Cover Story : Veiled Jihad

Once snubbed by pseudo-secularists and Islamists as a propaganda, Love Jihad has now turned out to be a tangible reality

T Satisan from Kochi

Love Jihad is a much talked-about phenomenon in the whole country in general and in Kerala in particular. Even though as a hot topic for the last one decade, it assumed significant dimension in the wake of the development of ISIS and the consequent migration of the people to Syria and Afghanistan for joining this fanatic, terrorist and dangerous outfit. Those who flee the country keep on sending messages to their family members that they are in a divine atmosphere and on a noble mission. They even went to the extent of telling them that it was their (family members’) divine duty to join them in jihad, the divine war.
Love Jihad aka Romeo Jihad is a process under which young Muslim boys and men target young girls for conversion into Islam by pretending as real lovers. In 2009, Kerala’s DG of Police Jacob Punnoose stated,  there was no organisation whose members lured girls by feigning love with the intention of conversion. He stated before the Kerala High Court that three out of 18 reports expressed some doubts about the tendency. However, in the absence of any solid evidence investigations were still going on. In December 2009, Justice KT Sankaran of Kerala High Court found indications of forceful conversions. He stated, from police reports it was clear that there was a “concerted effort” to
convert women with the “blessings of some outfits.” However, the authorities in Karnataka, despite admitting that a large number of women had been converted to Islam, could not find any organised attempt. After two years of the investigation against a website into their allegations of ‘love jihad,’ Kerala Police declared that “campaign was with no substance.” Then case was initiated against the website. The police said, they found fake posters of Muslim groups offering money to Muslim youths for luring and trapping women. In September, 2014, Uttar Pradesh Police did not find any proof for forced conversions even in five of the six love jihad cases reported during three months.

Akhila Becomes Hadia
But, in 2017, Kerala High Court ruled that the marriage of a Hindu girl to a Muslim man was invalid as it was love jihad. Then an appeal was filed in the Supreme Court by the (Muslim) husband. The episode can be boiled down like this: The Hindu girl Akhila’s marriage with the Muslim boy after her conversion to Islam was invalidated by the Kerala High Court. Her name is Akhila, daughter of Asokan from Vaikkam, Kottayam district. She was a student of homoeopathy medical college in Salem, Tamil Nadu. Asokan filed a  habeas corpus (HC) petition in Kerala high court as Akhila was missing from the hostel of the college where she was doing her internship. At that time she told the court that she left the house according to her own will. She had joined an institution called “Satyasarani” in Manjerry, Malappuram district, for Islamic studies. The court permitted her to pursue her studies there and select her accommodation.  A woman called Sainaba had come to the court with her. So, the court sent Akhila with that woman. The HC petition was obviously quashed.
After some time, the girl informed her father that she was going for shepherding.  Asoka smelt a rat. He was worried about the forceful
conversion of his daughter to Islam, pushing her to a fake wedding and taking her to Syria for enrolling into the terrorist movement of IS. He filed another HC. She came to the court on December 19, 2016, and the hearing was adjourned for a couple of days, that was December 21. That day she came to the court accompanied by a young bloke saying that she got married to him. Court wondered how come it happened in a couple of days! Neither Akhila nor her counsel had mentioned to the court on May 19 that she was married. Then the court directed the state government to find out the details of the marriage which took place pending the petition before the court. State government pleader, on behalf of the DG of Police, and special prosecutor of NIA submitted their findings during the third week of May 2017. The final order of the two member bench of the Kerala high court came in the wake of those findings.
The court found that Akhila was taken to Perinthalmanna and Manjerry, two places in the Muslim majority Malappuram district, for forceful conversion. It was also found that she was married to a Kollam district native and schemes were set to take her to Syria or elsewhere through Gulf and enrol her into a terrorist outfit.  That is why the court invalidated her marriage and ordered her to go home with her father. Court took notice of different Muslim names Akhila assumed on various occasions. When Akhila came to the court on May 21 her counsel had submitted before the court that her parents had participated in the wedding which court found a false statement hence that wedding did not have the consent of Sharia Law. Her name was Hadia in the marriage-related documents. But conversion documents disclosed her name as Asia. Some other documents disclosed she was Adhia! Documents disclosed, the groom was employed in Gulf. But, the man Shafin Jahan, a worker of SDPI and Campus Front,  is the admin of the Whatsapp group of SDPI. Mansy Burakhi, an IS worker, was a member of this group. He was caught by the police from the Kanakamala camp (Thalsserry, Kannur district) of the extremist activists. Court explains that even though the girl had got married as per Islamic rites, it is court’s duty to stop her from jumping into further dangers. Court says, it is parens patriae justice, that is the ‘justice for those who are hapless.’ When she was under the patronage of the court it was illegal to get married sans informing it.
The Court exposed the activities of the religious institution which tried to befool it (court). It found the activities of the extremist outfits like SDPI, Popular Front, Campus Front, NDF and their religious extremist activities had their links with the IS-like international terrorist groups. Court has exposed serious findings and directed to carry out further enquiries into the aforementioned activities. Still Muslim groups allege that court invalidated the Sharia Law-based marriage.
The issue has turned an eye-opener to thousands of non-Muslim parents in the state. At the same time, the state witnesses the scenario of all anti-Hindu and anti-nationalistic and anti-national groups joining hands against the judiciary. Their chorus is to empower the anti-national forces, weaken the nationalist forces and to destabilise the nation. Several media men are competing with one another in this immoral endeavour.
The Muslim Ekopana Samiti (MCC), a common platform of several extremist Muslim outfits, marched towards the Kerala High Court shouting arrogant slogans. But, obviously, the mainstream media of Kerala ignored it, thanks to the pseudo secularism they have accepted as their guiding principle even though the slogans were akin to contempt of court. Most of them were derogatory against Justice Surendramohan. They threatened, the protest would enter his bedroom and kitchen; his official chair would be thrown away! There are reports that SDPI general secretary Ajmal Ismail and secretariat member Yahia Thangal were seen shouting from the top of the water cannon carrier. Political parties of both Congress and CPM fronts shut their eyes against this sort of anti-judiciary protests. Channels competed with one another to establish that one’s constitutional right to get married to some one he or she likes, is denied! The police action against anti-social march was really ridiculous. Just a case against 3000 people and that is all! The angry mob had even attacked the police, and they had to resort to lathi charge. They shouted slogans against RSS also. Poort guys thought that Justice Surendra Mohan was a Hindu. In fact, both the judges of the two member bench were Christians!
Then the court instructed NIA to investigate all similar cases for establishing the pattern of love jihad. It gave ample scope to NAI to look into similar cases and to find out whether banned outfits like SIMI, etc. are trying to draft the vulnerable Hindu girls and convert them as terrorists within or without Bharat. NIA had earlier submitted before the court that it was not a sporadic case; for example, people had acted as instigators in a similar case in the state.
Other Victims
The new modus operandi for conversion and recruitment for IS came to day light when recently several people fled the country for Afghanistan and Syria. In July, 2016, sixteen people were reportedly missing from Kasaragod and Palakkad districts of Kerala; some of them were married couples and there was a two-year-old child among them. Two girls, Mereen (Christian) from Kochi and Nimisha (Hindu) from Thiruvananthapuram were among them. They were married to Yahiya and Isa, both were brothers, from Palakkad. Both were converted to Islam from Christianity. Both girls were converted to Islam and renamed as Mariyam and Nimisha (Fathima) respectively. Their family members say that both girls underwent severe indoctrination. The extremists tried to convert Mereen’s younger brother while both were in Mumbai. The police case was registered when he complained to Kochi Police about his missing sister. There is unconfirmed news that one of these brothers has been killed in US attack in Afghanistan or Syria. The only information reaching Kerala is about the messages the missing Kasargodans send to their families using only social media. Bindu, Nimisha’s mother, a CPM fellow traveller said, even though she had complained against her daughter’s register ed marriage, it turned futile as she was past 18! Bindu wonders if there is any way to change this rule of 18!
Nimisha fell into the bad influence during her studies in a dental college in Kasaragod; there were reports that the college belonged to the relative of a prominent leader of the Indian Union Muslim League IUML), a prominent partner in the Congress-led UDF in Kerala. There were complaints against the college for facilitating the campaigns for conversion and IS recruitments. Since IUML calls the shot in Kasaragod, there are allegations that police would not take any serious actions against the party’s will, whether it is in the ruling front or opposition front. Mereen fell an easy prey when she went to work in Mumbai and later on in a school in Kochi which turned infamous last year for teaching text books containing anti-national and anti-Hindu lessons. This weekly had carried a detailed story about it last year. And, there are allegations that the school belongs to a trust controlled by infamous Zakir Naik.
Another Athira was converted into Islam in Kasaragod. When the parents moved a petition the girl spat in the face of her relatives during the meetings in the court. At last the court ordered her to go home with her parents.
In Mukkam Kozhikkode, a case is going on as one Shilpa Nair was converted to Islam and married to a Muslim. She was converted in Satyasarani. She was tortured by the husband after the marriage.
In Parur, Ernakulam district, a Hindu salesgirl, employed in a textile shop was married to a Muslim colleague Abu Baker who was already having a wife and children. Girl’s father was an alcoholic and she was in need of money for completing her house construction. He lent her money and taking advantage of it. She told the RSS workers that it started with raping her in her house while she was alone. Then he took her to several places for exploiting her sexually. She says, even some police men have advised her to withdraw the case she has filed against Abu Baker.
A couple of years back, Anuja, an MA student was married to a Muslim in Kochi. The man was already married. After few months, when he asked her to get ready for conversion she refused. During the day, she was found hanging dead in their rented house. Her head was shaven and she was wearing a red dress when she was found hanging. These two systems are said to be followed by the Islamic terrorists before they kill the anti-Muslim activists. Her parents were all complaining about the non-co-operation of the police.
Interestingly, no significant political or social organisations, other than RSS, BJP or RSS-inspired organisations, dare to speak against Love Jihad. Hindu Helpline, a VHP-inspired movement informed some time back that more than 8,000 Love Jihad cases has been registered with them in Kerala. Hindu Helpline tries its level best to ‘disconnect’ the innocent girls from this global danger. They always keep an eye in this regard. They facilitate the ‘disconnect’ through legal steps, counselling, etc. A lot of voluntary organisations work in Kerala with the same set target.
“Satyasarani” in Mancherry, Malappuram district, is infamous for the conversion campaign it has been running since long. It is the epic centre for several love jihad cases. Union Minister of State of Home Hansraj Ahir alleged that mass conversions take place in the district. Immediately both LDF and UDF joined hands to oppose him. The Minister had said that every month about 1000 people, including Hindus and Christians, are converted into Islam in Satyasarani. He said, the state government is yet to give a reply to the inquiry from the centre in this regard. He had met Kerala’s Chief Secretary and DG of Police and presented this problem before them in May 2017.
Vaikkom house of Akhila in Kottayam district witnessed a funny agitation on August 30, 2017. Some women claiming to be human rights activists came to Akhila’s house to gift her sweets, books and new clothes (Onakkoti). Her father Asokan did not permit her to implement their plan; he said her daughter was under high court’s protection hence police was there. But, they got angry and shouted slogans demanding the immediate release of Akhila from the confinement. Hindu activists believe that it was a plot to kidnap Akhila from her house.