Source: The New York Times
India’s Supreme Court has upheld the right of citizens to choose their spouse and convert to another religion, a landmark ruling in a case involving what right-wing Hindu nationalists refer to as “love jihad.”
The judgment, which came on Monday, was seen as a blow to the governing Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party. The court’s decision effectively ended a two-year quest by a father to nullify his daughter’s marriage to a Muslim man in the southern state of Kerala, saying that she had been forced to convert to Islam.
The daughter says she acted of her own free will.
Right-wing Hindu nationalists have labeled the case an instance of what they call “love jihad,” after a belief that India’s minority Muslims will take over the country by persuading Hindu women to marry them and convert to Islam.
Categories: Asia, Hinduism, India, Jihad, The Muslim Times