‘Are interfaith marriages by kin of BJP leaders love jihad?’: After Ashok Gehlot, Bhupesh Baghel questions saffron party – India News , Firstpost

File image of Bhupesh Baghel. Firstpost/Debobrat Ghose

Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel on Saturday echoed his Rajasthan counterpart Ashok Gehlot’s statements on ‘love jihad’ and questioned whether inter-faith marriages of BJP leaders would also be defined as such.

“Family members of several BJP leaders have also performed inter-religion marriages. I ask BJP leaders if these marriages come under the definition of ‘love jihad’,” the Congress leader was quoted as saying by ANI.

On Friday, Gehlot had slammed the BJP over the term ‘love jihad’ and said that the saffron party had “manufactured” the term “to divide the nation and curb individual rights of citizens”.

In a series of tweets, Gehlot added that marriage is a matter of personal liberty and bringing a law to curb it is completely unconstitutional, he said. It will not stand the scrutiny by any court of law.

“Jihad has no place in love. They are creating an environment in the nation where consenting adults would be at the mercy of state power. Marriage is a personal decision and they are putting curbs on it which is like snatching away personal liberty,” he tweeted.

He said it seems a ploy to disrupt communal harmony, fuel social conflict, and disregard constitutional provisions like the state not discriminating against citizens on any ground.

Gehlot remarks followed announcements by BJP-led governments in Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, and Madhya Pradesh that they are considering to enact a law against love jihad, referring to the allegations that women are being converted to Islam in the name of love and marriage.

With inputs from agencies