Love Jihad become notorious and the victims of this phenomenon face several kinds of abuse besides forced conversion; CASA backing Syro Malabar synod

Kevin Peter, CASA – President

Love Jihad and Kerala Christians: Heart-breaking Realities, Pseudo-Secular Hypocrisies and Necessity of Intervention for Harmony & Security

For the last few decades several Christian families had been ruined due to Love Jihad. Recently this issue had become notorious and the victims of this phenomenon face several kinds of abuse besides forced conversion. The catastrophic number of women converting under communally suspicious circumstances alarms the Christian community in Kerala.

Love Jihad: A Fake Romance Phenomenon for Conversion creating Communal Divide

In many cases, diverse blackmailing tactics are used so that the girl won’t revert even if the relationship is broken or if the partner decides to live a polygamous life. Such kinds of blackmailing may be used to keep them as domestic slaves and in some cases, being forced to work for extremist groups, Eg. It is a fact that nearly half of the women who went abroad from Kerala to join ISIS were converted from Christian and Hindu upbringings. Few months back a Christian girl in Calicut had been blackmailed to convert using her private images which had been photographed after making her unconscious using drugs. Recently, another girl from Kasargod also faced similar issue.

Syro-Malabar Synod Statement and Existing Atmosphere of Hypocrisy

Last week the largest Christian denomination in Kerala, the Syro Malabar Church had raised the issue in a circular but the DGP of Kerala immediately rejected it. Media personnel, politicians and self-declared (biased) secular faces work hard to defame the church or anyone who even use the phrase Love Jihad. Ironically, when in Kerala when many fanatic scholars who publicly preach in communal tone that Muslim men may marry Non-Muslim women but not the reverse, the above-mentioned secular, liberal and official faces are silent. This is pure double stand.

CASA is worried at the fact that many of the conversions of Christians at marriage happening which are considered as so called Love Jihad cases are motivated by the Salafist preachings available in social media or videos such as those of Zakir Naik, whose activity was neutralised by the security apparatuses of the Union Goverment.

Jihadi Brides Phenomenon and Conversion of Christian Girls

Indoctrinated by Radical Islamist Preachings, many women as young as teenage girls, even from Non-Islamic backgrounds in the Western world travelled to become brides of evil & inhuman fighters of the ISIS. This was a kind of self-imposed sadistic bride becoming phenomenon. Eg. Sabina Selimovic and Samra Kesinovic, Austrian adolescent girls who became Jihad brides and were subjected to severe sexual slavery.

CASA is worried that the so-called Jihad Brides phenomenon observed during the existence of Islamic State had support from Southern India as well, as Christian girls converted under radical salafist preachings joined this globally condemned militant movement bringing shame & fear to the country, Kerala state and her small Christian community. Eg. Sonia Sebastian, Merin Jacob Pallath.

CASA supports right to propagate religion but we oppose conversions under radical preachings and salafist kind of indoctrinations which is a clear and present threat to the national security and social harmony of our country. There are multiple cases in which young Christian girls in love with Men with Salafist religious orientation or influence are provided with religious contents via social media. This is often secretly done and few such girls under success of indoctrination hide their intention to convert at marriage. CASA likes to educate the community members against radical and fanatical indoctrination of its members.

Why Community Intervention is Necessary to Check Love Jihad?

Christianity in India is socially respected for its contribution to national progress in educational, medical and economic fields. We expect to sustain this greater Indian social recognition of Indian Christianity which had been positive for centuries. The conversion of some girls from Christian background to radical Islamist movement and the increased references of their Christian names in media discussions and official investigation is a matter of concern for us. Apart from this, the conversion of girls after marriage to boys otherwise completely strangers to her parents force the parents to live a miserable life under shame. Many such parents are hiding the lesser known facts by saying their daughter is abroad or is away for job. It is an empathetic attitude necessary for a Christian to support the emotionally broken parents instead of isolating them on one side or trying to prove secular on the other side.

Complete Support for Syro Malabar Church against Organised Defamation by Communal and Pseudo-Secular Elements

The immediate and allegedly organised assault against the Syro Malabar Catholic Church for making their own statement on Love Jihad which is an ecclesiastical matter creates an atmosphere of suspicion. Pseudo-Secularism and Vote Bank Politics are increasingly isolating the Church for making a bold statement. Immense negative propaganda is directed against respectful clergy church fathers and anyone who use the term Love Jihad. When no community is targeted in its Synod and no communally provocative language is used (only the worry and fear of a Church being stated) we doubt whether Right to Freedom of Expression is not meant for the Syro-Malabar Church.

Social Obligation to Prevent Proliferation of Communal and Anti-National Agendas

Love Jihad, a term which infamously caught the attention of Indian public in the last ten years affects the secular fabric of the country with the precipitation of mutual suspicion due to alleged conversion agendas. As responsible Indian citizenry, we cannot allow Christian girls to be victims of Salafist indoctrination losing the Indian values of Secularism and Mutual Coexistence. We work for a noble cause to support both the national security interests of India (avoid Christian youth joining banned organizations) and also to do our fundamental duty to maintain a secular brotherhood for all Indians.

Right to Preserve and Educate Innocent Christian Youth

We are not against any religion or its followers. We are against a Phenomenon which under the guise of romance, indoctrinates or at times blackmailed, then cunningly converts a Christian Girl, breaks her parents, with some joining barbarian fanatic movement while some eventually divorced after chauvinistic and communally motivated exploitation, the later life being characterised only by shame, trauma and isolation.