Maharashtra politics: BJP MLCs demand law against 'love jihad' in state on lines of Uttar Pradesh

Pravin Darekar. File Pic

Two Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLCs - Pravin Darekar and Prasad Lad - on Wednesday demanded a law against 'love jihad' in Maharashtra on the lines of Uttar Pradesh, reported news agency PTI.

Raising the issue in Maharashtra legislative council, Pravin Darekar alleged that Hindu girls are cheated in different parts of the state through the use of fake names and then forced to convert. Later, they are assaulted and deserted, reported PTI.

"Yogi Adityanath has taken a bold decision. The Uttar Pradesh government has brought a law to ban illegal conversions," he said, reported PTI.

"A law on love jihad should be brought in Maharashtra on the lines of Uttar Pradesh," the BJP leader added.

Prasad Lad also made a similar demand.

He also sought the removal of loudspeakers atop mosques.

'Love jihad' is a term often used by right-wing activists to allege a ploy by Muslim men to lure Hindu women into religious conversion through marriage.

Meanwhile, the Maharashtra government is developing a cyber security platform with the latest technology to tackle online crime which is growing faster than street crime, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said on Wednesday.

Speaking in the legislative assembly, he said social media, financial institutions, banks, and NFBCs will be brought together on this platform to reduce the response time (in the detection of cyber crime).

"Cyber crime is increasing more than street crime. Money lost in these frauds moves through ten accounts in the initial hour before disappearing abroad. This platform will be activated in the next six months and will have the latest technology with experts working on it," Fadnavis, who holds the Home portfolio, said while participating in the debate.

He said the presentation about the upcoming platform was given in a meeting at the Ministry of Home Affairs and it was appreciated by all.

Fadnavis said Maharashtra ranks 5th in the number of cybercrime cases.

As Mumbai is the financial capital, the need of the hour is to be vigilant, he added.

"We have a zero-tolerance policy towards cyber crime. We appeal to people to come forward and lodge complaints if they are victims of such crime," the Deputy CM said.

Fadnavis reiterated that police recruitment is not done on a contractual basis as alleged by the Opposition.

(With inputs from PTI)