‘Moral panic’ in India: ‘Love Jihad’ a mis-information campaign, say Muslims.

Indian Muslim groups are alarmed to see government entities like the judiciary confirming the ‘love-jihad’ meme and have issued a statement:

The mis-information campaign against the non-existent organisation in the name of ‘Love Jihad’ would only lead to vitiating the prevailing communal harmony and create suspicion among various communities and the parties concerned should keep themselves away from levelling unsubstantiated charges.

“Non-existent organization”: This is the first I’ve heard that the Hindu extremists have invented an ‘Elders of Zion’-ish imaginary group to peg this new Muslim fearmongering on…

The ‘love jihad’ accusation is no joke. It is a ‘moral panic’ – a specific term in sociology that describes the intense response to minorities perceived to be a threat to the social order – being used to legitimize coercion and violence against Muslims, and against couples of mixed religious background.

For more about ‘moral panics,’ see this previous Talk Islam post.