‘Love Jihad’ is an Islamophobic Campaign: Why Honour is about Controlling Women s Bodies
In light of the renewed demand from certain sections of society to enact laws against religious conversions for marriage, this reading list analyses the harmful impact of the narrative of “love jihad” on Hindu women.
“Love jihad” is an Islamophobic conspiracy theory. It claims that Muslim men are “luring” women (mostly Hindu women) into converting to Islam, under the pretext of love and marriage.
Claims of an alleged “love jihad” are not new this phrasing first gained notoriety in 2009 with groups such as the Vishva Hindu Parishad and the Shri Ram Sena claiming that women in Kerala were being converted to Islam for the sake of marriage to Muslim men.