AIMIM chief against Love Jihad law; 'Owaisi, traitor, terror, Pak' at tip of BJP's tongue

As several BJP-ruled states are mulling to frame legislation against ‘love jihad’, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi has opposed the idea, terming it as a ‘political drama’ to distract the attention of youth from the issue of unemployment. He alleged that the BJP is propagating hatred by introducing a law that violates Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution.

Speaking to ANI on Sunday, Owaisi said, “It’ll be a gross violation of Articles 14 and 21, scrap Special Marriage Act then. They (BJP) should study the Constitution. Such propagation of hatred won’t work. BJP is doing drama to distract youth who fell victim to unemployment”. 

Notably, several BJP-ruled states including Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh have proposed bills that impose stringent laws against cases of ‘love jihad. The term refers to the forceful conversion of an individual's religion for the sake of marriage.

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Asaduddin Owaisi also accused the BJP of providing no financial help to Hyderabad, especially when it was hit by floods. Upping the ante against the Modi government ahead of the GHMC polls, he said the BJP is now trying to give a ‘communal’ colour to this election.

“AIMIM works for Telangana all days in a year. If you wake up a BJP leader at night and ask them to give some names, they will say Owaisi, followed by traitor, terrorism and lastly Pakistan. BJP should say what financial help they provided to Telangana, especially Hyderabad after 2019,” he said.

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'Love Jihad' bill row

Several states mulling the law against 'Love Jihad' is a result of the Ballabhgarh incident, where a 21-year-old student was shot at point-blank in broad daylight outside her college by her alleged stalker Tausif after he failed to abduct her. The incident had sent shockwaves across the nation and several protests were held in Haryana after the barbaric crime, which led to Haryana government mulling on bringing a law against 'Love Jihad'.

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The Madhya Pradesh government is also planning to introduce Dharma Swatantrya (Religious Freedom) Bill 2020 in the next session of the state Assembly in view of the rising incidents of 'love jihad'. The bill proposes rigorous imprisonment for the period of five years for luring a person through fraud and forcing marriage by religious conversion, he told reporters and added that such offence will be non-bailable. The Home Department of Uttar Pradesh has also announced that a strict law against 'Love Jihad' will soon be brought in the state. 

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