Turning the horrific murder of Shraddha Walkar into an “Islamic” crime, buzzing in social media and news is a dangerous propagation.
The terrible murder of Shraddha Walkar by Aaftab Poonawala shook the nation and the news is buzzing nonstop with the horror but the dangerous trend of this murder turning it into an “Islamic” man attacking “our Hindu girl” in Love Jihad is a rotten fallacy. Not only is the theory vilifying Muslims sending out a false message but also has the potential to spark riots in the country.
Right after Shraddha Walkar’s dreadful murder, Madhya Pradesh is reeling backward with another horror story where a man named Abhijit Patidar kills his girlfriend in a resort, posts videos on her Instagram stating “Bewafai Nahi Karne Ka”.
The video was taken immediately after Abhijit Patidar assaulted the girl by slitting her throat, and she was still alive at that time, as she can be seen taking her last breaths in the video on November 8, killing his 22-year-old girlfriend in a room at Mekhla Resort, which is under the jurisdiction of Tilwara police station in Jabalpur district, Madhya Pradesh. After the murder, the man posted a video on social media confessing to the crime.
The video posted by killer Abhijit Patidar depicts how blatantly unafraid he is of the law of India. He knows perhaps after some months in prison he will be out confident he would get a lighter sentence.
Crime is Crime, Sin is Sin: Cannot be Linked to Religion
It was interesting to see news portals like OpIndia carefully using “Man kills girlfriend…” yet for the Shraddha Walkar, they generously kept splashing Aaftab’s name everywhere, wrote dozens of articles about it, and kept highlighting the Muslim factor, turning it into a Love Jihad religious attack. While Shraddha’s murder had horrific proportions in the fact that her body was chopped and kept in a fridge, the Muslim factor is highlighted all the time.
The most barbaric crime in recent times was Indrani Mukerjea heinously murdering her own daughter, Sheena Bora, drugging her in a hotel, then taking her in a car, getting Sheena hacked to pieces, keeping the body in a suitcase and then later burning it. Even after three witnesses involved confessed to the crime, Indrani Mukerjea walked out free after some years. Of course, no one referred to the fact that a Hindu woman heinously killed her Hindu daughter and it would be wrong to do so. Crime is a crime, and sin is sin, and comes under the law for equal punishment. Yet, every crime committed by a Muslim is made into an Islamic crime.
In the infamous Tandoor murder case of Delhi, Hindu Sushil Sharma murdered his Sikh wife Naina Saini and cut her to bits before burning her body in a Tandoor. No one blamed
Hindus nor Sikhs nor did anyone accuse Hindus of Love Yudh or Love Jihad.
Just after the murder of Shraddha, another dreadful murder was uncovered in the Azamgarh district of Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday morning when one of the villagers peeped inside a well in the Gauri ka Pura hamlet of Paschim Patti Village. They saw a body cut into several pieces before being thrown into the well. The girl seems to be in the age group of 20 to 22 years,” they said. Police sources said that the identity of the girl could not be ascertained after repeated efforts.
The news will be highlighted depending on the perpetrator and the religion of the girl. Unfortunately, even politicians fall into the same game.
The Conspiracy Theory of Love Jihad
Love jihad known as Romeo Jihad is an Islamophobic conspiracy theory invented by proponents of Hindutva. The plot hypothesis purports that Muslim men target Hindu women for conversion to Islam by means such as seduction, feigning love, deception, kidnapping, and marriage, as part of a broader demographic “war” by Muslims against India, and an organized international conspiracy for domination through demographic growth and replacement.
This perilous theory has consequently been the cause of vigilante assaults, murders, and other violent incidents, including the carnage in the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots.
This theory was first inculcated in 2009 as part of a propaganda campaign, the conspiracy theory was published by Hindutva publications, such as the Sanatan Prabhat and Hindu Janajagruti Samiti, calling Hindus to protect their women from Muslim men who were simultaneously depicted as charming individuals and lecherous rapists.
There were organizations such as the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and the Vishva Hindu Parishad credited for their propagation in India and abroad, respectively. The conspiracy theory was noted to have become an influential belief in the state of Uttar Pradesh by 2014 and contributed to the success of the Bharatiya Janata Party campaign in the state.
The idea was institutionalized in India after the election of the Bharatiya Janata Party. Right-wing pro-government television media, such as Times Now and Republic TV, and social media fake news movements are generally held responsible for the growth of its popularity.
Legislation against the purported conspiracy has been initiated in a number of states ruled by the party and implemented in the state of Uttar Pradesh by the Yogi Adityanath government, where it has been used as a tool of state repression of Muslims and crackdown on interfaith marriages.
Crime Should Never be Linked to a Community
The dangerous precedence of linking a community to a single person’s crime topples the security of society. Fear and disinformation tumbling everywhere wreck up not only harmony but the economic climate of the country because trade and business cannot go on freely due to attacking one particular community.
Records show that Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan have the highest crime rate in India, committed against women, Dalits, and minorities. It would not be fair to point out that the perpetrators are mostly Hindus, but in the case of religious crimes, it is highlighted because minorities are attacked on grounds of their identities.
The tagline statement created by the extreme right-wing Hindus, “Hindus Khatre Mein Hain” worked well to breed fear into the Hindu population without really knowing why they were frightened.
A recent video on social media is doing its rounds, revealing Sant Yuvraj Maharaj, a Hindi militant priest and member of Hindu Sena, a violent Hindu extremist group, spewing out hateful, derogatory comments against Muslims and calling upon Hindus to buy swords, to slaughter Muslims, which he is selling with an option for home delivery. No arrests are made because he is entitled as a Hindu and comments are going around that he would probably be promoted to Parliament. One can see the levels the media and system protect criminals, but goes out of their way to criminalize Muslims, openly.
Sant Yuvraj Maharaj, a Hindi militant priest & member of Hindu Sena, a violent Hindu extremist group, makes hateful, derogatory remarks against Muslims and calls on Hindus to buy swords, which he is selling with an option for home delivery. pic.twitter.com/YAkvlj5jvu
— HindutvaWatch (@HindutvaWatchIn) November 14, 2022
To make a fake theory that Islamic people promote terrorism, do Love Jihad and murder is false. Quoting the Holy Quran, it says in 5:32 “Whoever kills a person unless in retribution for murder or spreading corruption in the land – it is as if he kills all mankind, while if any saves a life, it is as if he saves the lives of all mankind.”
As the famous Nigerian Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, said, “A criminal is a criminal”, crime has no religious, or ethnic coloration.”
Turning the crimes of minorities highlighting their religion or ethnicity is committing a crime itself because this can provoke intolerance and eventually genocide.
