Maharashtra’s Minister for Women and Child Development, Mangal Prabhat Lodha, while speaking to the Indian Express, emphasised on regular meetings of ‘bhaichara committees’ at police stations and also spoke on the inter-faith marriage family co-ordination committee.

Lodha has said that the controversial interfaith faith committee is meeting regularly and will submit its first report by the end of this month. While speaking to Indian Express, Lodha said that the Committee has received complaints although he was unsure about the number of such complaints.

As of March 20, however, the Committee had not received even one complaint, since it was set up 3 months ago. This information was received by Samajwadi Party MLA Rais Shaikh who had written to the Maharashtra Women and Development Ministry, inquiring about the number of cases before the committee till date, and their details. R. Vimla, commissioner, women and child development, had confirmed that the committee has not received a single complaint.

This came just days after Lodha had announced during the Maharashtra Assembly session that the state of Maharashtra had over one lakh ‘love jihad’ cases. In response, another SP MLA Abu Asim  Azmi had filed a privilege motion against Lodha for making false claims in the House. Mangal Prabhat Lodha had also claimed last month that the 12-member committee had already received 152 complaints, which was obviously misleading information as it has now been revealed that the committee has not received a single complaint.

Shaikh is also a petitioner before the Bombay High Court challenging the Maharashtra government’s resolution (GR) setting up the interfaith marriage family coordination committee. The court has allowed the same to be filed as a Public Interest Litigation (PIL). Shaikh had filed a writ petition in the Bombay High Court on March 9.

The petition stated that the government resolution is discriminatory against a particular religion and is violative of Articles 14 (right to equality), Article 15 (forbidding discrimination), 21 (right to life which includes the right to privacy), and 25. “That the assumption that adult women who choose and consent to marry someone from another faith need to be ‘saved’ is misplaced and goes against the spirit of the Constitution,” the plea states adding that, “without the couple having any control on who has access to their private information (GR) is contributory to the ever ongoing campaign of the parents, vigilante groups & society to control the lives of young people who have decided to choose their own partners.”

About the controversial committee

The Committee was set up vide a Government Resolution passed on December 13, 2023 following the gruesome murder of Shraddha Walkar in Delhi allegedly by her inter-faith live-in partner. The committee is meant to provide a platform to ‘counsel, communicate and resolve’ issues between couples and families. According to the GR, the committee can seek information of both registered and unregistered marriages.

Within two days of issuing the GR, the government conveniently removed inter-caste marriages from its scope. What seemed to many as a harmless exercise to protect women and to reunite estranged women with their maternal families, is clearly a step towards monitoring inter-faith marriages in the State.

A similar move was seen in Gujarat in 1998-1990 when the state police dedicated certain cells to “investigate cases of inter-community and inter-caste marriages.” The Gujarat police set up the special cells to ‘investigate’ inter-community marriages and was an act of the state that is directly violative of the fundamental rights of equality before the law, Right to Life with Dignity and Right to Freedom of Faith. This was followed by massive resistance and disenchantment of people and a spate of writ petitions were even filed by couples who had voluntarily entered into marriage before the Hon’ble Gujarat High Court.

Many social organizations in the state opposed this decision of the government calling it ‘moral policing’ and infringement of people’s right to privacy. They raised concerns that this data will be misused to monitor potential inter-caste (in response to earlier GR) and interfaith marriages and to discourage the same with the apprehension that such couples could be harassed. They also state that the government is ignoring real issues being faced by women in the state and should instead focus on effective implementation of laws against domestic violence and crimes against women.

About Bhaichara Committees

Lodha said that he wants to ensure that the ‘bhaichara committee’ meetings happen regularly to maintain harmony. He said this in response to the clashes in Malad’s Malwani area on Ram Navami whereby 12 men have been arrested for rioting and unlawful assembly. An FIR was lodged by constable Amol Walawalkar who said that when the procession of more than 6,000 was passing through Jama Masjid at Abdul Hamid Road, a mob of 150 gathered there and began raising slogans and eventually pelted stones at the procession.

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The Maharashtra Legislative Assembly witnessed heated exchanges between the ruling and opposition members on Friday, March 10 with the the statement of Women and Child Development Minister and BJP leader Mangal Prabhat Lodha that there were over one lakh ‘love jihad’ cases in the state. The minister, Lodha made these remarks in the Legislative Assembly on March 8, Wednesday during the ongoing Budget Session.

Two days later, on March 10, NCP MLA Jitendra Awhad took objection to the remarks, saying that the number cited by Lodha two days ago was factually incorrect and that there were only 3,000 cases of interfaith marriages in the state. These too are contrarily, even viciously dubbed ‘love jihad’ marriages by the sitting minister. Jitendra Awhad stated that such factually incorrect statements can create rift among communities.

This formal objection raised by Awhad was aggressively countered by the BJP’s sitting MLAs. Ashish Shelar and Yogesh Sagar of the BJP and Shinde-led Shiv Sena and minister Gulab Rao Patil, who alleged that Awhad was making “partisan/biased statements” because of his constituency. Worse, they reportedly stated that the “sole” purpose of his statement was to “appease” a particular constituency. Awhad represents the Mumbra-Kalwa Assembly constituency in Thane, which has a sizable Muslim population.

Jumping into the debate, Abu Asim Azmi of the Samajwadi party demanded that Lodha show restraint and contrition for his comment. Ashish Shelar from Bandra (BJP) was not to be left out and demanded instead that there should be a law instead to prevent instances of ‘love jihad’. Even one case of ‘love jihad’ was serious, said Shelar. Finally, day to day business of the house only resumed after the Leader of the Opposition Ajit Pawar sought Assembly Speaker Rahul Narverkar’s active intervention in the matter. Narvekar therefore expunged the objectionable remarks from the arguments.

A video report from Maharashtra Times on the assembly discussion may be viewed here:

Spurious and stigmatising terms like “love jihad” have been thrown up and are repeatedly being used all over Maharashtra by extremist Hindu (tva) ideologues, including some belonging to the BJP itself and the Rashtriya Swayansevak Sangh. This report, published by CJP details the string of complaints filed by this organisation since December 14, 2022 when Maharashtra was made a target of such hate offenders.

Over the past weeks stretching back to mid-December abusive terms like Jihadi have become “natural substitutes” of these venom spewing bandwagon. Rallies conducted by the Hindu Janjagruti Samiti (HJS), Sakal Hindu Samaj, Viswa Hindu Parishad, Antarashtriya Parishad and by Sudershan TV chief, Sudarshan Chavhanke, have deliberately used and thrown out terms like “Jihadi tailor”, “Jihadi plumber”, “electrician”, “mobile walla”, “mehendi wala” to slur the Muslim community. White collar professionals including IT professionals, accountants, etc are not spared, dubbed “terrorists”, those who “make bombs.”

A detailed listing of Maharashtra’s hate events, including details of criminal complaints filed may be read here. 

A countrywide map, Nafrat ka Naqsha may be viewed here. 

An appeal to elected officials (representatives) who have sworn an oath to the Constitution including its non-negotiable principles of equality, justice and non-discrimination, as also IPS and IAS officials, that includes a Signature Campaign may be viewed and signed here.

The Citizens for Justice and Peace (cjp.org.in) has challenged the anti-conversion laws passed in nine Indian states. Reports of this may be seen here.

SC issues notice to 5 states in CJP’s renewed challenge to anti-conversion laws

CJP’s amended petition allowed, CJP also challenges ‘love jihad’ laws of 5 more states

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EC pulls up BJP Mumbai chief Mangal Prabhat Lodha for communal speech at election rally, issues show-cause notice

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The Election Commission (EC) issued show-cause notices to BJP Mumbai Chief Mangal Pratap Lodha, Shiv Sena candidate from Mumbadevi Pandurang Sakpal and the organiser of the campaign meeting on Thursday for the Assembly polls to be held on October 21.

At the rally, held in support of Sakpal, Lodha had delivered a communally charged speech referring to previous instances of riots and terror attacks, claiming that bombs and bullets were manufactured ‘in lanes within 5 km’ of the meeting venue. The venues he cunningly mentioned to were Dongri and Nagpada, which along with the constituency, have a sizeable Muslim population.

The notice was issued suomotu by Mumbadevi Returning Officer Vishwas Gujar who sought responses to Lodha’s speech. The EC team that was present at the meeting that took place in Kumbharwada, had recorded the speech. The notices were issued on the basis of this recording, a news report carried by The Indian Express and the rules regarding the Model Code of Conduct, Gujar said.

Lodha, one of the speakers at the meeting, had spoken about 1992 riots and blasts, claiming that bombs and bullets were manufactured ‘in lanes within 5 km’ from the venue. He had also stated that MLA Amin Patel only worked keeping the interests of ‘one particular community’ in mind.
Gujar said that a response was sought from the three as soon as possible and that the EC would arrive on the decision of future course of action within 48 hours.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) also said that it would file a formal complaint with the EC in this matter of a ‘serious violation’ of the code of conduct rules. In a statement, the party said that the comments draw various sections of the Indian Penal Code related to “hate speech and outright incitement”.

Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP), known for its work in the area of defending minority rightsalso registered a formal complaint with the Chief Electoral Officer against Lodha citing that his speech was a clear case of the violation of Rule 3 of the Election Model Code of Conduct. Not only this, CJP stated that it was violation of Section 123 (3A) of the Representation of People’s Act which deals with ‘corrupt practices’ related to promotion of feelings of enmity and hatred between different sections of people on the grounds of religion, race, caste, community or language.

CJP has moved the EC to pass necessary strictures against BJP’s Mumbai Unit President Mangal Prabhat Lodha and direct him to issue an unconditional apology.

In another serious violation of the rules, the EC also issued a show-cause notice to the Principal of Rizvi Springfield High School in Bandra (W) in for allegedly distributing BJP’s ‘Jansampark Abhiyaan’ forms during a Parent and Teachers Association (PTA) meeting on Wednesday.
 
The notice was issued by Bandra (W) Returning Officer Umesh Biraari who has sought a response from the Principal by the evening of October 18, 2019. Baraari told The Indian Express, “Based on the media report, we have issued a show cause notice to the principal. We have also received a complaint from Congress candidate from the constituency, Asif Zakaria. If the allegations in the media are found to be true, an FIR can be registered. Conversely, the matter would be dropped if there is no evidence of the same.”

In its defense, the school has written a letter to the State Election Commission stating that it was only trying to create awareness among the parents to vote in the upcoming elections and said that the parents had mistaken this activity to be the promotion of a political party.
 
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In a communally charged speech in Mumbadevi on Wednesday targeting Congress candidate and sitting MLA Amin Patel, BJP’s Mumbai Unit President MangalPrabhatLodha called on the memories of riots and terror attacks, claiming that the bombs and bullets used in these incidents were manufactured “in lanes within 5 km”.Lodha did not name any locality, but it is common knowledge that the Dongri and Nagpada areas in the vicinity have a large Muslim population.

The meeting was also attended by Shiv Sena’sAditya Thackeray who arrived after Lodha’s speech.
Lodha was campaigning for Shiv Sena candidate PandurangSakpal in the Kumbharwada area of the constituency, one with a sizeable Muslim population. “Aap yeh bhi yaad rakhiye ki 1992 ke dangon ke baad… is Mumbai ke andar kitne bomb blast hue, kitni goliyaan chali, kitne bomb ke dhamake hue, yeh saara udyog sthan kahan par hai? Yeh saara udyog sthan yahan ke aapke 5 km ki galiyon ke andar hai. Aur unke voton ke… unka saath lekar, jo vyakti chunke aayega, woh aapke aane wale samay mein kya dhyan rakhega?” Lodha said.
“(Remember after the 1992 riots…how many blasts took place in Mumbai, how many bullets were fired, where were their manufacturing centres? They were manufactured in lanes within 5 km from here. A person who is elected with votes from those lanes, how will he take care of you in the times to come?)”

Lodha reasoned that since there was a BJP – Shiv Sena government at the Centre, State and Municipal Corporation, it would be best for the voters to consider voting for the alliance again to keep Mumbai ‘safe’.

“If you vote for Amin Patel, it will be burden on you and us, which we will not be able to forgive ourselves for… beech ke andar yeh jo jhanda lehrayega… toh humare liye kaise sweekarya hoga (The flag that will fly in the middle… how can we accept it)?” he said.

Alleging that Amin Patel would look after the interests of only “one particular community”, he said, ““When an old building falls, the residents are not rehabilitated in transit camps in Ghodapdev (in the constituency) but have to go to Mankhurd, Dharavi. Why are they not kept in the transit camps here? (Because) It is allotted to one particular community… aur mere yahaan rehne wale Hindu Marathi bhaiyonko door-door jaana padta hai (and my Hindu Marathi brothers who live here have to go far),”

Mentioning Pakistan he said, “Ab toh nagaada baj hi chuka hai, sarhad pe shaitan ka, toh nakshepar se naam mita do papi Pakistan ka (The bell has started tolling for the demon at the border, wipe out the sinner Pakistan from the map).”

While Congress candidate Amin Patel refused to react to Lodha’s speech saying that he believed in the idea of secularism, he clarified, ““Among the demands I had made as an MLA was for 50,000 transit camps to be built on Mumbai Port Trust land, which can be used for residents of all old buildings, of all communities. This state government has not proposed a single transit camp in its term.”

BJP-Shiv Sena candidate PandurangSakpal said that Lodha’s remarks could be based on personal views. Sakpal iterated, ““I personally do not discriminate between any communities. I work for all voters and will continue to do so. I have never partitioned between Hindu and Muslim areas and continue to get a good response from all areas”.

Trend of Singling Out Minorities
This is not the first instance that Lodha has slyly targeted minorities through his words.

In 2018, he had written to VinaySahasrabuddhe, President of the Indian Council of Cultural Relations for acquiring the Jinnah House and converting it into a cultural centre. Regarding his demand he had said, “Jinnah House falls in my Malabar Hill constituency. Sour memories of partition are attached with the Jinnah House which was used to hatch the conspiracy of dividing India into three parts.”

The real estate mogul, a partner in the construction of the Trump Tower in Mumbai, has previously not only played on sectarian anger against Muslims, but has also made hostile remarks against the Christian community.

Lodha has repeatedly pushed for an ‘anti-conversion’ legislation, which he called the ‘Maharashtra Freedom of Religion Act’. The Act, according to him would criminalise certain types of proselytizing – especially targeting Christian missionaries for entering slums and converting low-caste Hindus. According to the bill, any one accused of proselytizing would be punishable with a year or more of jail time. He also proposed that anyone seeking to change their religion should first get approval from a state administrative office or a District Collector.

Not only this, he has consistently echoed the same sentiments of ‘love jihad’ as done by national BJP leaders. In a debate in the Maharashtra State Assembly in 2014, he alleged that 5000 Hindu girls from Aurangabad, Malegaon and Mumbai had been sold off in the Gulf countries after being converted to Islam.

Lodha was also the one to propose a complete ban on cattle slaughter in the entire state of Maharashtra. He had blocked cattle coming into Mumbai for Eid, apart from calling a ban on loudspeakers over mosques.

Just days before, making these controversial, implied remarks against minorities, Lodha had begun an outreach to woo Muslim voters. Assuring that the party was committed for the welfare of all and that he didn’t want Muslims to remain behind in the course of development, he campaigned along with BJP minority morcha chief Waseem Khan.

Gaining the trust of the Muslims through false assurances in one rally and slyly pitting the Hindus against the Muslims in another, it seems that raking the painful past to benefit in the present is a habit of the national party and its leaders.
If this isn’t a clear-cut example of sectarian politics, what is?
 
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BJP has no moral right to rake up 1984 for political gains

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