Mumbai: Right-wing outfits organise morcha against ‘love jihad’, demand anti-conversion laws

Mumbai, Jan 29 (PTI) Activists of right-wing organisations took out a massive rally in Mumbai on Sunday against ‘love jihad’ and demanded anti-conversion laws and a crackdown on land grabbing in the name of religion.

Leaders and workers of right-wing outfits such as the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) marched in the rally.

Hindu Jan Akrosh Morcha, organised by Sakal Hindu Samaj, began from Shivaji Park in Dadar in central Mumbai and culminated at Kamgar Maidan in Parel, covering a distance of more than 4 km.

Activists shouted slogans against “love jihad”, and demanded anti-conversion laws and a crackdown on land grabbing in the name of religion.

Several leaders and MLAs of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and those of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena faction also participated in the rally.

Police personnel were deployed along the route of the march to prevent any untoward incident.

“Love jihad” is a term often used by right-wing activists to allege a ploy by Muslim men to lure Hindu women into religious conversion through marriage.

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had said last December that the government would study laws on “love jihad” framed by other states and take an appropriate decision.

He had also spoken about a “feeling” in the legislature regarding the Shraddha Walkar case that instances of “love jihad” are seen at a large scale in the state.