'Madrasas centre of love jihad, global strife,' says Sadhvi Prachi

Bareilly (UP): VHP leader Sadhvi Prachi on Sunday called for shutting down of madrasas in the country saying it is where the 'love jihad' emanates from.

"Hindus only think about earning money, while there is a special community, which thinks about ruling over India. Their agenda to rule over India is there for thousands of years.

"What do they have to do? run a puncture shop on a national highway. Why is a puncture shop not seen in any bylane in a city?" she said during an interaction with reporters.

"'Love jihad' starts from madrasas, where knowledge about it is disseminated. This is the reason why 'love jihad' is increasing. The day madrasas are shut down in India, 'love jihad' will cease to exist. Then, there will be peace and harmony not only in India, but in the entire world," she said.

'Love jihad' is a term often used by BJP leaders and right-wing activists to allege a ploy by Muslim men to lure Hindu women into religious conversion through marriage.

The Indian government does not recognise the term and a minister in a response in Parliament in 2020 had said no cases were registered by central agencies under it.

"The term 'Love Jihad' is not defined under the extant laws. No such case of ‘Love Jihad’ has been reported by any of the central agencies," junior home minister G Kishan Reddy had said in a reply.

The VHP leader on Sunday also said Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav should drop his dreams of becoming UP chief minister again.

"He will neither become the UP Chief Minister, nor Prime Minister. Even in the 2024 parliamentary elections, Narendra Modi will come back, people know this, and they will vote for Modi ji only," she said.

Sadhvi Prachi told reporters that in Uttarakhand no mosque had been removed, and only the illegal mausoleum were being razed.

The Uttarakhand government is running an anti-encroachment drive against illegal religious constructions in the state.

She said "number of non-Hindus is increasing in Devbhumi" and that an exodus of Hindus was underway from Uttarakhand.

Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami should take action against this, she said.