Love Jihad in the time of CoronaLockdown: Jihadis led by CPM goon abduct Kerala Christian girl under quarantine

Defying lockdown orders, a group of radicalised Muslim youths, led by a local CPM goon, abducted a 19-year-old Christian nursing student at night in Kanjirappalli, Kottayam district on Wednesday. The incident took place on the day the girl had completed her home quarantine after travelling from Andhra Pradesh, where she is pursuing her BSc Nursing course. Quoting the father of the girl, Indusscrolls reported that a gang of 10-15 Muslim youths belonging to various political parties descended on the house in the night and took away his daughter when all were asleep.

According to the relatives of the victim, the boy, Hakim Thaiparambil, is a local DYFI leader, the youthwing of the CPM. Christians suspect that the local police also supported the move, as otherwise, how come a gang of 10-15 youths move about when there are stringent restrictions on movement due to lockdown. “Muslims in other political parties like SDPI, Congress and Muslim League supported the abduction,” writes Justin George in a Facebook post.

“This is a clear case of Love Jihad, an organised move to trap gullible Christian girls and make them wives of Muslim boys to make Kerala an Islamic country. The CPI(M) is also a party to it as there is a huge penetration of radical Muslims into the party rank and file. The duplicity of the media in Kerala is very startling. There is no piece of news on the incident as the perpetrators were Muslims,” Josey Joseph, a local Christian activist.

Reports suggest that the girl has been converted to Islam the next day and the marriage was arranged. “Some extremist Muslim organisations have fanned out youths to trap gullible Christian girls. It is unfortunate that the whole Muslim community gives support to such elements. This is not true love; if it were why intimidate parents of girls and convert the girls overnight,” Indusscrolls quoted a Christian priest, who doesn’t want to be identified, as saying. According to him, more than 2500 Christian girls have been trapped in ‘Love Jihad’ in the last six years.

The incident has sent shock waves in the Christian community, which has been witnessing a steady rise in Love Jihad cases involving Christian girls.

In January, 2019, the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, the biggest Christian Church in Kerala, had expressed concerns over the growing incidents of Love Jihad in which Christian girls are targeted and killed in Kerala. The concern was raised at the Synod, meeting of the bishops. The church had also condemned the police laxity in Love Jihad cases. In the wake of the resolution on Love Jihad passed by the Syro-Malabar Catholic Synod, the then Vice-Chairman of National Commission for Minorities, George Kurian had demanded NIA probe into such cases in Kerala.