[Reader-list] All Hindu-Muslim love marriages under probe

[Taha Mehmood]

Dear All

It seems as if a slow systematic poison of mutual hate and suspicion
is being spread through introduction of absolutely deplorable and
disgusting measures like one which the story focuses below. I wonder
why there seems to be much of focus on this word called 'conspiracy'?

Are schemes like national identity cards, not a direct material
offshoot of small, seemingly banal, localized, measures of spreading
hate/suspicion/panic/insecurity like this one?

 Is this not a clear institutionalized attempt to lessen the mutual
trust of an urban Indian towards other urban citizens who claim to be
Indians too.

As the story suggests, 'The Criminal Investigation Department (CID),
which is meant to probe high-profile cases, will now investigate love
affairs that have
resulted in marriages between Hindu girls and Muslim boys.The state
CID has been told to check whether Muslim boys are enticing Hindu
girls as part of a larger ‘conspiracy’.'

The underlying assumption in the above argument seems to be - all
Muslim men who claim to be Indian citizens are part of a larger
'conspiracy' of Islam to de-rail Hinduism in India.

I don't want to undervalue the possibility of a mass reach of these
arguments which might be based on an assumed sense of paranoia or
panic or insecurity by terming these assumptions as 'outrageous' or
'bizarre' but at the same time I want to most earnestly appeal to all
those who can perhaps see the mischief here and urge them to voice
their dissent against such measure in the most strongest terms.

Warm regards

Taha


http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Mumbai/All-Hindu-Muslim-love-marriages-under-probe/articleshow/4731209.cms

All Hindu-Muslim love marriages under probe
3 Jul 2009, 0426 hrs IST, Sanjeev Shivadekar, TNN


MUMBAI: The Criminal Investigation Department (CID), which is meant to
probe high-profile cases, will now investigate love affairs that have
resulted in marriages between Hindu girls and Muslim boys.

The state CID has been told to check whether Muslim boys are enticing
Hindu girls as part of a larger ‘conspiracy’. Minister of state for
home (rural) Nitin Raut announced this step in the legislative
assembly on the last day of its session.

BJP MLAs Eknath Khadse and Devendra Fadnavis had alleged in the
assembly that young Muslim boys in rural areas were wooing Hindu
college girls and then marrying them. This, they claimed, was part of
a ‘conspiracy’ to increase the strength of the community. Khadse had
further alleged that some Hindu girls had also been sent to the Gulf.

In his reply, Raut had admitted that such incidents were taking place
in the state. “I will initiate an inquiry into this,’’ the minister
had promised. However, the opposition had demanded a CID probe,
terming the issue as serious. Raut had then given in to their demands.

CID chief S P S Yadav said, “We are still to receive the order. The
first thing we will have to do is to check whether such an inquiry is
in consonance with the CID manual. If not, we will inform the
government about the norms. If the government persists, we will decide
on how to carry out these investigations.’’

Raut’s announcement has not gone down well with his cabinet colleagues
and leaders of the Muslim community. Senior NCP leader and labour
minister Nawab Malik said the BJP had a political interest in raising
such issues. “The BJP’s politics has always been based on communalism
and this demand too is part of the same theory,’’ he added.

Congress leader and minister of state for home (urban) Arif Naseem
Khan saidthere was no provision in law where a member of a particular
community could be stopped from marrying a girl/boy of another
community. “In case a girl or boy is pressured into getting married to
a member of another community, the offender should certainly be
punished,’’ he added.

Refuting the allegations made by Malik and Khan against the BJP,
Fadnavis said, “Had we wanted to politicise the issue, we would have
carried out a morcha and staged a protest. Instead, we demanded a CID
inquiry. This shows that our intention is not to gain political
mileage from the issue.’’

When contacted on Tuesday, Raut said, “The inquiry will not be
restricted to limited or specific cases and will be statewide.’’

Meanwhile, home department officials too have been left wondering as
to how investigations can be conducted into cases where a Hindu girl
has married a boy from the Muslim community or vice versa. “Finding
such cases and calling the persons concerned for an inquiry would be a
lengthy process,’’ an official said, adding that it may even lead to
communal disharmony.