By Team Mangalorean Bangalore

Bangalore, October 26, 2009: The Karnataka Government on Monday ordered a Crime Investigation Department (CID) probe into 'love jehad' where young non-Muslim girls are allegedly lured into marriage and converted to Islam following a recent Karnataka High Court order to probe such incidents.

Home Minister Dr V S Acharya chaired a high-level meeting of police officials here and directed Director General of Police (DGP), CID, to conduct the investigation and submit a report in the next 15 days. The meeting discussed the alleged incidents of 'love jehad' reported from Karnataka and Kerala.

Dr Acharya told media persons that a decision has been taken to collect more information about the funding, support and the existence of 'love jehad.' The probe will also focus on whether girls were being lured for conversion, any organisation was promoting such activities and to find out who is behind it. After receiving the report, the Government would decide the action to be initiated to check "love jehad". The DGP, CID would also gather information on the menace, including from Kerala and submit a report to the government suggesting measures to check it, he said.

Karnataka High Court during a hearing on a Habeas Corpus petition filed by the parents of a girl, who married a Muslim boy from Kannur district and was allegedly confined in a madrasa in Kerala's Mallapuram town, had directed Karnataka and Kerala governments to jointly probe the 'jehad' and file a report before November 13.

The Kerala High Court had recently directed the Kerala government to provide information on 'love jehad', observing that there was a movement called "Love Jehad" or "Romeo Jihad" conceived by a section of Muslims in Kerala to convert girls from other religions to Islam.

The People's Union for Civil Liberties has decided to file a writ petition in the Supreme Court challenging the Karnataka High Court's order asking a woman who had converted to Islam to marry a Muslim man from Kerala, to return to her parents' home until the case was investigated. The PUCL will question the decision of the High Court to send the 23-year-old woman back to her family despite her statement in court that she had willingly converted and was waiting to get married under the provisions of the Special Marriages Act.

The Muslim Central Committee of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts will convene a conference of Muslims in Mangalore on November 12 to discuss issues related to 'love jehad'.

Committee president K.S. Mohammed Masood alleged that vested interests were attempting to tarnish the image of Islam by framing the phrase 'love jehad'. "There is no such phrase in Islam. It is an absurd usage."

Kerala HC dissatisfied with DGP report

The Kerala High Court on Monday expressed dissatisfaction over the state DGP’s report on ‘Love Jehad’, where girls from other religious background are allegedly lured to marriage and converted to Islam, even as Karnataka government ordered a CID probe into such incidents.

The court directed DGP Jacob Punnose to produce reports by November 11 in a sealed cover on the basis of which he had prepared the report.

The Karnataka High Court had directed the state and Kerala police to conduct a joint probe and submit a report to it before November 13. Prior to this, Kerala High Court had directed the state to provide information on Love Jihad.

At Kochi today, Justice K T Sankaran observed that some answers furnished in the DGP's report were ‘vague’ and it also appeared that statements in different paragraphs did not ‘reconcile’ with each other. The DGP, in a statement on October 22, told the Court there were reasons to suspect 'concentrated ‘attempts’ to persuade non-Muslim girls to convert to Islam after they fall in love with Muslim boys, but that no organisation called ."Love Jihad'' had been identified so far in the state.

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