Conversion to Islam is an issue that has been bothering Hindus and Christians in Kerala for a while. While it is perfectly legal for someone to convert to any religion, conversion has many sociopolitical implications. By its very nature it projects superiority of the faith that receives the convert and this leads to resentment between faiths. What make conversion more problematic is the organised manner in which it is done, which gives it a greater political dimension and fears of demographic change.
Hindus for whom religion is more personal than communal or political, do not feel the need to spread their faith in order to save the people of the world or increase their own numbers. The result is, conversion for Hindus is more or less an exit-only door. Christian missionaries have been actively converting people to their faith in Kerala over the years with great success. You'd think they have no reason to complain about conversion out of Christianity and should react sportingly. But when it comes to Islam, matters are different. The "why" and the "how" are the reasons that make conversion to Islam a tense issue.
While Hindus organisations have been giving warnings about Love-Jihad for decades, it was mostly ignored or downplayed by the mainstream media. The problem with Love-Jihad is that legally speaking, there is no "victim" in a successful conversion. The only chance of a Love-Jihad becoming public is when an attempted conversion goes wrong where the girl feels cheated and trapped. Even then they might want to keep it private if they feel ashamed about it. Another problem is that falsely identifying some conversions as Love-Jihad has given ammunition to those who want to silence the matter who label it as Hindu conservative propaganda. One such case was the Akhila/Hadiya case.
Read: Hostel Jihad cases of Kerala
Hindus for whom religion is more personal than communal or political, do not feel the need to spread their faith in order to save the people of the world or increase their own numbers. The result is, conversion for Hindus is more or less an exit-only door. Christian missionaries have been actively converting people to their faith in Kerala over the years with great success. You'd think they have no reason to complain about conversion out of Christianity and should react sportingly. But when it comes to Islam, matters are different. The "why" and the "how" are the reasons that make conversion to Islam a tense issue.
Why
Islam is a highly political religion. It is a supremacist ideology and it has led to the creation of fully or partially theocratic states that favour Muslims over people of other faiths wherever adherents of Islam are in majority. In Islam, the need to increase their numbers drive their missionary work or Da'wah. There has also been instances of converts recruited straight away into jihadist activity. In many cases women converts were found to be trafficked abroad under the pretext of religious studies to Middle Eastern countries only to be sold into sexual slavery.How
The methods used for conversion to Islam is what creates most alarm and outrage. It ranges from preaching of obfuscated religious texts, lying, cheating and emotional blackmailing to outright harassment and threats.Love Jihad
Most of such converts are women, many of whom are trapped through feigned love and are then forced to convert. This is what is popularly known as love-jihad. In many cases it is found that such conversions are not through happenstance interaction between people but it is carried out in an organised mafia style. The men target the most (emotionally, spiritually or financially) vulnerable women and on successful conversion get handsome financial payoffs from their backers.
While Hindus organisations have been giving warnings about Love-Jihad for decades, it was mostly ignored or downplayed by the mainstream media. The problem with Love-Jihad is that legally speaking, there is no "victim" in a successful conversion. The only chance of a Love-Jihad becoming public is when an attempted conversion goes wrong where the girl feels cheated and trapped. Even then they might want to keep it private if they feel ashamed about it. Another problem is that falsely identifying some conversions as Love-Jihad has given ammunition to those who want to silence the matter who label it as Hindu conservative propaganda. One such case was the Akhila/Hadiya case.
Hostel Jihad
The Akhila/Hadiya case is what has recently come to be called Hostel Jihad. Hindu or Christian women are introduced to Islam by Muslim classmates or roommates. After the introduction, conversion is completed through their stay in Muslim religious study centres. The newly converted girl is then entered in to marriage of convenience with some Muslim man in-order to counter missing person complaints given by the girl's parents. In the case of Akhila it was Shefin Jahan who is a SDPI activist and is also suspected to be an ISIS funded recruiter. This marriage was the cause of misidentification of it as a case of Love-Jihad. The Akhila case has also brought to light the Popular Front of India (PFI) run Satya Sarini conversion centre.Read: Hostel Jihad cases of Kerala
Conversion Statistics
The Kerala State Police Intelligence published a statistic report on conversion to Islam in the state. It says that 5,793 people converted to Islam officially in Kerala, 2011-15. Of these 2729 were women. 4,719 were Hindus and the remaining mostly Christians. New Reports: TOI, NDTV.
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