Feigning ignorance, Rajnath Singh asks: What is love jihad?

New Delhi: At a time when some BJP leaders are raking up the controversial ’love jihad’ issue, Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday said he had “no idea” about it. [caption id=“attachment_1678859” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Rajnath Singh. Reuters.[/caption] “What is love jihad?” was his prompt reply with a smile when he was asked about his views on it. Many BJP leaders including Lakshmikant Bajpayee and Yogi Adityanath have raised the issue ahead of the Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh. “Arey yeh hai kya. Hume nahi maloom (What is this. I don’t know),” was Singh’s reply when reporters drew his attention towards BJP leaders from Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat issuing statements asking Hindu girls to stay away from Muslims. Singh’s reply led to peals of laughter from the scribes, who had gathered for his press conference on first 100 days of the Union Home Ministry. “I have no idea,” was the only response from Singh when he was persistently queried about the ’love jihad’ statements of various leaders who have claimed that Muslims were marrying Hindu girls and then getting them converted. Adityanath had recently stated that “jihad in the name of love is unacceptable” and that only a BJP-led state government can “stop forceful conversion of Hindu girls”. PTI