Maharashtra: Only 402 complaints received by committee formed to track ‘Love Jihad’ cases, says SP MLA Rais Shaikh

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div id=”pcl-full-content”>Samajwadi Party MLA Rais Shaikh recently said the Maharashtra ‘Interfaith Marriage Family Coordination Committee’ has received only 402 complaints in one year after its formation. The Committee was set up on December 13, 2022, by former state Women and Child Development (WCD) minister Manga Prabhat Lodha.

Shaikh obtained the data after filing an RTI application with the WCD department. The SP MLA has now demanded that the Committee, which was ostensibly set up to track cases of ‘Love Jihad’, be scrapped in light of the information.

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Shaikh has also written letters to Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and WCD Minister Aditi Tatkare in this regard.

“Lodha had claimed that there were more than one lakh cases of love jihad in the state. However, I have received information under RTI that the Committee has received only 402 complaints so far. These complaints do not just pertain to two particular communities but other communities as well,” Shaikh stated in his letters.

Shaikh further claimed that the intention of the then WCD minister Lodha behind setting up the Committee was to defame the minority community, create a rift between communities, and deliberately harass a particular community.

“The previous WCD minister made false claims. The WCD department has provided me with information under RTI that there are only 402 complaints so far. Hence, the government should scrap this Committee…” demanded Shaikh.

Moreover, the SP legislator has also written to Legislative Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar requesting the government to clarify the factual status of ‘Love Jihad’ cases in the House.

“The then WCD Minister Mangal Prabhat Lodha claimed in the legislature on March 8, 2023, that there were one lakh cases of Love Jihad in the state. However, the information provided to me by the WCD department under RTI showed that the Committee did not receive a single complaint till March 20, 2023. Therefore, the then WCD minister Lodha made a false, baseless, and misleading statement in the House. Hence, the government should clarify the facts in the House in this matter,” said Shaikh in his letter to Narwekar.