations==
In October 2009, the Karnataka government announced its intentions to counter "Love Jihad", which "appeared to be a serious issue".<ref>{{cite news |title = Karnataka to take steps to counter 'Love Jihad' movement |url = http://www.deccanherald.com/content/31814/karnataka-take-steps-counter-love.html |publisher = Deccan Herald|date = 2009-10-22 }}</ref> A week after the announcement, the government ordered a probe into the situation by the ] to determine if an organised effort existed to convert these girls and, if so, by whom it was being funded.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bangalore/Govt-directs-CID-to-probe-love-jihad/articleshow/5166639.cms?referral=PM |title=Govt directs CID to probe ‘love jihad’ |publisher=Times of India |date=2009-10-27 |accessdate=2014-04-18}}</ref> One woman whose ] came under scrutiny as a result of the probe was temporarily ordered to the custody of her parents, but eventually permitted to return to her new husband after she appeared in court, denying pressure to convert.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bangalore/Love-jihad-HC-orders-thorough-probe-by-DGP/articleshow/5146769.cms?referral=PM |title=Love jihad: HC orders thorough probe by DGP |publisher=Times of India |date=2009-10-22 |accessdate=2014-04-18}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/uncategorized/woman-denies-love-jihad-court-lets-her-to-go-with-lover_100274297.html |title=Woman denies ‘love jihad’, court lets her to go with lover |publisher=Thaindian News |date=2009-11-13 |accessdate=2014-04-18}}</ref> In April 2010, police used the term to characterize the alleged kidnapping, forced conversion and marriage of a 17-year-old college girl in ].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mysore/Love-Jihad-girl-rescued/articleshow/5767968.cms?referral=PM |title=Love Jihad: girl rescued |publisher=Times of India |date=2010-04-06 |accessdate=2014-04-18}}</ref> In October 2009, the Karnataka government announced its intention to counter "love jihad", which "appeared to be a serious issue".<ref>{{cite news |title=Karnataka to take steps to counter 'Love Jihad' movement |url=http://www.deccanherald.com/content/31814/karnataka-take-steps-counter-love.html |work=Deccan Herald |date=22 October 2009 |access-date=16 February 2010 |archive-date=26 October 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091026175629/http://www.deccanherald.com/content/31814/karnataka-take-steps-counter-love.html |url-status=live }}</ref> A week after the announcement, the government ordered a probe into the situation by the ] to determine if an organised effort existed to convert these girls and, if so, by whom it was being funded.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bangalore/Govt-directs-CID-to-probe-love-jihad/articleshow/5166639.cms?referral=PM |title=Govt directs CID to probe 'love jihad' |work=The Times of India |date=27 October 2009 |access-date=18 April 2014 |archive-date=30 January 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160130123742/http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bangalore/Govt-directs-CID-to-probe-love-jihad/articleshow/5166639.cms?referral=PM |url-status=live }}</ref> One woman, whose conversion to Islam came under scrutiny as a result of the probe, was temporarily ordered to the custody of her parents, but eventually was permitted to return to her new husband after she appeared in court, denying pressure to convert.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bangalore/Love-jihad-HC-orders-thorough-probe-by-DGP/articleshow/5146769.cms?referral=PM |title=Love jihad: HC orders thorough probe by DGP |work=The Times of India |date=22 October 2009 |access-date=18 April 2014 |archive-date=30 January 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160130123743/http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bangalore/Love-jihad-HC-orders-thorough-probe-by-DGP/articleshow/5146769.cms?referral=PM |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/uncategorized/woman-denies-love-jihad-court-lets-her-to-go-with-lover_100274297.html |title=Woman denies 'love jihad', court lets her to go with lover |newspaper=Thaindian News |date=13 November 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131102221900/http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/uncategorized/woman-denies-love-jihad-court-lets-her-to-go-with-lover_100274297.html |archive-date=2 November 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In April 2010, police used the term to characterize the alleged kidnapping, forced conversion and marriage of a 17-year-old college girl in ].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mysore/Love-Jihad-girl-rescued/articleshow/5767968.cms?referral=PM |title=Love Jihad: girl rescued |work=The Times of India |date=6 April 2010 |access-date=18 April 2014 |archive-date=22 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160822190328/http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mysore/Love-Jihad-girl-rescued/articleshow/5767968.cms?referral=PM |url-status=live }}</ref>


In late 2009, The Karnataka ] (Criminal Investigation Department) reported that although it was continuing to investigate, it had found no evidence that a "love jihad" existed.<ref name="thehindu_2009-11-13">{{Cite news
Following the launching of a poster campaign in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, purportedly by organisation Shri Ram Sena, state police began investigating the presence of that organisation in the area.<ref name=Poster/> In late October 2009, police addressed the question of "Love Jihad" itself, indicating that while they had not located an organisation called "Love Jihad", "there are reasons to suspect ‘concentrated attempts’ to persuade girls to convert to Islam after they fall in love with Muslim boys".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.deccanherald.com/content/31958/no-love-jihad-kerala.html |title=No ‘Love Jihad’ in Kerala |publisher=Deccan Herald |date=2013-05-21 |accessdate=2014-04-18}}</ref><ref name="Indian Express">{{cite web|url= http://archive.indianexpress.com/news/kerala-hc-wants-probe-into-love-jihad/523630/2|title= Kerala HC wants probe into 'love jihad'|publisher=Indian Express}}</ref> They documented unconfirmed reports of a foreign-funded network of groups encouraging conversion through the subterfuge, but noted that no organisations conducting such campaigns had been confirmed and no evidence had been located to support foreign financial aid.<ref name="mathrubhumi">{{cite news|title=DGP suspects presence of 'Love Jihad' in Kerala |url=http://www.mathrubhumi.org/news.php?id=25130 |publisher=Mathrubhumi |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727072118/http://www.mathrubhumi.org/news.php?id=25130 |archivedate=27 July 2011 }}</ref>
|date=13 November 2009
|title=Karnataka CID finds no evidence of 'Love Jihad'
|newspaper=The Hindu
|url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/article47922.ece
|access-date=26 June 2013
|archive-date=3 November 2013
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131103130212/http://www.thehindu.com/news/article47922.ece
|url-status=live
}}</ref> In late 2009, ] Jacob Punnoose reported that although the investigation would continue, there was no evidence of any organised attempt by any group or individual using men "feigning love" to lure women to convert to Islam.<ref name="thehindu_2009-11-13" /><ref name="deccanherald_2009-11-11">{{cite news |title=Kerala police have no proof on 'Love Jihad' |newspaper=Deccan Herald |date=11 November 2009 |url=http://www.deccanherald.com/content/35486/kerala-police-have-no-proof.html |access-date=2 October 2010 |archive-date=14 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180914070452/https://www.deccanherald.com/content/35486/kerala-police-have-no-proof.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Investigators did indicate that many Hindu girls had converted to Islam of their own will.<ref name="thehindu_2010-04-23" /> In early 2010, the ] reported to the ] that, although many young Hindu women had converted to Islam, there was no organized attempt to convince them to do so.<ref name="thehindu_2010-04-23" /> According to '']'', Justice ]'s conclusion that "such incidents under the pretext of love were rampant in certain parts of the state" ran contrary to Central and state government reports.<ref name="check">{{cite news |url=http://archive.indianexpress.com/news/hc-calls-for-law-to-check--love-jehad-/552275 |title=HC calls for law to check 'love jehad' |date=10 December 2009 |work=The Indian Express |access-date=18 April 2014 |archive-date=19 April 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140419020309/http://archive.indianexpress.com/news/hc-calls-for-law-to-check--love-jehad-/552275 |url-status=live }}</ref> A petition was also put before Sankaran to prevent the use of the terms "love jihad" and "romeo jihad", but Sankaran declined to overrule an earlier decision not to restrain media usage.<ref name="check" /> Subsequently, the High Court ] further police investigation, both because no organised efforts had been disclosed by police probes and because the investigation was specifically targeted against a single community.<ref name="Padanna-2012">{{cite news |url=http://gulftoday.ae/portal/9af0ebf3-d10f-4592-bd7e-9a0dc0d37bc6.aspx |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131211064437/http://gulftoday.ae/portal/9af0ebf3-d10f-4592-bd7e-9a0dc0d37bc6.aspx |archive-date=11 December 2013 |title=Kerala police probe crack 'love jihad' myth |work=] |first=Ashraf |last=Padanna |date=4 January 2012}}</ref><ref name="ibnlive">{{cite news |url=http://ibnlive.in.com/news/kerala-cops-fail-to-establish-love-jihad-conspiracy/107581-3.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121006062249/http://ibnlive.in.com/news/kerala-cops-fail-to-establish-love-jihad-conspiracy/107581-3.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=6 October 2012 |title=Kerala cops fail to establish 'love jihad' conspiracy |newspaper=CNN-IBN |date=23 December 2009 }}</ref> In early 2010, the state government reported to the Karnataka High Court that although many young Hindu women had converted to Islam, there was no organized attempt to convince them to do so.<ref name="thehindu_2010-04-23">{{Cite news |title=No love jihad movement in State' |newspaper=The Hindu |date=23 April 2010 |url=http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-karnataka/lsquoNo-love-jihad-movement-in-State/article16024518.ece |access-date=16 August 2017 |archive-date=14 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180914070453/https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-karnataka/lsquoNo-love-jihad-movement-in-State/article16024518.ece |url-status=live }}</ref>


==== Kerala ====
In late 2009, The Karnataka ] (Criminal Investigation Department) reported that although it was continuing to investigate, it had found no evidence that a "Love Jihad" existed.<ref name="thehindu_2009-11-13">
Following the launching of a poster campaign in ], purportedly by the organisation ], state police began investigating the presence of that organisation in the area.<ref name="Babu Thomas-2009" /> In late October 2009, police addressed the question of "love jihad" itself, indicating that while they had not located an organisation called "Love Jihad", "there are reasons to suspect 'concentrated attempts' to persuade girls to convert to Islam after they fall in love with Muslim boys".<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.deccanherald.com/content/31958/no-love-jihad-kerala.html |title=No 'Love Jihad' in Kerala |work=Deccan Herald |date=21 May 2013 |access-date=16 February 2010 |archive-date=11 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131211030946/http://www.deccanherald.com/content/31958/no-love-jihad-kerala.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Indian Express">{{cite news |url=http://archive.indianexpress.com/news/kerala-hc-wants-probe-into-love-jihad/523630/2 |title=Kerala HC wants probe into 'love jihad' |work=The Indian Express |access-date=18 April 2014 |archive-date=19 April 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140419020847/http://archive.indianexpress.com/news/kerala-hc-wants-probe-into-love-jihad/523630/2 |url-status=live }}</ref>
{{Cite news
|date=2009-11-13
|title=Karnataka CID finds no evidence of 'Love Jihad'
|newspaper=The Hindu
|url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/article47922.ece
}}</ref> In late 2009, Director-General of Police Jacob Punnoose reported that although the investigation would continue, there was no evidence of any organised attempt by any group or individual using men "feigning love" to lure women to convert to Islam.<ref name="thehindu_2009-11-13" /><ref name="deccanherald_2009-11-11">
{{cite news
|title=Kerala police have no proof on ‘Love Jihad’
|newspaper=Deccan Herald
|date=2009-11-11
|url=http://www.deccanherald.com/content/35486/kerala-police-have-no-proof.html
}}</ref> They did indicate that a large number of Hindu girls had converted to Islam of their own will.<ref name="thehindu_2010-04-23" />


In November 2009, ] ] stated there was no organisation whose members lured girls in ] by feigning love with the intention of converting. He told the ] that three out of 18 reports he received questioned the tendency. However, in absence of solid proof, the investigations were still continuing.<ref name="deccanherald_2009-11-11" /> In December 2009, Justice K.T. Sankaran, who had refused to accept Punnoose's report, concluded from a case diary that there were indications of forceful conversions and stated it was clear from police reports there was a "concerted effort" to convert women with "blessings of some outfits". The court, while hearing the bail plea of two individuals accused in "love jihad" cases, stated that there had been 3,000-4,000 such conversions in the past four years.<ref name="Stop" /> The Kerala High Court in December 2009 stayed investigations in the case, granting relief to the two accused, though it criticised the police investigation.<ref> {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171226224757/http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-love-jihad-kerala-high-court-stays-police-investigation-1324828 |date=26 December 2017 }} DNA News</ref> The investigation was closed by Justice M. Sasidharan Nambiar following Punnoose's statements that no conclusive evidence could be found for the existence of "love jihad".<ref name="Padanna-2012" />
On 9 December 2009, Justice K T Sankaran for the Kerala High Court weighed in on the matter while hearing bail for Muslim youth arrested for allegedly forcibly converting two campus girls. According to Sankaran, police reports revealed the "blessings of some outfits" for a "concerted" effort for religious conversions, some 3,000 to 4,000 incidences of which had taken place after love affairs in a four-year period.<ref name="Stop">{{cite news |title = Kerala HC asks govt to frame laws to stop ‘love jihad’ |url = http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2009-12-10/news/28410696_1_love-jihad-religious-conversions-religions |publisher = The Economic Times|date = 2009-12-10 }}</ref> Sankaran "found indications of ‘forceful’ religious conversions under the garb of ‘love’", suggesting that "such ‘deceptive’ acts" might require legislative intervention to prevent.<ref name="Stop" />


On 9 December 2009, Justice K T Sankaran for the Kerala High Court weighed in on the matter while hearing bail for a Muslim youth arrested for allegedly forcibly converting two female students. According to Sankaran, police reports revealed the "blessings of some outfits" for a "concerted" effort for religious conversions, some 3,000 to 4,000 incidences of which had taken place after love affairs within a four-year period.<ref name="Stop">{{cite news |title=Kerala HC asks govt to frame laws to stop 'love jihad' |url=http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2009-12-10/news/28410696_1_love-jihad-religious-conversions-religions |work=] |date=10 December 2009 |access-date=18 April 2014 |archive-date=11 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131211061729/http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2009-12-10/news/28410696_1_love-jihad-religious-conversions-religions |url-status=dead }}</ref> Sankaran "found indications of 'forceful' religious conversions under the garb of 'love'", suggesting that "such 'deceptive' acts" might require legislative intervention to prevent them.<ref name="Stop" />
According to '']'', Sankaran's conclusion that "such incidents under the pretext of love were rampant in certain parts of the state" ran contrary to Central and state government reports.<ref name="check">{{cite news |title = HC calls for law to check ‘love jehad’ |url = http://archive.indianexpress.com/news/hc-calls-for-law-to-check--love-jehad-/552275 |publisher = The Indian Express|date = 2009-12-10 }}</ref> In early 2010, the State Government reported to the Karnataka High Court that although a large number of young Hindu women had converted to Islam, there was no organized attempt to convince them to do so.<ref name="thehindu_2010-04-23">{{Cite news
|title=No love jihad movement in State'
|author=Staff Reporter
|newspaper=The Hindu
|date=2010-04-23
|url=http://www.hindu.com/2010/04/23/stories/2010042354760500.htm
}}</ref> A petition was also put before Sankaran to prevent the use of the terms "Love Jehad" and "Romeo Jehad", but Sankaran declined to overrule an earlier decision not to restrain media usage.<ref name="check" /> Subsequently, however, the High Court ] further police investigation, both because no organised efforts had been disclosed by police probes and because the investigation was specifically targeted against a single community.<ref name="Myth">{{cite news | url = http://gulftoday.ae/portal/9af0ebf3-d10f-4592-bd7e-9a0dc0d37bc6.aspx | archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20131211064437/http://gulftoday.ae/portal/9af0ebf3-d10f-4592-bd7e-9a0dc0d37bc6.aspx | archivedate = 2013-12-11 | title = Kerala police probe crack ‘love jihad’ myth |work = ] | first = Ashraf | last = Padanna | date = 4 January 2012}}</ref><ref name="ibnlive">{{cite news|url=http://ibnlive.in.com/news/kerala-cops-fail-to-establish-love-jihad-conspiracy/107581-3.html |title=Kerala cops fail to establish 'love jihad' conspiracy |publisher=Ibnlive |date=2009-12-23 |accessdate=2014-04-18}}</ref>


In January 2012, Kerala police declared that Love Jihad was " campaign with no substance", bringing legal proceedings instead against the website hindujagruti.org for "spreading religious hatred and false propaganda.".<ref name="Myth" /> But later on it has been proved Love Jihad is Not Fiction, But Reality.<ref name=":The Indian Express">{{cite news|url = http://www.newindianexpress.com/opinion/We-Now-Have-Concrete-Proof-for-Love-Jihad/2015/09/21/article3039038.ece|title = We Now Have Concrete Proof for Love Jihad|date = 21 September 2015|work = ]|accessdate = 8 August 2016}}</ref> In January 2012, Kerala police declared that "love jihad" was " campaign with no substance", bringing legal proceedings instead against the website hindujagruti.org for "spreading ] and false propaganda."<ref name="Padanna-2012" /> In 2012, after two years of investigation into the alleged "love jihad", ] declared it as a "campaign with no substance". Subsequently, a case was initiated against the hindujagruti website, where counterfeit posters of Muslim organisations offering money to Muslim youths for luring and trapping women were found.<ref name="Padanna-2012" />


In 2017, after the Kerala High Court had ruled that a marriage of a Hindu woman to a Muslim man was invalid on the basis of"'love jihad", and an appeal was filed in the ] by the Muslim husband. The court, based on the "unbiased and independent" evidence requested by the court from the ], instructed the NIA to investigate all similar cases to establish whether there was any "love jihad". It allowed the NIA to explore all similar suspicious cases to find whether banned organisations, such as ], were preying on vulnerable Hindu women to recruit them as terrorists.<ref name="lovewar1"> {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190904052610/https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/supreme-court-asks-nia-to-examine-kerala-love-jihad-cites-blue-whale-1738417 |date=4 September 2019 }}, ], 16 August 2017.</ref><ref name="lovewar2"> {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190416165534/https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/60089937.cms |date=16 April 2019 }}, ], 16 August 2017.</ref><ref name="lovewar3"> {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190827004932/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/supreme-court-hears-its-1st-love-jihad-case-demands-proof-from-nia/articleshow/59923249.cms |date=27 August 2019 }}, '']'', 5 August 2017.</ref><ref name="lovewar4"> {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170816235920/https://in.news.yahoo.com/kerala-apos-love-jihad-apos-100217357.html |date=16 August 2017}}, CNN News18, 10 August 2017.</ref> The NIA had earlier submitted before the court that the case was not an "isolated" incident and it had detected a pattern emerging in the state, stating that another case involved the same individuals who had previously acted as instigators.<ref name="Rajagopal-2017" /> In 2018, the NIA concluded its probe, after investigating 11 interfaith marriages in Kerala without finding proof of coercion, and an NIA official concluded that "we didn't find any prosecutable evidence to bring formal charges against these persons under any of the scheduled offences of the NIA", adding that "Conversion is not a crime in Kerala and also helping these men and women convert is also within the ambit of the ]."<ref name="Ahuja-2018" />
In September 2014, following the resurgence of national attention,<ref name=":0" /> ''Reuters'' reported that police in Uttar Pradesh had found no credence in the five or six recent allegations of Love Jihad that had been brought before them, with state police chief ] stating that, "In most cases we found that a Hindu girl and Muslim boy were in love and had married against their parents' will."<ref name=":4" /> They reportedly indicated that "sporadic cases of trickery by unscrupulous men are not evidence of a broader conspiracy."<ref name=":4" />


In 2021, Kerala Chief Minister ] stated that "no complaints or clear information were received regarding forced conversion", and that, of the data available to the ministry, "none of the figures validate the propaganda that girls are being lured into conversion and terrorist organizations".<ref>{{cite news |url=https://keralakaumudi.com/en/news/news.php?id=646343&u=100-malayalis-joined-isis-all-except-six-born-into-muslim-community-says-cm-vijayan-646343 |title=100 Malayalis joined ISIS, all except six born into Muslim community, says CM Vijayan |work=Kaumudi |access-date=26 May 2023 |archive-date=3 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230503052308/https://keralakaumudi.com/en/news/news.php?id=646343&u=100-malayalis-joined-isis-all-except-six-born-into-muslim-community-says-cm-vijayan-646343 |url-status=live }}</ref>
That same month, the ] gave the government and election commission of Uttar Pradesh 10 days to respond to a petition to restrain the use of the word "Love Jihad" and to take action against ].<ref name=":3">{{Cite news|url = https://foreignpolicy.com/2014/09/04/indias-fake-love-jihad/|title = India’s Fake ‘Love Jihad’|first = Siddhartha|last=Mahanta|date = 5 September 2014|work = ]|accessdate = 24 November 2015}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite news|url = http://www.indiatvnews.com/news/india/love-jihad-high-court-up-govt-ec-pil-yogi-adityanath-41383.html?ref=veng|title = Love Jihad: High Court asks UP govt, EC to file response|last = |first = |date = 4 September 2014|work = India TV|accessdate = 6 September 2014}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url = http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-love-jihad-row-allahabad-high-court-issues-notice-to-centre-uttar-pradesh-government-2016143|title = 'Love-jihad' row: Allahabad High Court issues notice to Centre, Uttar Pradesh government|last = |first = |date = 4 September 2014|work = ]|accessdate = 6 September 2014}}</ref>

==== Uttar Pradesh ====
In September 2014, following the resurgence of national attention,<ref name="IT Sep 2012" /> ''Reuters'' reported that police in Uttar Pradesh had found no credence in the five or six recent allegations of "love jihad" that had been brought before them, with state police chief A.L. Banerjee stating that, "In most cases we found that a Hindu girl and Muslim boy were in love and had married against their parents' will."<ref name="Nair-2014" /> The police stated that occasional cases of trickery by dishonest men are not evidence of a broader conspiracy.<ref name="Nair-2014" />

That same month, the ] gave the government and election commission of Uttar Pradesh ten days to respond to a petition to restrain the use of the word "love jihad" and to take action against ].<ref name="Mahanta-2014">{{Cite news |url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2014/09/04/indias-fake-love-jihad/ |title=India's Fake 'Love Jihad' |first=Siddhartha |last=Mahanta |date=5 September 2014 |work=] |access-date=8 March 2017 |archive-date=1 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190401230837/https://foreignpolicy.com/2014/09/04/indias-fake-love-jihad/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="IndiaTV Sep 2014">{{Cite news |author=PTI |title=Love Jihad: High Court asks UP govt, EC to file response |date=4 September 2014 |work=India TV |url=http://www.indiatvnews.com/news/india/love-jihad-high-court-up-govt-ec-pil-yogi-adityanath-41383.html |access-date=6 September 2014 |archive-date=7 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140907031345/http://www.indiatvnews.com/news/india/love-jihad-high-court-up-govt-ec-pil-yogi-adityanath-41383.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-love-jihad-row-allahabad-high-court-issues-notice-to-centre-uttar-pradesh-government-2016143 |title='Love-jihad' row: Allahabad High Court issues notice to Centre, Uttar Pradesh government |date=4 September 2014 |work=Daily News and Analysis |access-date=6 September 2014 |archive-date=6 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140906223818/http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-love-jihad-row-allahabad-high-court-issues-notice-to-centre-uttar-pradesh-government-2016143 |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== United Kingdom ===
{{further|Muslim grooming gangs in the United Kingdom}}
In 2018, a report by the fundamentalist Sikh activist organisation, ''Sikh Youth UK'', entitled "The Religiously Aggravated Sexual Exploitation of Young Sikh Women Across the UK" (RASE report) made similar allegations of Muslim men targeting Sikh girls for the purposes of conversion.<ref>{{cite news |last=Layton |first=Josh |date=2018-12-03 |title=Sikh girls 'abused by grooming gangs for decades' |url=https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/sikh-girls-abused-grooming-gangs-15492360 |work=BirminghamLive |access-date=7 March 2021 |archive-date=11 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210311211229/https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/sikh-girls-abused-grooming-gangs-15492360 |url-status=live }}</ref> The report was severely criticised in 2019 by academic researchers and by an official UK government report, led by two Sikh academics, for false and misleading information.<ref name="Cockbain-2020">{{Cite journal |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0306396819895727 |doi=10.1177/0306396819895727 |title=Failing victims, fuelling hate: Challenging the harms of the 'Muslim grooming gangs' narrative |year=2020 |last1=Cockbain |first1=Ella |last2=Tufail |first2=Waqas |journal=Race & Class |volume=61 |issue=3 |pages=3–32 |s2cid=214197388 |access-date=7 March 2021 |archive-date=8 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308203535/https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0306396819895727 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Jagbir Jhutti">Jagbir Jhutti-Johal; Sunny Hundal (August 2019). ''''. The Commission For Countering Extremism. University of Birmingham. p. 15. ''''. Retrieved 17 February 2020.</ref> It noted: ''"The RASE report lacks solid data, methodological transparency and rigour. It is filled instead with sweeping generalisations and poorly substantiated claims around the nature and scale of abuse of Sikh girls and causal factors driving it. It appealed heavily to historical tensions between Sikhs and Muslims and narratives of honour in a way that seemed designed to whip up fear and hate"''.<ref name="Jagbir Jhutti" />

Previously, in 2011, Sikh academic Katy Sian had conducted research into the matter, exploring how "forced conversion narratives" arose within the ] in the United Kingdom and why they became so widespread.<ref name="Sian-2011">{{cite journal |title='Forced' conversions in the British Sikh diaspora |first=Katy P. |last=Sian |date=6 July 2011 |journal=South Asian Popular Culture |volume=9 |issue=2 |pages=115–130 |doi=10.1080/14746681003798060 |s2cid=54174845 |url=https://pure.manchester.ac.uk/ws/files/22953295/POST-PEER-REVIEW-PUBLISHERS.PDF |access-date=26 June 2022 |archive-date=11 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220711063451/https://pure.manchester.ac.uk/ws/files/22953295/POST-PEER-REVIEW-PUBLISHERS.PDF |url-status=live }}</ref> Sian, who reports that claims of conversion through courtship on campuses are widespread in the UK, says that rather than relying on actual evidence, the Sikh community primarily rest their beliefs on the word of "a friend of a friend" or personal ]s. According to Sian, the narrative is similar to accusations of "]" lodged against the Jewish community and foreigners to the UK and the US, with the former having ties to ] that mirror the ] displayed by the modern narrative. Sian expanded on these views in her 2013 book, ''Mistaken Identities, Forced Conversions, and Postcolonial Formations''.<ref name="Katy P. Sian-2013">{{cite book |author=Katy P. Sian |title=Unsettling Sikh and Muslim Conflict: Mistaken Identities, Forced Conversions, and Postcolonial Formations |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-9AZ2atcd-kC&pg=PA127 |date=4 April 2013 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-0-7391-7874-4 |pages=55–71 |access-date=7 March 2021 |archive-date=19 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240419133357/https://books.google.com/books?id=-9AZ2atcd-kC&pg=PA127#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref>

In response to a flurry of sensational news stories on the subject, ten Hindu academics in the UK signed an ] wherein they argued that claims of Hindu and Sikh girls being forcefully converted in the UK were "part of an arsenal of myths propagated by right-wing ] in India".<ref>{{cite news |last=Hundal |first=Sunny |title=Where is the Hindu Forum's evidence? |url=http://www.pickledpolitics.com/archives/1045 |newspaper=Pickled Politics |date=13 March 2007 |quote=<br /> :Dear Ian Blair, :As academics teaching at British universities, we are disturbed by your recent announcement reported in the Daily Mail (22 February), Metro (23 February) and elsewhere, that the police and universities are working together to target extremist Muslims who force vulnerable teenage Hindu and Sikh girls to convert to Islam. Your statements appear to have been made on the basis of claims by the Hindu Forum of Britain who have not presented any evidence that such forced conversions are taking place. In fact the notion of forced conversions of young Hindu women to Islam is part of an arsenal of myths propagated by right-wing Hindu supremacist organisations in India and used to incite violence against minorities. For example, inflammatory leaflets referring to such conversions were in circulation before the massacres of the Muslim minority in Gujarat exactly five years ago which left approximately 2,000 dead and over 200,000 displaced :In our view, it is highly irresponsible to treat such allegations at face value or as representative of the views of Hindus in general. While we would condemn any type of pressure on young women to conform to religious beliefs or practices (whether of their own community or another) we can only see statements such as yours as contributing to the further stigmatising of the Muslim community as a whole and as a pretext for further assaults on civil liberties in Britain. |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029192236/http://www.pickledpolitics.com/archives/1045 |archive-date=29 October 2013}}</ref> The ] issued a press release pointing out there was a lack of evidence of any forced conversions, and suggested it was an underhanded attempt to smear the British Muslim population.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.mcb.org.uk/media/presstext.php?ann_id=242 |title=MCB Calls For Evidence Of Alleged 'Forced Conversions' |access-date=26 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130123171030/http://www.mcb.org.uk/media/presstext.php?ann_id=242 |archive-date=23 January 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

== "Reverse" love jihad ==
{{See also|Bhagwa Love Trap conspiracy theory|Bahu Lao, Beti Bachao}}
In response to the purported conspiracy of love jihad, affiliates of the ] have stated that they have launched a ''Reverse Love Jihad'' campaign to marry Hindu men with Muslim women.<ref>{{cite news |title=RSS affiliate plans to marry 2,100 Muslim women to Hindu men from next week |url=https://scroll.in/latest/859907/rss-affiliate-plans-to-marry-2100-muslim-women-to-hindu-men-from-next-week |access-date=2021-05-24 |work=] -US |archive-date=20 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210420192452/https://scroll.in/latest/859907/rss-affiliate-plans-to-marry-2100-muslim-women-to-hindu-men-from-next-week |url-status=live }}</ref> Cases related to the campaign were reported from various parts of ] (U.P.), where rape and abduction of Muslim women have taken place. The perpetrators of these incidents are alleged to be the members of these affiliates who are being rewarded by the affiliates for their activities. Between 2014 and October 2016, 389 cases of underage girls missing or kidnapped were registered by the police in ], and a similar trend was found in a number of districts in eastern Uttar Pradesh, in areas with high communal tensions.<ref name="Desai-2017">{{cite news |last=Desai |first=Shweta |date=2017-01-09 |title=Reverse love jihad surfaces in UP |url=https://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-reverse-love-jihad-surfaces-in-up-2290453 |work=DNA India |access-date=20 April 2021 |archive-date=20 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210420192453/https://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-reverse-love-jihad-surfaces-in-up-2290453 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Malik |first=Shahnawaz Ahmed |date=2020-03-01 |title=Love Jihad: Victimization of Women through Media; Violation of their Basic Human Rights |url=https://papers.ssrn.com/abstract=3576061 |location=Rochester, NY |doi=10.2139/ssrn.3576061 |ssrn=3576061 |s2cid=236797666 |journal=SSRN |access-date=24 May 2021 |archive-date=24 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624145043/https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3576061 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The term ''Reverse Love Jihad'' has also been used by the ] to refer to the Love Jihad conspiracy theory where the purported victim is a Hindu man being "lured" to Islam with the prospects of a job and marriage to a Muslim woman.<ref>{{cite news |last=Rana |first=Uday Singh |date=2018-04-26 |title=In Poll-bound Kairana, Bajrang Dal Peddles New Theory – 'Reverse Love Jihad' |url=https://www.news18.com/news/india/in-poll-bound-kairana-bajrang-dal-peddles-new-theory-reverse-love-jihad-1730339.html |work=News18 |archive-date=13 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210613085559/https://www.news18.com/news/india/in-poll-bound-kairana-bajrang-dal-peddles-new-theory-reverse-love-jihad-1730339.html}}</ref>

The ], which alleges that Hindu men lure Muslim women into relationships with the intention of converting them to Hinduism, has been popularized on social media.<ref name="Khan-2023">{{cite web | last=Khan | first=Fatima | title=Muslim Women Seen with Hindu Men Harassed, Doxed - All In the Name of 'Bhagwa Love Trap' | website=TheQuint | date=31 May 2023 | url=https://www.thequint.com/news/india/muslim-woman-harassed-doxed-by-muslim-men-bhagwa-love-trap | access-date=2 June 2023 | archive-date=1 June 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230601172043/https://www.thequint.com/news/india/muslim-woman-harassed-doxed-by-muslim-men-bhagwa-love-trap | url-status=live }}</ref>


== See also == == See also ==
* ] * '']''
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]

== Notes ==
{{notelist}}


== References == == References ==
{{reflist|colwidth=30em}} {{reflist}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite journal |last1=Amarasingam |first1=A. |last2=Umar |first2=S. |last3=Desai |first3=S. |title=Fight, Die, and If Required Kill": Hindu Nationalism, Misinformation, and Islamophobia in India |journal=Religions |date=2022 |volume=13 |issue=5 |pages=380 |doi=10.3390/rel13050380 |doi-access=free }}

== External links ==
* {{wikiquote inline}}


{{Conspiracy theories}}
==External links==
{{Authority control}}
{{commons category|Religious persecution}}
{{IslamismSA}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2011}}


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Latest revision as of 05:44, 9 December 2024

Islamophobic conspiracy theory Not to be confused with Sexual jihad or A Jihad for Love.

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Love jihad (or Romeo jihad) is an Islamophobic conspiracy theory promoted by right-wing Hindutva activists. The conspiracy theory purports that Muslim men target Hindu women for conversion to Islam by means such as seduction, feigning love, deception, kidnapping, and marriage, as part of a broader demographic "war" by Muslims against India, and an organised international conspiracy, for domination through demographic growth and replacement.

The conspiracy theory relies on disinformation to conduct its hate campaign, and is noted for its similarities to other historic hate campaigns as well as contemporary white nationalist conspiracy theories and Euro-American Islamophobia. It features Orientalist portrayals of Muslims as barbaric and hypersexual, and carries the paternalistic and patriarchal notions that Hindu women are passive and victimized, while "any possibility of women exercising their legitimate right to love and their right to choice is ignored". It has consequently been the cause of vigilante assaults, murders and other violent incidents, including the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots.

Created in 2009 as part of a campaign to foster fear and paranoia, the conspiracy theory was disseminated by Hindutva publications, such as the Sanatan Prabhat and the Hindu Janajagruti Samiti website, calling Hindus to protect their women from Muslim men who were simultaneously depicted to be attractive seducers and lecherous rapists. Organisations including the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and the Vishva Hindu Parishad have since been credited for its proliferation in India and abroad, respectively. The conspiracy theory was noted to have become a significant belief in the state of Uttar Pradesh by 2014 and contributed to the success of the Bharatiya Janata Party campaign in the state.

The concept was institutionalised in India after the election of the Bharatiya Janata Party led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Right-wing pro-government television media, such as Times Now and Republic TV, and social media disinformation campaigns are generally held responsible for the growth of its popularity. Legislation against the purported conspiracy has been initiated in a number of states ruled by the party and implemented in the state of Uttar Pradesh by the Yogi Adityanath government, where it has been used as a means of state repression on Muslims and crackdown on interfaith marriages.

In Myanmar, the conspiracy theory has been adopted by the 969 Movement as an allegation of Islamisation of Buddhist women and used by the Tatmadaw as justification for military operations against Rohingya civilians. It has extended among the non-Muslim Indian diaspora and led to formation of alliances between Hindutva groups and Western far-right organisations such as the English Defence League. It has also been adopted in part by the clergy of the Catholic Church in Kerala to dissuade interfaith marriage among Christians.

Background

Regional historical tensions

The Indian subcontinent has been religiously pluralistic for centuries. This map from 1909 shows Muslim regions in the northwest in green mixing with Hindu regions stretching across most of the region into Buddhist Burma.

In a piece picked up by the Chicago Tribune, Foreign Policy correspondent Siddhartha Mahanta reports that the modern Love Jihad conspiracy has roots in the 1947 partition of India. This partition led to the creation of India and Pakistan. The creation of two countries with different majority religions led to large-scale migration, with millions of people moving between the countries and rampant reports of sexual predation and forced conversions of women by men of both faiths. Women on both sides of the conflict were impacted, leading to "recovery operations" by both the Indian and Pakistani governments of these women, with over 20,000 Muslim and 9,000 non-Muslim women being recovered between 1947 and 1956. This tense history caused repeated clashes between the faiths in the decades that followed as well, according to Mahanta, as cultural pressure against interfaith marriage for either side.

As of 2011, Hindus were the leading religious majority in India, at 80%, with Muslims at 14% an increase from 9% from 1951 while the Hindu population of Pakistan has remained at 2% and that of Bangladesh fallen to 8%. In the 1951 census, West Pakistan (now Pakistan) had 1.3% Hindu population, while East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) had 22.05%.

Marriage traditions and customs

See also: Interfaith marriage in Islam and Interfaith marriage § Views of Hinduism

India has a long tradition of arranged marriages, wherein the bride and groom do not choose their partners. Through the 2000s and 2010s, India witnessed a rise in love marriages, although tensions continue around interfaith marriages, along with other traditionally discouraged unions. In 2012, The Hindu reported that illegal intimidation against consenting couples engaging in such discouraged unions, including inter-religious marriage, had surged. That year, Uttar Pradesh saw the proposal of an amendment to remove the requirement to declare religion from the marriage law in hopes of encouraging those who were hiding their interfaith marriage due to social norms to register.

One of the tensions surrounding interfaith marriage relates to concerns of required, even forced, marital conversion. Marriage in Islam is a legal contract with requirements around the religions of the participants. While Muslim women are only permitted within the contract to marry Muslim men, Muslim men may marry "People of the Book", interpreted by most to include Jews and Christians, with the inclusion of Hindus disputed. According to a 2014 article in the Mumbai Mirror, some non-Muslim brides in Muslim-Hindu marriages convert, while other couples choose a civil marriage under the Special Marriage Act of 1954. Marriage between Muslim women and Hindu men (including Sikh, Jaina, and Buddhist) is legal civil marriage under The Special Marriage Act of 1954.

Hindu nationalism and right wing politics

See also: Hindu nationalism and Hindutva

Love jihad in politics has been closely tied to Hindu nationalism, particularly the more extremist form hindutva associated with BJP Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi. The anti-Islamic stances of many right wing hindutva groups like Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) are usually hostile to inter-religious marriage and religious pluralism, which can sometimes result in mob violence motivated by allegations of love jihad.

Timeline

Early origins and beginnings

Similar controversies over inter religious marriage were relatively common in India from the 1920s until independence in 1947, when allegations of forced marriage were typically called "abductions". They were more common in religiously diverse areas, including campaigns against both Muslims and Christians, and were tied to fears over religious demographics and political power in the newly emerging Indian nation. Fears of women converting was also a catalyst of the violence against women that occurred during that period. However, allegations of Love Jihad first rose to national awareness in September 2009.

According to the Kerala Catholic Bishops Council, by October 2009 up to 4,500 girls in Kerala had been targeted, whereas Hindu Janajagruti Samiti claimed that 30,000 girls had been converted in Karnataka alone. Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana general secretary Vellapally Natesan said that there had been reports in Narayaneeya communities of "Love Jihad" attempts. Following the controversy's initial flare-up in 2009, it flared again in 2010, 2011 and 2014. On 25 June 2014, Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy informed the state legislature that 2,667 young women converted to Islam in the state between 2006 and 2014. However, he stated that there was no evidence for any of them being forced to convert, and that fears of Love Jihad were "baseless." Muslim organizations such as the Popular Front of India and the Campus Front have been accused of promoting this activity. In Kerala, some movies have been accused of promoting Love Jihad, a charge which has been denied by the filmmakers. Bollywood films PK and Bajrangi Bhaijaan were accused of promoting Love jihad by Hindu outfits. The actors and directors denied that their films promoted Love jihad.

Around the same time that the conspiracy theory was beginning to spread, accounts of Love Jihad also began becoming prevalent in Myanmar. Wirathu, the leader of 969 Movement, has said that Muslim men pretend to be Buddhists and then the Buddhist women are lured into Islam in Myanmar. He has urged to "protect our Buddhist women from the Muslim love-jihad" by introducing further legislation. Reports of similar activities also began emerging from the United Kingdom's Sikh diaspora. In 2014, The Sikh Council alleged that it had received reports that girls from British Sikh families were becoming victims of Love Jihad. Furthermore, these reports alleged that these girls were being exploited by their husbands, some of whom afterwards abandoned them in Pakistan. According to the Takht jathedar, he alleged that "The Sikh council has rescued some of the victims (girls) and brought them back to their parents."

Congress Party era (2009–2014)

The initial formations of the conspiracy theory were solidified when various organisations began joining. Christian groups, such as the Christian Association for Social Action, and the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) banded against it, with the VHP establishing the "Hindu Helpline" that it started answered 1,500 calls in three months related to "Love Jihad". The Union of Catholic Asian News (UCAN) has reported that the Catholic Church was concerned about this alleged phenomenon. In September, posters of right-wing group Shri Ram Sena warning against "Love Jihad" appeared in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. The group announced in December that it would launch a nationwide "Save our daughters, save India" campaign to combat "Love Jihad". Muslim organizations in Kerala called it a malicious misinformation campaign. Popular Front of India (PFI) committee-member Naseeruddin Elamaram denied that the PFI was involved in any "Love Jihad", stating that people convert to Hinduism and Christianity as well and that religious conversion is not a crime. Members of the Muslim Central Committee of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts responded by claiming that Hindus and Christians have fabricated these claims to undermine Muslims.

In July 2010, the "Love Jihad" controversy resurfaced in the press when Kerala Chief Minister V. S. Achuthanandan referenced the alleged matrimonial conversion of non-Muslim girls as part of an effort to make Kerala a Muslim majority state. PFI dismissed his statements due to the findings of the Kerala probe, but the president of the BJP Mahila Morcha, the women's wing of the conservative Bharatiya Janata Party, called for an NIA investigation, alleging that the Kerala state probe was closed prematurely due to a tacit understanding with PFI. The Congress Party in Kerala responded strongly to the Chief Minister's comments, which they described as deplorable and dangerous.

In December 2011, the controversy erupted again in Karnataka legislative assembly, when member Mallika Prasad of the Bharatiya Janata Party asserted that the problem was ongoing and unaddressed – with, according to her, 69 of 84 Hindu girls who had gone missing between January and November of that year confessing after their recovery that "they'd been lured by Muslim youths who professed love." According to The Times of India, response was divided, with Deputy Speaker N. Yogish Bhat and House Leader S. Suresh Kumar supporting governmental intervention, while Congress members B. Ramanath Rai and Abhay Chandra Jain argued that "the issue was being raised to disrupt communal harmony in the district."

Bharatiya Janata Party era (2014–present)

During the resurgence of the controversy in 2014, protests turned violent at growing concern, even though, according to Reuters, the concept was considered "an absurd conspiracy theory by mainstream, moderate Indians." Then BJP MP Yogi Adityanath alleged that Love Jihad was an international conspiracy targeting India, announcing on television that the Muslims "can't do what they want by force in India, so they are using the love jihad method here." Conservative Hindu activists cautioned women in Uttar Pradesh to avoid Muslims and not to befriend them. In Uttar Pradesh, the influential committee Akhil Bharitiya Vaishya Ekta Parishad announced their intention to push to restrict the use of cell phones among young women to prevent their being vulnerable to such activities.

Following this announcement, The Times of India reported that the Senior Superintendent of Police in UP, Shalabh Mathur, "said the term 'love jihad' had been coined only to create fear and divide society along communal lines." Muslim leaders referred to the 2014 rhetoric around the alleged conspiracy as a campaign of hate. Feminists voiced concerns that efforts to protect women against the alleged activities would negatively impact women's rights, depriving them of free choice and agency.

In September 2014, BJP MP Sakshi Maharaj claimed that Muslim boys in madrasas are being motivated for Love Jihad with proposals of rewards of "Rs 11 lakh for an 'affair' with a Sikh girl, Rs 10 lakh for a Hindu girl and Rs 7 lakh for a Jain girl." He claimed to know this through reports to him by Muslims and by the experiences of men in his service who had converted for access. Abdul Razzaq Khan, the vice-president of Jamiat Ulama Hind, responded by denying such activities, labeling the comments "part of conspiracy aimed at disturbing the peace of the nation" and demanding action against Maharaj. Uttar Pradesh minister Mohd Azam Khan indicated the statement was "trying to break the country". In January, Vishwa Hindu Parishad's women's wing, Durga Vahini used actor Kareena Kapoor's morphed picture half covered with burqa issue of their magazine, on the theme of Love Jihad. The caption underneath read: "conversion of nationality through religious conversion". In June 2018, Jharkhand High Court granted a divorce in an alleged love jihad case in which the accused lied about his religion and forcing the victim to convert to Islam after marriage.

2017 Hadiya court case

Main article: Hadiya case

In May 2017, the Kerala High Court annulled a marriage of a converted Hindu woman Akhila alias Hadiya to a Muslim man Shafeen Jahan on the grounds that the bride's parents were not present, nor gave consent for the marriage, after allegations by her father of conversion and marriage at the behest of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Hadiya's father had claimed that his daughter had been influenced to marry a Muslim man by some organisations so she no longer remained in her parents' custody. However, Hadiya claimed that she had been following Islam since 2012 and had left her home of her own will. Akhila was married to Shafeen by the time her father's petition was taken up by the court, following which her marriage was annulled.

The decision of the court was challenged by Shafeen in the Supreme Court of India in July 2017. The Supreme Court sought the response from the National Investigating Agency (NIA) and the Kerala government, ordering an NIA probe headed by former SC Judge R. V. Raveendran on 16 August. The NIA had earlier submitted that the woman's conversion and marriage was not "isolated" and it had detected a pattern emerging in the state.

The Supreme Court on 8 March 2018 overturned the annulment of Hadiya's marriage by the Kerala High Court and held that the she had married of her own free will. However, it allowed NIA to continue investigation into the allegations of a terror dimension. The NIA examined 11 interfaith marriages in Kerala and completed its investigation in October 2018, concluding that "the agency has not found any evidence to suggest that in any of these cases either the man or the woman was coerced to convert".

2020 legislation and outcomes

See also: Prohibition of Unlawful Religious Conversion Ordinance, 2020

Despite drawing severe criticisms, the Syro Malabar Church continued to repeat its stand on "love jihad". According to the church, Christian women are being targeted, recruited to terrorist outfit Islamic State, making them sex slaves and even killed. Detailing this, a circular, issued by Church chief Cardinal Mar George Alencherry, was read out in many parishes at the Sunday mass. In the circular (dated 15 January 2020) that was read out in churches on Sunday, it is stated that Christian women are being targeted under a conspiracy through inter-religious relationships, which often grow as a threat to religious harmony. "Christian women from Kerala are even being recruited to Islamic State through this," the circular read. Further, Kerala Catholic Bishops Conference's (KCBC) Commission for Social Harmony and Vigilance, claimed that there were 4,000 instances of "love jihad" between 2005 and 2012.

On 27 September 2020, protests occurred after a young Muslim man attempted to kidnap a 21-year-old Hindu woman near her college campus, and fatally shot her when she resisted. Her family said that he had tried to force her to convert to Islam and marry him.

Many BJP-ruled states, such as Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana and Karnataka, then began mulling over laws designed to prevent "forcible conversions" through marriage, commonly referred to as "love jihad" laws. In September 2020, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath asked his government to come up with a strategy to prevent "religious conversions in the name of love". On 31 October, he announced that a law to curb "love jihad" would be passed by his government. The law in Uttar Pradesh, which also includes provisions against "unlawful religious conversion," declares a marriage null and void if the sole intention was to "change a girl's religion" and both it and the one in Madhya Pradesh imposed sentences of up to 10 years in prison for those who broke the law. The ordinance came into effect on 28 November 2020 as the Prohibition of Unlawful Religious Conversion Ordinance. In December 2020, Madhya Pradesh approved an anti-conversion law similar to the Uttar Pradesh one. As of 25 November 2020, Haryana and Karnataka were still in discussion over similar ordinances. In April 2021, the Gujarat Assembly amended the Freedom of Religion Act, 2003, bringing in stringent provisions against forcible conversion through marriage or allurement, with the intention of targeting "love jihad". The Karnataka state cabinet also approved an anti-conversion ‘love jihad’ bill, making it a law in December 2021.The Congress-led government scrapped the law in June 2023.

While campaigning for the 2021 Kerala Legislative Assembly election and the 2021 Assam Legislative Assembly election, the BJP promised that if it won the elections, it would enact a law that would ban "love jihad" in these states.

Reliance on tropes

The conspiracy theory is noted for its similarities to other historic hate campaigns and instances Euro-American Islamophobia. It features Orientalist portrayals of Muslims as barbaric and hypersexual, and carries the paternalistic and patriarchal notions that Hindu women are passive and victimized, while "any possibility of women exercising their legitimate right to love and their right to choice is ignored". It has consequently been the cause of vigilante assaults, murders and other violent incidents, including the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots.

Official investigations

India

In August 2017, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) stated that it had found a common "mentor" in some love jihad cases, "a woman associated with the radical group Popular Front of India", in August 2017. According to a later article in The Economist, "Repeated police investigations have failed to find evidence of any organised plan of conversion. Reporters have repeatedly exposed claims of 'love jihad' as at best fevered fantasies and at worst, deliberate election-time inventions." According to the same report, the common theme regarding many claims of "love jihad" has been the frenzied objection to an interfaith marriage while "Indian law erects no barriers to marriages between faiths, or against conversion by willing and informed consent. Yet the idea still sticks, even when the supposed 'victims' dismiss it as nonsense."

In 2022, the Observer Research Foundation and Indian government stated that no more than 100-200 Indians had joined Islamic State, a figure so low that one researcher remarked that "academics and experts often ask the question ‘What had prevented Indian Muslims from joining the Islamic State?'."

Karnataka

In October 2009, the Karnataka government announced its intention to counter "love jihad", which "appeared to be a serious issue". A week after the announcement, the government ordered a probe into the situation by the CID to determine if an organised effort existed to convert these girls and, if so, by whom it was being funded. One woman, whose conversion to Islam came under scrutiny as a result of the probe, was temporarily ordered to the custody of her parents, but eventually was permitted to return to her new husband after she appeared in court, denying pressure to convert. In April 2010, police used the term to characterize the alleged kidnapping, forced conversion and marriage of a 17-year-old college girl in Mysore.

In late 2009, The Karnataka CID (Criminal Investigation Department) reported that although it was continuing to investigate, it had found no evidence that a "love jihad" existed. In late 2009, Director general of police Jacob Punnoose reported that although the investigation would continue, there was no evidence of any organised attempt by any group or individual using men "feigning love" to lure women to convert to Islam. Investigators did indicate that many Hindu girls had converted to Islam of their own will. In early 2010, the State Government reported to the Karnataka High Court that, although many young Hindu women had converted to Islam, there was no organized attempt to convince them to do so. According to The Indian Express, Justice K. T. Sankaran's conclusion that "such incidents under the pretext of love were rampant in certain parts of the state" ran contrary to Central and state government reports. A petition was also put before Sankaran to prevent the use of the terms "love jihad" and "romeo jihad", but Sankaran declined to overrule an earlier decision not to restrain media usage. Subsequently, the High Court stayed further police investigation, both because no organised efforts had been disclosed by police probes and because the investigation was specifically targeted against a single community. In early 2010, the state government reported to the Karnataka High Court that although many young Hindu women had converted to Islam, there was no organized attempt to convince them to do so.

Kerala

Following the launching of a poster campaign in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, purportedly by the organisation Shri Ram Sena, state police began investigating the presence of that organisation in the area. In late October 2009, police addressed the question of "love jihad" itself, indicating that while they had not located an organisation called "Love Jihad", "there are reasons to suspect 'concentrated attempts' to persuade girls to convert to Islam after they fall in love with Muslim boys".

In November 2009, DGP Jacob Punnoose stated there was no organisation whose members lured girls in Kerala by feigning love with the intention of converting. He told the Kerala High Court that three out of 18 reports he received questioned the tendency. However, in absence of solid proof, the investigations were still continuing. In December 2009, Justice K.T. Sankaran, who had refused to accept Punnoose's report, concluded from a case diary that there were indications of forceful conversions and stated it was clear from police reports there was a "concerted effort" to convert women with "blessings of some outfits". The court, while hearing the bail plea of two individuals accused in "love jihad" cases, stated that there had been 3,000-4,000 such conversions in the past four years. The Kerala High Court in December 2009 stayed investigations in the case, granting relief to the two accused, though it criticised the police investigation. The investigation was closed by Justice M. Sasidharan Nambiar following Punnoose's statements that no conclusive evidence could be found for the existence of "love jihad".

On 9 December 2009, Justice K T Sankaran for the Kerala High Court weighed in on the matter while hearing bail for a Muslim youth arrested for allegedly forcibly converting two female students. According to Sankaran, police reports revealed the "blessings of some outfits" for a "concerted" effort for religious conversions, some 3,000 to 4,000 incidences of which had taken place after love affairs within a four-year period. Sankaran "found indications of 'forceful' religious conversions under the garb of 'love'", suggesting that "such 'deceptive' acts" might require legislative intervention to prevent them.

In January 2012, Kerala police declared that "love jihad" was " campaign with no substance", bringing legal proceedings instead against the website hindujagruti.org for "spreading religious hatred and false propaganda." In 2012, after two years of investigation into the alleged "love jihad", Kerala Police declared it as a "campaign with no substance". Subsequently, a case was initiated against the hindujagruti website, where counterfeit posters of Muslim organisations offering money to Muslim youths for luring and trapping women were found.

In 2017, after the Kerala High Court had ruled that a marriage of a Hindu woman to a Muslim man was invalid on the basis of"'love jihad", and an appeal was filed in the Supreme Court of India by the Muslim husband. The court, based on the "unbiased and independent" evidence requested by the court from the NIA, instructed the NIA to investigate all similar cases to establish whether there was any "love jihad". It allowed the NIA to explore all similar suspicious cases to find whether banned organisations, such as SIMI, were preying on vulnerable Hindu women to recruit them as terrorists. The NIA had earlier submitted before the court that the case was not an "isolated" incident and it had detected a pattern emerging in the state, stating that another case involved the same individuals who had previously acted as instigators. In 2018, the NIA concluded its probe, after investigating 11 interfaith marriages in Kerala without finding proof of coercion, and an NIA official concluded that "we didn't find any prosecutable evidence to bring formal charges against these persons under any of the scheduled offences of the NIA", adding that "Conversion is not a crime in Kerala and also helping these men and women convert is also within the ambit of the constitution of the country."

In 2021, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan stated that "no complaints or clear information were received regarding forced conversion", and that, of the data available to the ministry, "none of the figures validate the propaganda that girls are being lured into conversion and terrorist organizations".

Uttar Pradesh

In September 2014, following the resurgence of national attention, Reuters reported that police in Uttar Pradesh had found no credence in the five or six recent allegations of "love jihad" that had been brought before them, with state police chief A.L. Banerjee stating that, "In most cases we found that a Hindu girl and Muslim boy were in love and had married against their parents' will." The police stated that occasional cases of trickery by dishonest men are not evidence of a broader conspiracy.

That same month, the Allahabad High Court gave the government and election commission of Uttar Pradesh ten days to respond to a petition to restrain the use of the word "love jihad" and to take action against Yogi Adityanath.

United Kingdom

Further information: Muslim grooming gangs in the United Kingdom

In 2018, a report by the fundamentalist Sikh activist organisation, Sikh Youth UK, entitled "The Religiously Aggravated Sexual Exploitation of Young Sikh Women Across the UK" (RASE report) made similar allegations of Muslim men targeting Sikh girls for the purposes of conversion. The report was severely criticised in 2019 by academic researchers and by an official UK government report, led by two Sikh academics, for false and misleading information. It noted: "The RASE report lacks solid data, methodological transparency and rigour. It is filled instead with sweeping generalisations and poorly substantiated claims around the nature and scale of abuse of Sikh girls and causal factors driving it. It appealed heavily to historical tensions between Sikhs and Muslims and narratives of honour in a way that seemed designed to whip up fear and hate".

Previously, in 2011, Sikh academic Katy Sian had conducted research into the matter, exploring how "forced conversion narratives" arose within the Sikh diaspora in the United Kingdom and why they became so widespread. Sian, who reports that claims of conversion through courtship on campuses are widespread in the UK, says that rather than relying on actual evidence, the Sikh community primarily rest their beliefs on the word of "a friend of a friend" or personal anecdotes. According to Sian, the narrative is similar to accusations of "white slavery" lodged against the Jewish community and foreigners to the UK and the US, with the former having ties to anti-semitism that mirror the Islamophobia displayed by the modern narrative. Sian expanded on these views in her 2013 book, Mistaken Identities, Forced Conversions, and Postcolonial Formations.

In response to a flurry of sensational news stories on the subject, ten Hindu academics in the UK signed an open letter wherein they argued that claims of Hindu and Sikh girls being forcefully converted in the UK were "part of an arsenal of myths propagated by right-wing Hindu supremacist organisations in India". The Muslim Council of Britain issued a press release pointing out there was a lack of evidence of any forced conversions, and suggested it was an underhanded attempt to smear the British Muslim population.

"Reverse" love jihad

See also: Bhagwa Love Trap conspiracy theory and Bahu Lao, Beti Bachao

In response to the purported conspiracy of love jihad, affiliates of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh have stated that they have launched a Reverse Love Jihad campaign to marry Hindu men with Muslim women. Cases related to the campaign were reported from various parts of Uttar Pradesh (U.P.), where rape and abduction of Muslim women have taken place. The perpetrators of these incidents are alleged to be the members of these affiliates who are being rewarded by the affiliates for their activities. Between 2014 and October 2016, 389 cases of underage girls missing or kidnapped were registered by the police in Kushinagar district, and a similar trend was found in a number of districts in eastern Uttar Pradesh, in areas with high communal tensions.

The term Reverse Love Jihad has also been used by the Bajrang Dal to refer to the Love Jihad conspiracy theory where the purported victim is a Hindu man being "lured" to Islam with the prospects of a job and marriage to a Muslim woman.

The Bhagwa Love Trap conspiracy theory, which alleges that Hindu men lure Muslim women into relationships with the intention of converting them to Hinduism, has been popularized on social media.

See also

Notes

  1. As of November 2020, "love jihad" is a term not recognized by the Indian legal system.

References

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