Political Row in Kerala as Christian Family Alleges Love Jihad

Relatives of Jyotsna Mary Joseph, a nurse in Saudi Arabia, levelled “love jihad’ allegation after she recently walked out on her family and married Shejin, a local DYFI leader belonging to the Muslim community, without their consent

Kozhikode, Kerala: A recent interfaith marriage of a Muslim activist of the ruling CPI(M)’s youth wing DYFI, has stirred a political storm after the relatives of the Christian bride alleged “love jihad”, with a senior left party leader supporting the charge, only to retract his statement later.

As the issue snowballed into a major controversy, the Marxist party today made it clear that there was nothing unnatural in interfaith marriages and the campaign of “love jihad” was a creation of RSS and Sangh Parivar.

Relatives of Jyotsna Mary Joseph, a nurse in Saudi Arabia, levelled “love jihad’ allegation after she recently walked out on her family and married Shejin, a local DYFI leader belonging to the Muslim community, without their consent, reported news agency Press Trust of India.

A section of the Christian community in Kerala’s Thiruvambady here including nuns staged demonstrations against the alleged ‘love jihad’ in connection with the incident.

A statement issued by the CPI(M) district secretariat member and former MLA George M Thomas supporting the allegations of ‘love jihad’ on Tuesday added more fuel to the row and triggered an intense social media campaign by a section of people against the ruling party.

However, the CPI(M) district leadership intervened and made Thomas issue a clarification.

“Love jihad” is a term used by the right-wing outfits to claim that Muslim men lure women from other faiths to convert them into Islam.

Denouncing Thomas’ remarks, P Mohanan, CPI(M) Kozhikode district secretary, said today that his party has never referred to inter-religious marriages as “love jihad”.

“Love Jihad is a term used by the RSS and Sangh forces to attack religious minorities. The CPI(M) has already made its stand clear on the topic. Marriage is the choice of individuals and the legal system of the country permits adults to get married according to their choice,” he told reporters.