Maharashtra: Only 402 complaints before interfaith marriages panel scrap ‘love jihad’ committee, demand SP MLA Rais Shaikh

TOI: The Maharashtra government’s Interfaith Marriage Family Coordination Committee, set up by the women and child development (WCD) department in December 2022 has received complaints about only 402 cases of interfaith marriages in one year, according to information from the WCD department given to Samajwadi Party MLA Rais Shaikh.

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The department’s reply to Shaikh also states that the committee has met only thrice between December 2022 and October 2023.

Shaikh has now demanded in a letter to Deputy CM Ajit Pawar that the committee set up to tackle ‘Love Jihad’ cases be scrapped. Shaikh has also asked Assembly SpeakerRahul Narwekar to direct WCD Minister Aditi Tatkare to clarify the current status of the committee and the number of love jihad cases that have actually come to light in the ongoing winter session of the state legislature.

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The committee was set up on December 13, 2022, by then WCD Minister Mangalprabhat Lodha. While speaking in the assembly in March 2023, Lodha had said, “Maharashtra had more than one lakh cases of love jihad which has upset society.”
“Minister Lodha had claimed that there were more than one lakh cases of love jihad .. However, I have received information on record from the government that the committee has received only 402 complaints so far. These complaints include not just two particular communities but other communities as well,” Shaikh said in his letters to Dy CM Ajit Pawar and WCD Minister Aditi Tatkare.

 

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Shaikh further claimed that the intention of then WCD Minister Lodha behind setting up the committee for ‘Love Jihad’ cases was to defame the minority community, create a rift between the two communities, and deliberately harass a particular community.
“The previous WCD minister made false claims. The WCD department has provided me with information that there are only 402 complaints so far. Hence, the government should scrap this committee and the Government Resolution (GR) that was issued,” Shaikh said, adding that he had met Tatakre and urged her to scrap the committee.

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“The then WCD Minister Lodha claimed in the legislature on March 8, 2023, that there were one lakh cases of Love Jihad in the state. However, the information provided to me by the WCD department showed that the committee did not receive a single complaint till March 20, 2023. Therefore Lodha made a false, baseless and misleading statement in the house. Hence, the government should clarify the facts in the house in this matter,” Shaikh said in his letter to Narwekar.

A GR from the WCD department had said the committee will gather details about couples in interfaith marriages. The committee will get in touch with the couple’s respective families to inquire if they are in contact. If the girl is not in touch with her family, the committee will get in touch with them and if the parents are opposed to the marriage they shall be counselled, said the GR.