Hindutva and nationalism cannot be one and same: Prakash Raj

New Delhi: The Ministry of Home Affairs of Government of India today clarified to the Lok Sabha in a written reply that the so called “Love Jihad” is not defined under the extant laws and no such cases have been reported by any central agency.

It was ministry’s formal response to questions about whether the central government is aware of the observation of Kerala High Court that there is no case of Love Jihad in Kerala.

“The term ‘Love Jihad’ is not defined under the extant laws. No such case of ‘Love Jihad’ has been reported by any of the central agencies. However, two cases from Kerala involving interfaith marriages have been investigated by the NIA,” said the reply.

Communal and anti-Muslim political outfits backed by a section of media often use the term “Love Jihad” to accuse Muslims of marrying Hindu and Christian girls and then forcing them to change religion. Dr Hadiya’s conversion was also termed ‘love jihad’ by the BJP and media. The Supreme Court finally ruled that it wasn’t.

In January 2020, an influential Catholic Church in Kerala had said that “love jihad is a reality” and alleged that scores of women from Christian community from the southern state were being lured into the trap of Islamic State and used in terror activities.

The Viswa Hindu Parishad (VHP) had welcomed the Church statement and called for a united fight against ‘Love Jihad’ in Kerala Society.

The response comes weeks after the MHA, responding to an RTI query, said it has "no information" concerning the 'Tukde Tukde Gang' -- a term that has been used a number of times by PM Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah to attack opponents.

The RTI application was filed by activist Saket Gokhle on December 26 last year. In his RTI application, Saket Gokhle said Home Minister "Amit Shah addressed a public event in New Delhi, and in his address said, 'The Tukde Tukde Gang of Delhi needs to be taught a lesson and punished'." Gokhle's RTI asked for details of the 'Tukde Tukde Gang'.

The home ministry, in its reply to Saket Gokhle's RTI application, said, "Ministry of Home Affairs has no information concerning tukde-tukde gang."

Bengaluru, Jan 10: To deal with the problem of animal waste and illegal slaughterhouses in Bengaluru, Mayor M Gowtham Kumar held discussions with concerned departments and consultants to devise a strategy.

Speaking to ANI, Kumar said, "There are some illegal slaughterhouses in and around Bengaluru. We had a discussion with our Special Commissioner (Health) and Chief Health Officer (CHO) also to take up necessary action. We had a discussion last week also."

He also stated that a program has been framed to find illegal slaughterhouses and to shift animal waste generated every day.

"We have framed a program to find illegal slaughterhouses and design them properly. We have planned with our consultants that for the animal waste generated daily, we need four compactors to shift it either to Hoskote or another place that we have identified. We are on it", he said.

The segregation of animal waste and illegal slaughterhouses has been a continued issue in the Bengaluru civic area, a relief from which is expected after the implementation of proposed steps.

Mangaluru, May 13: Union Minister and former Karnataka chief minister D V Sadananda Gowda today assured that he will exert pressure on the authorities concerned to operate more repatriate flights to bring back Kannadigas from Saudi Arabia to Karnataka. 

Speaking in a video conference organised by coastaldigest.com with Kannadiga delegates in Saudi Arabia, Mr Gowda said: “Today itself I will contact the external affairs ministry and Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to convince them the need to add operate flights to bring back stranded Kannaidgas from the Kingdom.

After paying heed to the advices, requests and concerns of Kannadiga delegates that participated in the video conference, Mr Gowda said: “Two things need to be done. First thing is number of flights from Saudi Arabia to Karnataka should be increased. Second thing is to ensure that most of these flights land in the Mangaluru Airport as most of the Kannadiga expats in Saudi Arabia are from the coastal region.

“There should be at least two to three flights from Saudi Arabia to Karnataka (Bengaluru Airport or Mangaluru Airport) every week. That is my intention,” he added.