In southern India, Hindu radicals declare war on Muslims over Love Jihad
Sri Rama Sene leader Pramod Mutalik announces campaign against movement that entices young women into marriage to force them to convert to Islam. He demands that for every Hindu girl forced to convert to Islam, five Muslim girls be converted into Hinduism.
Bangalore (AsiaNews) – Karnataka’s radical Hindu movement Sri Rama Sene (the Army of god Rama) has declared war on the ‘love jihad’, an alleged network of Muslim men bent on enticing non Muslim women to marry Muslim men and then forcing them to convert to Islam. The announcement was made by Sri Rama Sene’s founder Pramod Mutalik, a figure in this southern Indian State well known for its intransigence towards secularism and non-traditional religions.

“I have asked the activists of the Sena to ensure that five Muslim girls are converted into Hinduism” for every “Hindu girl who is converted to Islam by the ‘Love Jihad”, Mutalik said.

The call to arms came at a press conference on Wednesday. It coincided with a statement by the State High Court expressing concern over attempts by the ‘Love Jihad’ to infiltrate the state’s colleges and university.

Similarly, Home Minister V S Acharya instructed police to launch an investigation into the matter in response to a habeas corpus petition by C. Selvaraj of Chamarajnagar district, in which he demanded that his daughter Siljaraj, who has been missing since August, be found. He claims she was the victim of  the‘Love Jihad’ after he found out that she had eloped with a young Muslim man from Kerala and been subjected to religious indoctrination. Similar cases have been reported in Kerala (see “Love Jihad: luring girls online and forcing them to convert to Islam,” in AsiaNews, 5 October 2009).

As part of his crusade, Mutailik and his organisation have launched an information campaign with literature for young people in Karnataka to alert them of the danger and urge them to make public any case that comes to their attention.

During the press conference, the founder of the “Army of god Rama” said that many of the tricked women are pushed towards anti-Hindu Islamic extremism. (NC)