01/16/2020, 12.16
INDIA
Send to a friend

Syro-Malabar Synod: 'love jihad' forced conversions damage social peace

by Nirmala Carvalho

The bishops cite official police reports that several converted Christians have joined ISIS. The police must "treat the issue as a problem of public order and not religious".

Mumbai (AsiaNews) - The practice of forced conversions with "love jihad" is a "reality in Kerala and endangers social peace and religious harmony": says the Synod of the Syro-Malabar Church [one of the three rites of the Indian Catholic Church, ed.] in an official statement released yesterday. The bishops express concern and urge the faithful to be attentive. "These practices - they add - represent a serious threat to the secular fabric of the state".

For a week the bishops have been meeting in Kakkanad, on the outskirts of Kochi, on the occasion of the Plenary Assembly. For the first time, a body of the Indian Church has raised the alarm about the increase in cases of Christian girls converted to Islam and "used for terrorist activities".

According to activists, particularly right wing nationalists, "love jihad" and "Romeo jihad" is a euphemism for Muslim organizations seducing girls of different religions with false declarations of love. The goal would be to convert them to Islam or radicalize them.

The bishops cite police reports that half of 21 Kerala Indians who joined the Islamic State in recent years are converted Christians. According to the Synod, presided over by Card. George Alencherry, Major Archbishop of the Syro-Malabar Church, "it is serious that the official data do not report [the existence] of many people converted and used in terrorist actions. These statistics show that 'love jihad' is not imaginary. "

The bishops stress that the practice of converting Christian girls "has nothing to do with friendship between religions". Finally, they urge "the government to treat the issue as a problem of public order and not religious".

TAGs
Send to a friend
Printable version
CLOSE X
See also
Church communique at Masses warns against ‘love jihad’ conversions
20/01/2020 11:09
National Commission for Women asks for 'immediate action' in the nun rape case in Kerala
07/02/2019 17:28
Card Alencherry orders an investigation into a marriage between a Muslim man and a Catholic woman
24/11/2020 14:20
Islamic State group active in southern Indian states, including via the 'love jihad'
19/09/2020 12:20
Syro-Malabar church demolished in Delhi
12/07/2021 16:01


Newsletter

Subscribe to Asia News updates or change your preferences

Subscribe now
“L’Asia: ecco il nostro comune compito per il terzo millennio!” - Giovanni Paolo II, da “Alzatevi, andiamo”