GUWAHATI: Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma cautioned youths Thursday not to “cross the laxman rekha” by marrying outside their faiths as he issued a call to stop so-called “love jihad” three days after a Hindu woman and her parents were murdered, allegedly by her Muslim husband, in Golaghat district.
“Love and jihad do not gel,” the BJP CM said, adding that when one of the partners in an inter-religion love marriage is forced to convert, trouble begins and it takes a “love jihad” turn.
Opposition Congress denounced the call and urged the CM “not to make inter-community marriages an issue in the modern age”. Sarma shot back by warning state Congress chief Bhupen Bora that he could be arrested over such comments for “hurting religious sentiments”. If a Muslim boy or girl marries within his or her own religion and likewise for Hindus, there will be peace in the country, the CM argued. He pointed out the Special Marriage Act addresses inter-religion marriages but stressed “conversion is not a requirement”.
