3 min readLucknowAug 11, 2014 10:53 AM IST
First published on: Aug 11, 2014 at 10:53 AM IST
“‘Love jihad’ is an old issue. But, Dharma Jagran Manch has taken up a campaign against it for the first time ,” said Rajeshwar Singh, western UP head of the Manch. Source: PTI photo
Dharma Jagran Manch, a wing of Rashtriya Swayamasevak Sangh (RSS), launched a weeklong campaign from Sunday during which they will tie rakhis to Hindus and administer them the oath to fight against ‘love jihad’, in which young Hindu girls are allegedly converted to Islam or other communities for marriage.
While appealing for support to stop ‘love jihad’, the manch workers will also tie rakhis to Hindu girls, requesting them not to fell prey to such youths who lure them to convert their religion.
Dharma Jagran Manch is a RSS wing that runs campaigns to stop conversion of Hindus to other communities. It also organises regular programmes to reconvert Hindu men and women who converted to Islam or Christianity because of poverty or other reasons.
“‘Love jihad’ is an old issue. But, Dharma Jagran Manch has taken up a campaign against it for the first time. We have started the drive today (Sunday) and our workers will tie Rakhis to 10 lakh Hindus across Uttar Pradesh by Krishna Janmashtami on August 17,” said Rajeshwar Singh, western UP head of the Manch.
Singh said the campaign had started across the country on Sunday. Each worker will tie Rakhis to at least 100 Hindus in one week. While tying Rakhi, RSS workers will recite a sacred mantra which means that the way god Vamana had protected Hinduism of Raja Bali, they (every Hindu) will protect the religion and not allow forced conversions.
“Such a campaign is the need of hour because the population of a particular community is growing in the country as compared to the Hindus because of ‘love jihad’ that is frequent in western UP. Our campaign is to create awareness among Hindus to protect their religion,” Singh claimed.
Tension gripped western UP recently when a 20-year-old former madrasa teacher in Meerut had alleged that she was abducted, gangraped and forcibly converted to Islam. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had raised the issue strongly and some party leaders had also met the victim.
“‘Love jihad’ is an old issue. But, Dharma Jagran Manch has taken up a campaign against it for the first time ,” said Rajeshwar Singh, western UP head of the Manch. Source: PTI photo
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