The whole issue of Love Jihad has almost become synonymous with Kerala in recent months.
We had reported that the Supreme Court had ordered the National Investigative Agency (NIA) to probe an alleged love jihad case of a girl named Akhila Asokan. In that case the marriage of the girl with a man named Shafin Jahan, had been declared null and void by the Kerala High Court thanks to a petition by the girl’s father. The father had alleged that the girl was forced to convert after being abducted and wrongly confined at an illegal Islamic conversion center.
The plot had later thickened after it was reported that a common mentor named Sainaba, associated with the radical group Popular Front of India (PFI), “lured” the two girls including Akhila into accepting Islam.
Now in an interesting development, it has been reported that the communist Left Front government of Kerala told the Supreme Court on Saturday that there was no need for a NIA probe into the matter.
It reportedly told the court in an affidavit that the state police was effectively investigating the case. Its affidavit also claimed that the state police’s investigation had not revealed any offences which warranted a probe by the NIA. It also claimed that the state government was competent enough to conduct such a probe.
Intrestingly the government had earlier expressed no such objections about the NIA probe. The next hearing of the case is on Monday.
What is the reason behind the State government’s sudden reluctance to let the probe go ahead. Is it now afraid that the probe would open a can of worms?
We had recently reported that the NIA government is already making substantial headway into the whole matter by probing a total of 32 love jihad cases which have reportedly happened in the state. The agency has also asked the Kerala police to give details of alleged forced conversions which have been carried out in Therbiyathul Islam Sabha in Kozhikode, which is a religious centre authorised by the Kerala government.
It may also just be the beginning as the total love jihad cases in the state are pegged at 92 and the NIA has claimed that it would be uncovering the whole racket.
