Uddhav backs Yogi Adityanath, calls 'Love Jihad' an 'international conspiracy'

Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray supported the controversial, fierce ‘Love Jihad’ comments made by BJP’s Gorakhpur MP Yogi Adityanth, saying that it indeed existed and was an ‘international conspiracy’. [caption id=“attachment_1705455” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Uddhav Thackeray backed Yogi Adityanath on ‘Love Jihad’ comments. PTI[/caption] According to a  Zee News report , the Shiv Sena’s mouthpiece Saamana’s Wednesday edition quotes Thackeray as saying, “Love Jihad is an international conspiracy to destroy the Hindu culture.” As a Firstpost analysis earlier noted: The supporters of Yogi Adityanath are enjoying the publicity, how so ever controversial or negative, that he is getting now. The five-time 42-year old MP from Gorakhpur has always been important in eastern Uttar Pradesh (UP) politics and the Sangh Parivar scheme of things. But he never received the kind of prominence that he is now getting in the run-up to the by-elections in the 11 state assembly seats. The Shiv Sena president supporting Adityanath would then surely be welcomed by Adityanath and his supporters and would further increase the focus of limelight on him. “Hindu girls are trapped and then forcibly converted after marriage,” said Thackeray in Saamana, clearly supporting Adityanath’s ‘Love Jihad’ comments in which he said that Muslim boys were allegedly seducing Hindu girls while hiding their religious identity only to forcibly convert them later on. The Election Commission has also reportedly issued a show-cause notice to Yogi Adityanath, asking him to clarify on his inflammatory comments. Recently, Adityanath had also said that riots happen in localities where minorities are more than 10 percent while there is no place for non-Muslims where they are more than 35 percent. Apart from severe criticism from the Congress and the Left, a body of Muslim intellectuals has demanded action against BJP MP Yogi Adityanath, accusing him of trying to disturb peace in the country by issuing provocative statements. The Millat Bedari Muhim Committee (MBMC) passed a resolution stating communal riots have always taken place not because of Hindus or Muslims but because of communal parties and organisations whose very existence rests on polarising society on communal lines. Adityanath was not the only politician making controversial statements about ‘Love Jihad’. RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat had raked up the issue of ‘Love Jihad’ saying the girls should be taught its meaning and ways to save themselves from the “trap”, more than a fortnight after BJP avoided its mention in political resolution at its executive meet in UP. Addressing a session of the All India Women Coordination Conclave at Krishna Dental College in Mohan Nagar, the RSS chief exhorted the women to work towards their emancipation and empowerment. “Girls of the coming generation should be told the meaning of ‘Love Jihad’ and the ways to save themselves from their traps,” Bhagwat had said. (With inputs from PTI)