Maha govt’s proposed inter-faith panel will divide Hindus and Muslims: SP MLA Azmi

NAGPUR, (PTI): Samajwadi Party leader Abu Azmi on Tuesday alleged the Maharashtra government has proposed to set up an interfaith marriage committee aiming to divide Hindus and Muslims.

Speaking to reporters in the state legislature complex, Azmi said Muslims are being defamed by invoking ”love jihad”. ”Love jihad” is a term often used by right-wing activists to allege a ploy by Muslim men to lure Hindu women into religious conversion through marriage.

”The proposed interfaith marriage inspection committee is aimed at dividing Hindus and Muslims. (Ironically) If a person from the Hindu community marries a member of another community nothing will happen to him, but if a Muslim marries a person from the Hindu community, he will face action,” he said speaking about the inter-faith panel. He said it is a religious committee and representatives from various faiths should be made members.

Queried on the Shraddha Walkar murder case, Azmi, an MLA from Mumbai, said her case is not a love jihad issue as it is being painted now. ”Rather it was a social subject and of live-in relationship. Anyone who is an adult can decide to live the way he/she wants. People are being misled by terming that incident as love Jihad,” he added.

Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had said the inter-faith committee, to be headed by a minister, will track and maintain records of inter-faith marriages, married couples, and also their families. ”When Shraddha Walkar’s father said we didn’t understand where to go and we could have saved her had someone facilitated a conversation with her. People do not know where to go in such a situation and the panel is (there) for facilitation,” he had told the Legislative Assembly. (PTI)