Adityanath slams UDF, LDF for not enacting laws to check 'love jihad'

Kasaragod (Ker): Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday raised the 'love jihad' issue in poll-bound Kerala, slamming successive LDF and UDF governments for not enacting any legislation to check it despite "strong court observation".

Though the Kerala High Court had made observations against 'forceful' religious conversion under the guise of love in 2009, the subsequent state governments were 'sleeping', he said, kicking off the BJP's campaign for the assembly polls in the state, likely by April-May.

He also alleged that the governments headed by the CPI (M) and the Congress in the state indulged in corruption activities and had not done anything for the people.

"In 2009, the Kerala High Court had said that Love Jihad was prevalent here. However, the governments here did not take any steps to counter that but instead were taking steps in favour of it,"Adityanath said.

Inaugurating the state-wide "Vijay Yatra" led by BJP Kerala president K Surendran, he said that in Uttar Pradesh his government took stern action to deal with "love jihad" and made laws to control it, apparently referring to religious freedom laws to stop conversion through marriage or by any other fraudulent means.

'Love Jihad' is a term used by right wing activists to refer to an alleged campaign of Muslims forcing Hindu girls to convert in the guise of love.

"The court had said that love jihad would turn the state into an Islamic state. But the subsequent governments here are not governing for the safety and security of the state or the country. They did not take any steps to counter that. We need to be more careful," he said.

Observing that there were indications of 'forceful" religious conversions under the guise of "love" in Kerala, the state high court on December 9, 2009 had suggested the government to consider enacting a law to prohibit such "deceptive" acts.