“Love jihad” evokes long-held stereotypes. Stereotypes of the con quering Muslim invader ravaging the innocence of Hindu women or a leering Mahmud of Ghazni type spiriting away local lovelies. Many reports have now shown that love jihad – or Muslim men abducting raping and converting Hindu women – is a myth. Yet those for whom the Muslim is the perennial, black-bearded foreigner bent on deflowering that patriarchal construct known as “our women”, love jihad is a delicious political fantasy and mobilization campaign.
When UP BJP state chief Laxmikant Bajpai pronounces, “Ninety per cent of all rapes are committed by Muslims,” or when Yogi Adityanath thunders that “the same treatment will be meted out to 100 Muslim girls,” they not only reveal Read More
