Zee Media Bureau

Lucknow: Ever since the Bharatiya Janata Party raised the issue of `love jihad` (affairs involving Muslim boys and Hindu girls) in Uttar Pradesh, the controversy has refused to die down with Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday taking a jibe at Mathura MP Hema Malini saying she never had qualms about acting in movies which showed such relationships.

Replying to queries on issue of "love jihad" raised by BJP in its Uttar Pradesh executive meet, Akhilesh said, “You hear the song of BJP MP`s film `Dharmatma`. Will it promote love or not."

The Chief Minister was referring to actor-turned politician and Mathura MP Hema Malini`s 1975 movie which also starred Feroz Khan.

The film showed the son of a Hindu gang-lord falling in love with a Muslim girl played by Hema.

The lyrics of the song that UP CM referred to go on the lines of - “Jab se tujhko dekha hai, dekh ke khuda ko maana hai. Maanke dil ye kehta hai, meri khushiyon ka tu hai khazaana (I now believe in God ever since I`ve seen you. In this belief my heart says, you are the treasure trove of my joy)."

`Love jihad` is a term coined by some Hindu groups for alleged efforts to get non-Muslim girls to convert to Islam through love affairs.

"Youth should be vigilant against love jihad. Why is the government lenient on those who indulge in such practise? Have they (youth of the minority community) got license to convert the girls of majority community," UP BJP chief Laxmikant Bajpai said yesterday addressing the two-day meeting of state party executive committee in Vrindavan.

With Agency Inputs