Love and narcotic jihad exists in Kerala, claims Pala Bishop Mar Joseph Kallarangatt

Kottayam: A Catholic bishop on Thursday triggered a controversy, saying Christian girls were largely falling prey to “love and narcotic jihad” in Kerala and wherever arms cannot be used, extremists were using such methods to destroy the youth belonging to other religions. Muslim outfits protested the statement of Pala Bishop Mar Joseph Kallarangatt, alleging that it was meant to create a communal divide in Kerala society. Addressing devotees during a church celebration at Kuravilangad in this district, the Bishop said as part of the “love jihad”, non-Muslim girls, especially those belonging to the Christian community, were largely being converted after trapping them in love and being exploited and misused for destructive activities like terrorism. Cautioning against the presence of Jihadis, who try to cultivate communalism, religious disharmony, intolerance and contempt across the world, in Kerala also, the Bishop, belonging to the Syro-Malabar Church of the Catholic Church, said they were using different means to destroy other religions. “Two such means are love jihad and narcotic jihad. As jihadis know that it is not easy to destroy people belonging to other religions using weapons in a democratic country like ours, they attempt other such means to achieve their target,” Kallarangatt alleged. Quoting the recent statements of former state police chief Loknath Behera, he said Kerala had turned out to be a recruiting center of terrorists and a sleeper cell of extremist groups was present in the southern state. Alleging that jihadists were trained in trapping and brainwashing girls belonging to other religions, Kallarangatt noted that it was Christian and Hindu girls from the state who had been converted and sent to the terrorist camps in Afghanistan recently. The matter should be examined seriously how they had been converted and reached the terrorist camps abroad, he added. “Nowadays, Christian girls are largely becoming victims of such traps … We need to recognize that jihadis, with extreme mindset, have laid the trap in schools, colleges, hostels, commercial establishments and other such public places and institutions with an aim to lure the girls at their tender age,” he said. The Catholic priest even said that those who try to establish that ’love and narcotic jihad’ does not exist in the state, were just shutting their eyes to reality. “The politicians, socio-cultural leaders and journalists, who try to deny the fact, may have their own vested interests to do so,” he added. Hitting out at the Bishop, Samastha Kerala Sunni Students Federation (SKSSF), the higher students organization of Samastha Kerala Jamiyyathul Ulama, asked the Catholic priest to disclose the evidence to prove his allegations targeting the Muslim community. The Pala Bishop must disclose evidence of charges of love jihad and narcotics jihad, SKSSF general secretary Sathar Panthallur told reporters. Panthallur described as “baseless” the allegations of Pala Bishop and asked the state government to take a serious note of it as it amounts to unnecessary divide between two communities in the state. Condemning the statement of the Bishop, Kerala Muslim Jamaath Council Kottayam district committee said legal action should be initiated against the Catholic priest for trying to create division among two communities.