By TwoCircles.net Staff Correspondent,
Malappuram: There is no evidence for the functioning of ‘love jihad’ in Kerala, informed the central Home Ministry in the Kerala High Court. The centre stated its view in the affidavit filed on the matter by Home Secretary GK Pillai. The court has postponed the case to December 9 for judgement.
The affidavit reportedly says that the central government has not got any information on the functioning of such an organization. There was no organized religious conversion in the state too. The term was also used by the media and rare incidents of love are portrayed in this way.
The central government filed its affidavit in the case related to the accused kidnapping and forced conversion of two students from Pathanamthitta in south Kerala. The HC had directed the central intelligence agency and the state police to investigate whether an organization called ‘love jihad’ was functioning in Kerala.
Justice KT Shankaran also repeated that the investigation reports submitted by DGP Jacob Punnoose were contradictory. The report had stated that there was no evidence for the functioning of any organization called ‘love jihad’ but added that there were accusations of forced conversion feigning love. The police are continuing investigations into the matter.
The court also mentioned about the letter submitted by Shahensha and Sirajudheen, the boys accused of forcefully converting the two girls to Islam. The letter reportedly accused that the words used by the court had caused communal divisions. But the court maintained that such matters would not affect the legislative responsibility in any way.
The ‘love jihad’ controversy arose when the High Court mentioned the terms ‘love jihad’ and ‘romeo jihad’ while considering the bail application of Sirajudheen and Shahensha. The case was that the boys had forcefully converted two girls, students of MBA in Pathanamthitta in south Kerala, to Islam after feigning love. The girls had reportedly left their homes with the boys. When presented in the High Court, Justice KT Shankaran directed the girls (who were major) to go with their parents. The girls had then reportedly informed the HC that they had converted to Islam on their own free will and that they had married the boys. But when they came to the court next time, the girls accused the boys of forced conversion feigning love. The girls are still maintaining the stand, according to reports.