Talk Islam

Latest Updates: ‘love jihad’ RSS

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  johnpi 9:09 am on November 2, 2009 | 1 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: 'love jihad', India (174), moral panic (2), moral panics (3)

  ‘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.

   

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  johnpi 5:50 am on October 27, 2009 | 1 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: 'love jihad', communalism (14), communitarianism (2), India (174)

  ‘Love jihad’ accusations against Indian Muslims racheting up tension, likelihood of violence.

  The “love jihad” phenomenon – which may just be linked to a few religious-minded Romeos – could have been comical had it not deepened domestic hostility towards India’s Muslim minority. There are fears that the use of the word “jihad”, often interpreted as meaning holy war, may give extremist Hindu and Christian groups an excuse to justify attacks on Muslims.

  “Certain fundamentalist groups that have been carrying out vigilante attacks against inter-community couples for several years have now started using the ‘love jihad’ theory to justify their attacks,” a police official told The Hindu newspaper. He did not name the groups, but was probably referring to the Sri Ram Sene and the Bajrang Dal, which target women and religious minorities.

  Sri Ram Sene is now preparing for a nationwide campaign on the issue. Its leader, Pramod Mutalik, has said 150 party activists have been deployed in public places to keep an eye on “suspicious activities”. When a “love jihad” activity is identified, “it will be stopped then and there”, he said.

   
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  johnpi 5:17 am on October 22, 2009 | 1 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: 'love jihad', India (174)

  In one Indian state, top police officials are gathering to consider how to counter the Muslim “love jihad.”

  A day after the Karnataka High Court directed the state and Kerala to probe the “Love Jihad movement” where young non-Muslim girls are allegedly trapped into marriage and converted into Islam, the government today decided to convene a meeting of top police officials soon to discuss ways of countering it.

  About two to three ‘Love Jihad’ incidents had come to government’s notice and “it looks serious”, Karnataka Home Minister V S Acharya told reporters here.

  The meeting of police officials would be held either tomorrow or the day after, he said, adding, Karnataka has written to Kerala drawing its attention towards the ‘movement’ as it had inter-state ramifications.