With BJP leaders in attendance, Hindu outfits hold rallies on ‘love jihad’, ‘forced conversion’

Sunday’s event was attended by several top party leaders and members of the Maharashtra government.

Hindu Jan Akrosh Morcha, organised by Sakal Hindu Samaj, began from Shivaji Park in Dadar in central Mumbai and culminated at Kamgar Maidan in Parel. (Express Photo By Ganesh Shirsekar)

Written by: Eeshanpriya MS, Shubhangi Khapre

3 min readMumbaiJan 30, 2023 03:23 PM IST First published on: Jan 29, 2023 at 07:28 PM IST

After over 30 rallies across Maharashtra, the Sakal Hindu Samaj, an umbrella body of Hindu organisations, held the Mumbai chapter of the Hindu Jan Aakrosh Morcha on Sunday morning, amid calls for laws against religious conversions and alleged ‘love jihad’, and a boycott of goods from shops owned by members of the minority community.

Sunday’s event was attended by several top party leaders and members of the Maharashtra government, including BJP MLA and the party’s Mumbai president Ashish Shelar, BJP MP from Mumbai North Gopal Shetty, BJP MP from Mumbai North East Manoj Kotak, MLC Pravin Darekar, BJP secretary Vinod Shelar, and Sheetal Mhatre, former corporator and now member of Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena.

BJP leader Kirit Somaiya seen during the march. (Express photo by Eeshanpriya MS)

Last week, Maharashtra Minister for Women and Child Development Mangal Prabhat Lodha had urged Mumbaikars to join the rally in large numbers.

The rally, which started at 10 am from Shivaji Park in Dadar, saw the participants walking around 2.7 kilometers through Central Mumbai until Kamgar Maidan in Prabhadevi.

According to estimates of the Mumbai police, approximately 10,000 to 12,000 citizens participated in the rally.

The Hindu Jan Aakrosh Morcha had started with a massive rally in Parbhani district in the Marathwada region in November last year.

Activists shouted slogans against “love jihad”, and demanded anti-conversion laws. (Express photo by Ganesh Shirsekar)

Outfits such as the RSS, VHP, Bajrang Dal, Vishwa Sanatan Sangha, Vanvasi Kalyan, Rajput Youth Front, Karni Sena and

All India Maheshwar Samaj have organised themselves under the banner of the Sakal Hindu Samaj.

On Sunday, BJP MLA Shelar, who was present at the rally, said, “When Hindu women are torn to pieces, the Hindu family and all of us bear this with sadness. These protesters have come out to express this sadness. Everyone must keep their politics aside and join this rally…The government will take a decision at the right time (on love jihad, land jihad). But the anger of the society is coming out now, and in a disciplined manner in the form of these protests.”

Slogans against forced conversion of Hindu women written on placards carried by those participating in the march. (Express photo by Eeshanpriya MS)

Addressing the crowd at Kamgar Maidan, where the rally ended, T Raja Singh, MLA and suspended BJP leader, while urging Hindus to boycott goods from shops run by members of the Muslim community, said, “It is time the Hindu community stands up against the domination by these people. There’s anger in the hearts and minds of people… Our sisters and daughters are falling prey to the systematic designs of the other community.”

Many supporting the march also protested ‘land jihad’, a term they gave to land grabbing in the name of religion. (Express photo by Eeshanpriya MS)

Over the past three months, such rallies have been organised across Maharashtra, in over 20 districts, including Parbhani, Nanded, Ahmednagar, Kolhapur, Gadchiroli, Satara, Karad, Sangli, Solapur, Pune, Dhule, Jalgaon, Nagpur, Amravati, Hingoli, Buldhana and Jalna.