Opinion | Unseen War of Love Jihad Rages On and It is Time We Opened Our Eyes to It

In the Shahbad Dairy area of Delhi, a macabre spectacle unfolded on the evening of May 28, 2023, leaving the nation shocked and shaken to its core. A 16-year-old girl, Sakshi Dixit, was brutally killed, marking a tragic end to her dreams of becoming a lawyer. Sakshi, a beacon of aspirations, was en route to a friend’s son’s birthday celebration, blissfully unaware of the nefarious plot that was about to ensnare her. A seemingly ordinary Sunday took a sinister turn when she was accosted by Mohammad Sahil Khan.

As Sakshi was waiting for her friend Aarti, Sahil, her alleged ex-boyfriend approached her with a carefully orchestrated plan to end her life. This blood-curdling act, captured fastidiously by a CCTV camera—that consequently went viral on social media, throwing the nation into a pit of shock and horror—saw Sahil unleash a ruthless and unflinching assault on Sakshi. In an act of incomprehensible brutality, Sahil stabbed Sakshi over 20 times, later bludgeoning her head with a boulder. As per reports, Sahil Khan conscientiously planned the murder, having purchased a long knife 15 days before the crime and the alleged argument that happened on Saturday. But extremely distressing was the sight of bystanders and passersby who made no attempt to intervene. Their apathy stood starkly against the heinous crime being perpetrated in their vicinity.

Sahil Khan, an AC mechanic by profession, who led a lifestyle of hard partying, drinking, and making Instagram reels, was arrested on Monday in Uttar Pradesh’s Bulandshahr city. According to the Delhi Police, the motive behind the brutal murder was reportedly Sakshi’s decision to end their estranged relationship. Unravelling the intricacies of the crime, friends of Sakshi shared chilling details about her relationship with Sahil. Sakshi knew Sahil as a Hindu boy, a claim further supported by Sahil’s appearance during his arrest — he had a Kalava (a Hindu sacred thread) tied around his wrist. He even wore a Rudraksha mala in some older pictures. These were the revelations that pointed towards “love jihad.” Once the victim discovered his true identity, she began to distance herself, which goaded the Muslim boy to butcher the Hindu girl.

As we grapple with the horrific reality of Sakshi Dixit’s murder, it is crucial to delve deeper into the untold story — the silent war that is love jihad. A term often dismissed as propaganda by many, including an influencer, who infamously trivialised the issue in his critique of the telling movie The Kerala Story. He insisted that the narrative, which highlighted the plight of just three victims, was not representative of the true state of affairs, echoing a sentiment that resonates with the Leftist ecosystem. This is a narrative that continues to be peddled by certain factions of the media who relish a ritzy lifestyle bankrolled by their followers’ funds; take immense pleasure in Moroccan footballers bending to offer namaz on the FIFA ground; but frown and howl upon PM Modi paying respect to the Sengol, a symbol of justice, with a humble dand pranam.

Below are some of the multitudes of cases that have been perpetuated in the very last week, and veritably, they missed hitting eyeballs!

1. On May 20, in Manchar, Maharashtra, Javed Sheikh, a 22-year-old Muslim man, was arrested for the abhorrent acts of abducting, sexually assaulting, and forcefully marrying a minor Hindu girl.
2. The news of Abdulla Akbar Momin from Changa abetting a 22-year-old Hindu girl from Dakor to end her life as he blackmailed and harassed her was merely covered by a few local portals in Gujarat on May 21.
3. On May 22, a Muslim woman and her Hindu husband were attacked in Bilari town, Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh, for their interfaith relationship.
4. In Bhubaneswar, Odisha, a protest was held against love jihad on May 28, following a case where a Hindu girl alleged her Muslim boyfriend had brainwashed her into converting to Islam under the false promise of marriage.
5. On May 28, a 23-year-old pregnant Dalit woman, Seema Gautam, was raped and poisoned to death in Shahjahanpur district, Uttar Pradesh, by Mohd Naved Iqbal, who posed as a Hindu to lure her into a relationship. He started forcing her to convert, and when she denied it, he poisoned and killed her.

In this murky world, there are women like Asifa from The Kerala Story, working in tandem with local imams connected to extremist factions in Pakistan and Afghanistan, all operating under the guise of human rights. There are influencer interfaith couples, a Muslim man and a Hindu woman who might be in love with no element of love jihad but will play a disarming role in the psyche of victims like Shraddha Walker.

There’s no denying the existence of a deeply embedded Islamist ecosystem that would go to any lengths to shield individuals like Sahil. It is the same ecosystem that protected Tausif, who murdered Nikita Tomar in 2020 for refusing to convert to Islam, and Aftaab Poonawala, a self-proclaimed liberal, who horrendously mutilated Sharddha into 35 pieces. Islamist organisations rally behind these criminals with legal support, enabling international media to whitewash their crimes with headlines that scream ‘Muslims under attack.’ For all we have seen in this world, liberal secularists and militant Islamists make for strange bedfellows.

Sakshi’s murder should leave us ruffled with haunting questions about women’s safety, the truth of interfaith relationships, and the larger ecosystem that harbours support for the demoniacal crimes against Hindus and humanity at large at the hands of Islamists. The unseen war of love jihad rages on, and it is time we opened our eyes to it. It is also necessary to make the younger generation understand the manipulative warfare being waged against them in the name of ‘love’.

Yuvraj Pokharna is an independent journalist and columnist. He tweets with @iyuvrajpokharna. Views expressed are personal.