Kochi/Bangalore: Kerala Police on Thursday told
the High Court there are reasons to suspect 'concentrated
attempts' to persuade girls to convert to Islam after they
fall in love with Muslim boys but no organisation called 'Love
Jihad' has been identified so far in the state.
"There is also unconfirmed source of information that
some groups are actively working among youngsters encouraging
conversions by such technique and that young men engaged
in such pursuits are said to be receiving funds from abroad
directly or indirectly," Kerala Police chief Jacob Punnose
said in an affidavit.
Police were now trying to collect maximum information
in this regard, the DGP said in response to a direction from
the Kerala High Court recently to provide within three weeks
information on 'Love Jihad', where young non-Muslim girls
were allegedly lured into marriage and converted to Islam.
He said police would remain 'pro actively' vigilant
and take action in all instances where any reasonable
suspicion exists that undesirable illegal liaisons were being
attempted with an ulterior purpose of compulsive conversion.
The affidavit said police had no evidence regarding
operation of love jihad and source of money.
Meanwhile, a day after Karnataka High Court directed
the state and Kerala to probe the "Love Jihad movement",
Karnataka today decided to call a meeting of top police
officials tomorrow or the day after to discuss ways to counter
it.
Speaking to reporters in Bangalore, Karnataka Home
Minister V S Acharya said about two to three 'Love Jihad'
incidents had come to the government's notice and "it looks
serious".
He said Karnataka had written to Kerala drawing its
attention towards "love jihad movement" as it had inter-state
ramifications.
The Karnataka High Court during a hearing on a habeas
corpus petition filed by the parents of a girl, who allegedly
married a Muslim boy after converting to Islam in Kerala's
Mallapuram district, yesterday directed Karnataka and Kerala
to jointly probe the issue.
The girl's father had alleged in his petition that she
was confined in a madrasa after the marriage.
Bureau Report
First Published: Thursday, October 22, 2009, 20:07