No love jihad cases in Kerala, MHA tells Lok Sabha

In response to the questions about whether the Government is aware of the observation of Kerala High Court that there is no case of love jihad in Kerala, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) told the Lok Sabha in a written reply that there are no such cases in the southern state. Union Minister of State for Home G Kishan Reddy said the Article 25 of the Constitution provides for the freedom to profess, practice and propagate religion subject to public order, morality and health.

Various courts, including the Kerala High Court, have upheld this view.

"The term 'Love Jihad' is not defined under the extant laws. No such case of 'Love Jihad' has been reported by any of the central agencies," he said in reply to a written question.

The minister, however, said two cases from Kerala involving inter-faith marriage have been probed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

Earlier, the VHP has said that it is not against interfaith marriages but only against 'love jihad' aimed at tricking Hindu girls to marrying Muslim youths to have them converted to Islam.

"The VHP is not against interfaith marriages but a conspiracy is on under which a Muslim youth in a pre-planned manner traps a Hindu girl and then converts her to his religion by taking undue advantage of her innocence," VHP spokesperson Vinod Bansal told PTI in Jammu.

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