Fadnavis claims a large number of alleged 'Love Jihad' cases reported in Maharashtra

Mumbai: Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has once again raised the issue of 'Love Jihad,' claiming that Maharashtra has become a state in the country with a large number of alleged 'Love Jihad' cases being investigated in missing person complaints.

However, it is important to note that no court in the country has yet proven any connection to 'Love Jihad' in any case.

Speaking to reporters, Fadnavis, who holds the Home portfolio in the Eknath Shinde government, said the detection rate in missing person complaints was 90 to 95 per cent in the state.

“In some cases, we found that false promises were made or false identity was used, with even married persons trying to mislead women. Cases termed as love jihad have also come forward in large numbers,” the senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader said.

“I had stated earlier that we are mulling to introduce a law on it (“love jihad”). We are studying various existing laws in this connection,” Fadnavis added.

There is no case that has been proven as Love Jihad in any Indian court. The term "Love Jihad" is a Hindutva conspiracy theory that alleges that Muslim men are using marriage to convert Hindu women to Islam. However, there is no evidence to support this claim. In fact, a number of studies have shown that interfaith marriages are more likely to succeed than interfaith marriages.

In 2020, the Supreme Court of India dismissed a petition that sought to ban Love Jihad. The court ruled that there was no evidence to support the claim that Love Jihad was a real phenomenon. The court also said that the term "Love Jihad" was "highly inflammatory" and could lead to communal violence.

Since then, there have been a number of cases in which Hindutva groups have accused Muslim men of Love Jihad. However, none of these cases have been proven in court. In fact, a number of these cases have been dismissed by the courts.

With PTI inputs