How to tackle Love Jihad?

Love Jihad is a social menace that has gripped Kerala with its vice tendrils. There is a steep escalation in the number of newspaper reports that speak of the same. While some reports speak of this openly, there are others that make covert, sly references to the same. Covert, because media houses that claim to be in the mainstream ensure that such news pieces are cloaked in simulations, whereby their true picture lies lost.

When we gauge society’s responses to the matter, a few common matters surface:

1)  Society does not gauge or respond to the matter with the seriousness it ought to be dealt with.

2)  There are people who work along with Jihadists, who try to silence those who try to react or question these matters, by referring to them as cowards and communal minded.

3)  Law-givers and law makers do not show the zeal to bring to book those culprits who resort to such heinous crimes. They seldom lack fervor in taking to task legally, these perpetrators of evil.

4)  Hindu organizations do not aggressively come to the forefront when such instances of Love Jihad surface, when the Hindu society is humiliated using their own girls as bait. We have seen instances where the woman’s body is seen as war arena, where the opponent’s strength of mind is shorn off. It should be borne in mind that when these tactics be used directly here, Jihadists resort to such mean methods.
It is the Hindu girls who, in majority, fall victim to the vice of Love Jihad. When contemplated from a domestic and social angle, many solutions to the same are plausible.

Hindu girls experience paramount freedom, when compared to that experienced by girls of other religious communities. However, instead of comprehending the positive sides of the quantum of liberty they experience, they tend to misuse the same. Instead of celebrating life in a virtuous manner by considering the free will a boon, owing to the lack of rigidity otherwise prevalent in other religions, Hindu girls tend to chase a mirage of hollow and shallow utterances and baubles cast before them by Jihadist Romeos. And by the time they realize they are deep in muck, it is too late. The end is often grisly.
Its time Hindu parents and relatives shed their sloth and ensure that their daughters grow with self respect. They must be inculcated with values and virtues of Sanatana Dharma, right from childhood. And for this to happen, we must ensure that shallow, baseless ideologies do not contaminate or sully the environment at home. Children must fully be able to comprehend that the humanity imparted by Sanatana Dharma has no parallel in any ideology.

Hindu children should compulsorily be given counselling before marriage- they should hear real life experiences as to why couples should stay together in marriage, about the dangers lurking in married life as one goes forward in life. They should be made aware that in case of any danger they fall into, there lies a formidable society behind them, supporting them, for them to fall back upon. Religious venues should include counselling sessions for youths.

Another issue is that of polygamy, which is being sanctioned by certain religion. This should be brought to a halt by legal means. The very thought that he can go around baiting and ensnaring women results from man’s distorted view of marriage. Polygamy should be curbed by awarding stringent punishment to anyone who indulges in the same. This will go a long way in curbing Love Jihad to a great extent. Persons who grow up with the thought of monogamous relationship will see love as a divine concept and not part of a scripted drama. In this context, Uniform Civil Code stands as must.
Hindu society should view its commitment towards their daughters with greater seriousness. We need to view things from a different angle, if the same happened to the daughters of Muslim community, the kind of reaction that would ensue would be totally different. Children, when brought up with affection, love and tenderness, along with messages on how and why parents, teachers, elders, nation, culture, heritage and lineage should be adored, respected and worshipped, they can be assured of being on the right track. Children should be given a chance to let the virtues in them grow, a confidence that they can go ahead in life’s journey without being baited into any trap.
It is true that serials and social media have a large role in leading children astray. But instilling them with self-assurance and buoyancy, that nothing will lead them astray is the job of society. Our Prime Minister sees the nation’s future in the youth. But a generation of cowardly youths can never aid the process of nation building. Instead we must ensure that we have a younger generation that is self reliant, whereby they will never lay down their self respect before marauders.

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