Media debates on 'Love Jihad', such as this one, elicit the following thoughts in my mind. I also recount here an experience of mine whereby one of my cousins eloped with a Muslim man.
Any realistic person of any community who has ever lived in the Indian subcontinent knows that the phenomenon whereby "people of a certain community" eye the women of the other communities is as real as Delhi's Jama Masjid and has existed for centuries of Islam's expansion in this part of the world.
It's not a recent phenomenon, but has existed since medieval times.
It's immaterial whether one calls it 'Love Jihad' or something else.
(In the 'Ghazwas' that Muhammad fought, women of the vanquished would be taken away as 'Maal-e-Ghaneema' and used as sex slaves with full Quranic backing. See, for instance, this Quranic injunction.)
Women of the other community is often targeted for abduction during inter-communal conflicts and riots, corroborating the existence of this phenomenon.
(In the Pothohar region of what is now Pakistan, alone, about 4000 Sikh and Hindu women were abducted by those who attacked these communities during Partition of India. See, for instance, this narration by Amrit Pal Singh of the violence visited upon Sikh and Hindu residents of Pothohar during Partition.)
So the "debate" whether this phenomenon exists or not is dishonest even if you introduce a few valid nuances into it (such as saying: 'Where is the evidence for planning and organisation behind the so called 'Love Jihad').
Also dishonest is the introduction of concerns for individual rights and liberties because Muslims have NEVER accepted the principle (and the legal codification) that "religion" (which itself is a fraudulent concept) is entirely a matter of personal choice.
(They cite this principle only after bamboozling a woman into conversion to Islam followed quickly by Nikah with a Muslim.)
So most marriages that take place between a non-Muslim woman and a Muslim man are those where the former is converted to Islam and then taken in Nikah by the latter.
(The number of civil marriages that take place through the Special Marriage Act is negligible; and even if a wedding is registered under that Act, there is little chance that the alliance will not very soon become an all Muslim one.)
So overnight Geetas, Poojas and Radhikas become Fatimas, Abidas and Humras.
(Parents not only lose overnight their lovingly brought up Geetas, they are also supposed to prepare for the arrival of little Muhammad Qasims or Taimur Alis for grandchildren!)
I have personal experience of this open fraud that 'Muslims' inflict on others.
We learnt one fine day in late 1997 that one of my closest and dearest cousins eloped with a Muslim man and married him.
She called her parents to inform them that she had become 'Ayesha' and had married this guy (who, it later transpired, had sexually exploited her over months prior to her conversion in a mosque followed by the Nikah).
Within days of committing this 'dacoity', the guy was already asking for the girl's share of the property. (So much for the 'love' marriage!)
As luck would have it, the girl was homesick enough to decide to come to meet her parents.
She was lovingly received midway in a car with the entire family in it (with a few changes of clothes and some other essentials), and taken to a safe destination.
Thus started the de-brainwashing that lasted for about two months.
She was difficult to control initially, but eventually saw reason and realised that she had cheaply given up some essential parts of her identity in doing what she did.
All this while, the guy had been making threatening calls to all the relatives (including one that I received) and followed up his threats with a Habeas Corpus petition in high court.
Fortunately, we got sufficient time for de-brainwashing during which we also accessed a copy of the Muslim marriage law, and learnt that reconversion will automatically annul the Nikah.
As soon as the young woman was stable enough, we got her reconverted in an Arya Samaj Mandir. (So technically at least, the Nikah had dissolved at that moment.)
Then came the admittedly nervous moment when my cousin had to be taken to the high court to appear before the judges (in camera) in the presence of the guy to say what she wanted.
Fortunately, two months of patient rehabilitation did not prove to be in vain. She told the judges that she had been exploited and bamboozled by the guy into a relationship she no longer wanted.
The Habeas Corpus petition was thrown out and the Nikah stood dissolved.
Her parents had won back their beloved 'Geeta' and had thwarted the terrible prospect of having a Mohammad Qasim or a Taimur Ali for grandchild.
----
The following Web links have been used in this post in the order of occurrence.
1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_y-uACK4B8s
2. https://quran.com/33/50
3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBF-VcokuAw&t=8s
Any realistic person of any community who has ever lived in the Indian subcontinent knows that the phenomenon whereby "people of a certain community" eye the women of the other communities is as real as Delhi's Jama Masjid and has existed for centuries of Islam's expansion in this part of the world.
It's not a recent phenomenon, but has existed since medieval times.
It's immaterial whether one calls it 'Love Jihad' or something else.
(In the 'Ghazwas' that Muhammad fought, women of the vanquished would be taken away as 'Maal-e-Ghaneema' and used as sex slaves with full Quranic backing. See, for instance, this Quranic injunction.)
Women of the other community is often targeted for abduction during inter-communal conflicts and riots, corroborating the existence of this phenomenon.
(In the Pothohar region of what is now Pakistan, alone, about 4000 Sikh and Hindu women were abducted by those who attacked these communities during Partition of India. See, for instance, this narration by Amrit Pal Singh of the violence visited upon Sikh and Hindu residents of Pothohar during Partition.)
So the "debate" whether this phenomenon exists or not is dishonest even if you introduce a few valid nuances into it (such as saying: 'Where is the evidence for planning and organisation behind the so called 'Love Jihad').
Also dishonest is the introduction of concerns for individual rights and liberties because Muslims have NEVER accepted the principle (and the legal codification) that "religion" (which itself is a fraudulent concept) is entirely a matter of personal choice.
(They cite this principle only after bamboozling a woman into conversion to Islam followed quickly by Nikah with a Muslim.)
So most marriages that take place between a non-Muslim woman and a Muslim man are those where the former is converted to Islam and then taken in Nikah by the latter.
(The number of civil marriages that take place through the Special Marriage Act is negligible; and even if a wedding is registered under that Act, there is little chance that the alliance will not very soon become an all Muslim one.)
So overnight Geetas, Poojas and Radhikas become Fatimas, Abidas and Humras.
(Parents not only lose overnight their lovingly brought up Geetas, they are also supposed to prepare for the arrival of little Muhammad Qasims or Taimur Alis for grandchildren!)
I have personal experience of this open fraud that 'Muslims' inflict on others.
We learnt one fine day in late 1997 that one of my closest and dearest cousins eloped with a Muslim man and married him.
She called her parents to inform them that she had become 'Ayesha' and had married this guy (who, it later transpired, had sexually exploited her over months prior to her conversion in a mosque followed by the Nikah).
Within days of committing this 'dacoity', the guy was already asking for the girl's share of the property. (So much for the 'love' marriage!)
As luck would have it, the girl was homesick enough to decide to come to meet her parents.
She was lovingly received midway in a car with the entire family in it (with a few changes of clothes and some other essentials), and taken to a safe destination.
Thus started the de-brainwashing that lasted for about two months.
She was difficult to control initially, but eventually saw reason and realised that she had cheaply given up some essential parts of her identity in doing what she did.
All this while, the guy had been making threatening calls to all the relatives (including one that I received) and followed up his threats with a Habeas Corpus petition in high court.
Fortunately, we got sufficient time for de-brainwashing during which we also accessed a copy of the Muslim marriage law, and learnt that reconversion will automatically annul the Nikah.
As soon as the young woman was stable enough, we got her reconverted in an Arya Samaj Mandir. (So technically at least, the Nikah had dissolved at that moment.)
Then came the admittedly nervous moment when my cousin had to be taken to the high court to appear before the judges (in camera) in the presence of the guy to say what she wanted.
Fortunately, two months of patient rehabilitation did not prove to be in vain. She told the judges that she had been exploited and bamboozled by the guy into a relationship she no longer wanted.
The Habeas Corpus petition was thrown out and the Nikah stood dissolved.
Her parents had won back their beloved 'Geeta' and had thwarted the terrible prospect of having a Mohammad Qasim or a Taimur Ali for grandchild.
----
The following Web links have been used in this post in the order of occurrence.
1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_y-uACK4B8s
2. https://quran.com/33/50
3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBF-VcokuAw&t=8s