Haryana govt mulls law against ‘love jihad’

STATE TIMES NEWS

CHANDIGARH: A day after Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath announced his government would bring a law against “love jihad”, his Haryana counterpart M L Khattar said his government is also considering legal provisions against it to ensure “the guilty cannot escape”.
Citing the recent murder of a student in Faridabad’s Ballabhgarh, Khattar said the incident is being linked to “love jihad”, a derogatory coinage used by right-wing activists to refer to the alleged campaign of Muslims forcing Hindu girls to convert in the guise of love.
Earlier in the day, Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij tweeted the state government “is contemplating a law against love jihad”.
Speaking to reporters in Karnal, Khattar said, “This (Ballabhgarh) incident needs to be strongly condemned. This incident is being seen linked with the love jihad issue… both the Centre and the state government are taking the love jihad issue very seriously.”
“The Centre and the state government are looking into this issue and legal advice is being taken so that such incidents are not repeated. Legal provisions are being contemplated so that the guilty cannot escape and no innocent person is punished,” he said.
Last week, a 21-year-old college student, Nikita, was shot dead in Ballabhgarh by a man. The victim’s family has alleged that the man was pressuring her to convert to Islam in order to marry him.
Some Hindu outfits have alleged that the woman’s murder is a case of “love jihad”.
On Saturday, Adityanath had said his government would come out with a law to deal with “love jihad” and used the Hindu funeral chant ‘Ram Naam Satya Hai’ to threaten those who don’t respect their daughters and sisters.
He said posters would be put up of those involved in “love jihad”.