VHP, Durga Vahini, Bajrang Dal leaders booked for drive against 'Love Jihad' in Udupi

Around forty leaders came together to distribute pamphlets which read – “Awareness campaign against Love Jihad”.

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A signature campaign by right wing organisations including Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Durga Vahini and Bajrang Dal in Udupi has ended with a case registered against leaders of the groups in the town police station.

Around forty leaders came together on Monday to distribute pamphlets which read – “Awareness campaign against Love Jihad”. But the assembly of forty people on the national highway was done without obtaining permission from district administration or police, forcing police officials to take action.

"When questioned, they said they had organized awareness campaign against Love Jihad for the benefit of male and female students. They were questioned about permission obtained for organizing this programme. they answered in the negative," assistant police sub-inspector of the station, Narayan said speaking to Daijiworld.

The police official added that the leaders illegally assembled on national highway 169A and obstructed movement of people and vehicles for one hour from 12.15 to 13.15 pm.

The leaders included Vilas Nayak, Sunil KR, Santosh Suvarna, Dinesh Shetty and Lokesh Shettigar from the Bajrang Dal, Dinesh Mendon, of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Surendra Koteshwar and Padma Ratnakar of Durga Vahini.

The awareness campaign comes at a time pro-Hindu groups are intensifying efforts to stop inter-faith relationships. Several cases of relationships between a Hindu woman and a Muslim man have been questioned in the past month.

Members of Durga Vahini, the women’s wing of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, ‘counselled’ the woman, alleging that her boyfriend was a drug-peddler. In another incident, Priyanka, a resident of Daregudde near Moodabidri was investigated by police after she went missing on December 9. Pro-Hindu groups claimed it was a case of ‘love jihad’.

Two Mangaluru women, Madhuri Bolar and Bharathi Prashanth filed police complaints alleging abuse and harassment they were subjected to on social media resulting in the arrest of four men.

A Hindu seer has also announced that he is making preparations to form a Hindu task force to prevent cases of 'love jihad' from happening.

The cases have increased just months before the state assembly elections set for May.