NIA love jihad

The official said the Constitution of India had provided freedom to practice and promote religion in a peaceful manner to all citizens as a fundamental right. “Conversion is not a crime in Kerala and also helping these men and women convert is also within the ambit of the Constitution of the country.”

PFI’S legal advisor KP Muhammer Shareef labelled the concept of love jihad a “sinister design cooked up by right wing forces” to “target the Muslim community at large” and claimed the effort was aimed at portraying the Front and (its political arm), the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), as conduit pipes for love jihad.

“Umpteen investigations and enquiries conducted by various agencies have now found the allegation of love jihad is obnoxious, fictitious and without any scintilla of evidence,” said Shareef.

Still, the results of this investigation should not be construed as a “clean chit” for PFI, the NIA official said.

“There are separate criminal cases of serious charges of murder going on against the alleged cadres of PFI. Those matters are being dealt (with) separately.”

Among the 11 cases examined by the NIA, there were at least four cases of interfaith marriages where Hindu men embraced Islam or where efforts were made to convert them to Islam. In the rest of the cases examined by NIA, Hinduwomenmarriedmuslim men.

“The NIA probe found that in at least three cases, efforts at conversion failed,” said a second NIA official who asked not to be named. for the opportunity they gave me to serve my country.”

Ramani, who has received pledges of support from other journalists, welcomed Akbar’s exit from the government. “As women we feel vindicated by MJ Akbar’s resignation. I look forward to the day when I will also get justice in court #Metoo,” she wrote on Twitter.

On Wednesday, 17 former women colleagues of Akbar wrote an open letter supporting Ramani and asking the Delhi court to include their testimonies in the defamation case filed by the minister.

According to a senior functionary of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the resignation was prompted by the intense pressure the party had confronted from rival political parties and activists to sack Akbar after the allegations surfaced against the journalist-turned-politician, who is a member of the Rajya Sabha. Outwardly, senior leaders of the party maintained that the allegations date back to a time when Akbar was not even a member of the BJP.

“The party and the Prime Minister’s office found itself in a quandary, trying to defend a minister against whom serious charges of misconduct were made. For a party that has gone to town with its commitment towards women’s safety and empowerment, defending these allegations would mean undermining their own statements,” said the senior BJP functionary who asked not to be named.

The need to relieve Akbar from his position was also underscored by the feedback received from party workers and cadre of the BJP’S ideological mentor Rashtriya Swamayamsevak Sangh (RSS), who are learnt to have conveyed to the party the need to protect its image ahead of the upcoming round of assembly and Lok Sabha polls.

“Many within the party fold and among the Sangh brass felt that it was a good decision (to ask for the minister’s resignation) for the sake of probity,” the functionary quoted above said.

The Congress party questioned the PM’S silence on the issue. Party spokesperson Ragini Nayak said Akbar’s “belated resignation is a result of the persistent pressure put by women who have shared their horrific and uncomfortable stories”.

“It is also a vindication of the Congress party’s unequivocal stand on the #Metoo campaign. Now that MJ Akbar.., has finally resigned, will the PM, Shri Narendra Modi, dare to speak up?” she said.

National Commission f or Women chairperson Rekha Sharma told IANS: “Finally, the government has listened to the voice of women and acted accordingly. NCW welcomes the move.”

Akbar, who was on an official overseas visit when the first accusations were made, has branded the accounts of alleged sexual harassment by him as malicious and intended to defame him. He has alleged that it was a political conspiracy scripted ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

Giving in to the mounting pressure to take action against the complaints of sexual misdemeanour, the women and child development ( WCD) ministry announced the setting up of a committee to examine all issues emanating from the ‘#Metoo’ movement, which captures stories of sexual harassment recounted by women.

“I believe in the pain and trauma behind every single complaint. Cases of sexual harassment at work must be dealt with a policy of zero tolerance,” WCD minister Maneka Gandhi said, announcing the committee last week. There has been no action yet towards forming the committee.

Most BJP MPS and ministers have refrained from commenting on the issue. Senior functionaries who spoke on condition of anonymity said there has been “discomfort” within the party over the charges levelled against the minister, and many were of the opinion that he should step down.

National security advisor Ajit Doval’s meeting with Akbar on Tuesday had fuelled speculation that it was meant to send a message from the top to the minister to step down from his position. There was no confirmation from the government or party sources on this. identified as Madhavi, to safety after she was intercepted by a group of men. She was forced to returntopamba.ayoungwoman from Kerala’s Alappuzha,identified as Liby, was stopped at the Pathanamthitta bus terminal.

“When democracy and the Supreme Court order are being defied by protesters, I have come with the firm intent of visiting Sabarimala,” Libi, who uses only one name, told the media.

The apex court had opened the doors of Sabarimala to women of all ages in a 4-1 judgment on September 28, annulling the age-old tradition of the temple to deny the right of worship to women aged between 10 and 50 years.

Rahul Eswar, who is leading a campaign against the entry of women of all ages into Sabarimala, and some of his family members were arrested in Pamba after they staged a demonstration. “The government is trying to stifle a peaceful protest,” said Eswar, the grandson of the main priest of Sabarimala.

Sabarimala Samrakshana Samity, an umbrella organisation of several outfits protesting against the court order, called a day-long shutdown across the state on Thursday to protest against Wednesday’s police action.

No one will be allowed to take the law into their hands and strict action will be initiated gainst troublemakers, state police chief Loknath Behra said, reiterating Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s stand that the state was committed to implementing the Supreme Court’s order.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress, as well as some fringe groups, have taken strong exception to the Kerala government’s approach to the emotive and religiously sensitive Sabarimala issue. Several review pleas have been filed in the Supreme Court, which has ruled that divinity and devotion cannot be subjected to the rigidity and stereotypes of gender.

While CM Vijayan has assured that his government does not want a showdown with devotees and blamed “Sangh Parivar” outfits for orchestrating the protests, the BJP has maintained that the government is responsible for the “sorry state” in Kerala.

Tension was palpable in the southern state since Tuesday, when crucial talks held in the capital Thiruvananthapuram among the tantri (supreme priest of Sabarimala), the erstwhile royal family of Pandalam (considered the custodians of the temple) and Travancore Devaswom Board, or TDB ,(responsible for the administration of the temple), could not reach a solution.

According to TDB, which manages over 1,200 temples in the state, 35 million visited the temple last year during a three-month season beginning November.