Digvijaya takes on Rajnath for ignorance of ‘Love Jihad’

Congress general secretary and Rajya Sabha MP Digvijaya Singh has taken a dig at Home Minister Rajnath Singh for denying any knowledge of ‘Love Jihad.’

In a press conference on Friday, the Home Minister, replying to a query on ‘Love Jihad’ — a term derogatorily used to refer to Muslim men in relationships with Hindu women — asked: “What is that? I need to understand its definition.”

In a letter to the Minister on Saturday, a copy of which is with this paper, Digvijaya expressed disbelief at Rajnath’s ignorance, “especially when the BJP state president (Laxmikant Bajpai) of your home State (Uttar Pradesh) has been giving statements on it for days,” he wrote.

In the BJP’s State executive meet last month, Mr. Bajpai had asked youth to be vigilant against ‘Love Jihad.

“These days perhaps are not reading the Panchjanya and Organiser, the main journals of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS); the cover stories are on love jihad… Your probably do not know that the Election Commission has ordered action against (BJP MP) Mahant Adityanath (for his speeches against Love Jihad)” he wrote.

The BJP draws inspiration from the RSS and most of its senior leadership, including Rajnath, are its members. Love Jihad was also a poll plank in the bypoll in UP and Gujarat.

He added that a few people in both the majority and minority communities spread riots and that Rajnath should order the States to take action against such people. “Until the Centre and States take action against such people, the Prime Minister’s intention of communal harmony cannot be fulfilled,” wrote Digvijaya, who has in the past criticised PM Narendra Modi’s links to ultra nationalist organisations.