‘Love jihad’ probe needed

The concept of “love jihad” — where a Muslim man marries a Hindu woman merely to convert her to his faith — may sound far-fetched. The Kerala high court, however, convinced in one case that there could be a pattern, and hence annulled the marriage. The Supreme Court has gone further, directing the NIA to investigate the case under a retired judge’s supervision. The bizarre objections by the husband’s lawyer to an independent probe by a Central agency were rightly rejected. If there is something in this conspiracy theory, of some people preying on young women’s susceptibilities and possibly targeting for indoctrination into ISIS’ agenda of violent uprising, what’s the harm in a Central probe taking over the one conducted by the state SIT?

Disaffected young women who have fallen out with their parents seem easy prey for such romantic manipulation. A few cases in Kerala point to the extremes to which some people go to further the propaganda of a dreaded terrorist organisation with roots in Iraq and the Mideast. ISIS may be on the run in Iraq, its ground in Mosul from where the “caliphate” was declared three years back being repossessed by Iraqi forces, but young people can be so gullible as to be misled by propaganda promoting the destruction of the State as an authority of civil order, ignoring the collateral damage of annihilation of innocent people. If it’s established this is indeed “love jihad”, there’s good reason to expose it so youngsters may learn of yet another hazard like the “Blue Whale” that lies ahead of them.