Samajwadi Party MLA Rais Shaikh revealed that the ‘Interfaith Marriage Family Coordination Committee’ in Maharashtra, formed to track ‘Love Jihad’ cases, has received only 402 complaints in a year since its inception. The committee was established on December 13, 2022, by former Women and Child Development minister Manga Prabhat Lodha. Shaikh obtained this information through an RTI application and has called for the committee’s dissolution. He accused Lodha of creating false claims to defame minority communities and foster division between them. Shaikh has written to Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and WCD Minister Aditi Tatkare, seeking action.
“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.
