A friend sent this piece of information to me suggesting that there may be a connection to the Indian phenomenon called Love Jihad.
This was sent to me because I had come across another very interesting news item last week about two antagonistic Hindu social organisations coming together to safeguard Hindu interests in the light of the Kerala government extending patronage to the minority religions of that state, and among the factors that were considered for the alliance, Love Jihad and the state government’s inaction was one.
I cross checked whether the story about young girls in England being lured by Muslim men into prostitution and found that The Times certainly wrote a piece about it and that there has since been an uproar over the silence and inaction over the innumerable cases of young girls being lured and exploited by men of Pakistani origin. In the process I also came across this clip.
Leaving everything else aside, I wish to point out the possible reason for the phenomenon in India.
Young Muslim men from the well off sections from the community now go for higher education in colleges and universities and also find lucrative employment after their education is completed. In the process, they socialise with non Muslim men and women and experience the relative freer atmosphere of the latter’s lives. In such free environment, why should love not strike a Muslim boy and a non Muslim girl?
When I probed with some young people here, it has been pointed out to me that the reverse never happens! That is Muslim women, equally upwardly mobile now a days in India do not socialise to the same extent as their male counterparts, and therefore Muslim women luring non Muslim men is not taking place. This of course implies that the Muslim men do not get opportunities to socialise with Muslim women too and there lies the rub.
Fair enough.
Inter religious marriages are quite common now in India. Mine was one such as my late wife was a Methodist Christian. There is hardly ever the need for one of the parties involved to convert to the other’s religion, though some do voluntarily convert. Very often a simple civil marriage as it is called here is gone through which is totally secular and perfectly legal. In the case of Muslim men wanting to marry non Muslim women however, there is a big problem in that, if the man wishes to retain his relationships within his family and community, he is forced to get the woman to convert to Islam. QED.
Coming back to the phenomenon in England, is it possible that the Muslim men would have done the same to Muslim women had the Muslim women been more socially active? Or is it because of such predatory practices that Muslim women in England are not allowed the same freedom as non Muslim women?
Intriguing is it not?
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