For thousands, if not lakhs of non-Muslim women in India, Love Jihad is a grim and disconcerting reality, but not for online platform Wikipedia that intends to wish away the sufferings of these women as a fictional concept. In another incidence of misinformation spread by leftist online encyclopedia, Wikipedia dismisses the phenomenon of Love Jihad as “a conspiracy theory developed by the proponents of Hindutva that has been used to invoke prejudice against Muslims”.

“The conspiracy theory purports that Muslim men target Hindu women for conversion to Islam by means such as seduction, feigning love, deception, kidnapping, and marriage, as part of a broader “war” by Muslims against India, and an organised international conspiracy, for domination through demographic growth and replacement,” read the distorted definition of Love Jihad published on Wikipedia.

In order to lend credence to its assertion that Love Jihad is not a real phenomenon, the Wikipedia page equated it with western theories of Jewish world domination, white nationalism and Euro-American Islamophobia. The page said Love Jihad depicted Oriental portrayal of Muslims as being barbaric and hypersexual.

These unwarranted parallels are drawn to reinforce the twisted notion of Love Jihad peddled by Wikipedia. By calling it the handiwork of Hindutva ideologues, likening it to western conspiracy theories, and slamming Hindutva publications for its dissemination, Wikipedia is attempting to whitewash the scourge that has afflicted thousands of women in India, many of whom are not even alive, simply because they were killed by the assailants for going against them and resisting their forced conversion to Islam.

The page is also made part of a series on Islamophobia on Wikipedia, thereby making the biasness of the page clear. Instead of being a neutral page that an encyclopedia is supposed to be, the page on Love Jihad presents a highly biased Islamist viewpoint, the article reading more like an op-ed published on an Islamist left liberal publication than a genuine crowd-sourced encyclopedia page.

With this, Wikipedia is trying to completely dismiss the crime of Grooming Jihad or Love Jihad using its power and influence. It is notable that when one searches for ‘Love Jihad’ on Google, the Wikipedia definition for the term appears on the top of the search results. Thus, the Internet giants are spreading a faulty and highly problematic definition of the term, and tries to dismiss an alarming and real problem taking place in India.

The Islamist Wikipedia editors and moderators have also locked the page to prevent netizens from making corrections to the page. The page has been made extended confirmed protected, which means people with only extended confirmed status can edit it. The talk page of the page shows that a large number of people have objected to the portrayal of the phenomenon on it, but the moderators overruled them, reverted any edits made contrary to the claim made by the page, and locked it so that most people can’t edit it.

The menace of Love Jihad that continues to afflict non-Muslim women across India

Contrary to what Wikipedia would have us believe, “Love Jihad”, also known as “Romeo Jihad” in some countries, is a strategy of luring vulnerable non-Muslim girls by the agency of either deception, lies, intimidation, or by feigned love to bring them under the fold of Islam. Instead of genuine marital bliss, these girls get trapped in a web of deceit and lies and are often coerced, threatened and sometimes tortured to relinquish their faith and convert to Islam. In some cases, victims are even killed or mortally wounded by the assailants for refusing to convert their religion or threatening to file a police complaint against the culprits.

While Wikipedia alleged that Love Jihad is just a figment of imagination conjured up to further ‘Islamophobia’, the literature on the phenomenon is too profound enough to simply dismiss it as a mere conspiracy theory aimed to target Muslims. There have been umpteen incidents that conclusively debunk Wikipedia’s assertion that Love Jihad is a concoction purveyed by the proponents of Hindutva. Those incidents prove beyond any reasonable doubt that Love Jihad is a real menace bedeviling non-Muslim women.

In April 2021, a case of Love Jihad was reported from Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh. A complaint was filed by a woman, who alleged that her 25-year old husband had kept his real identity hidden for two years since marriage and pretended to be Arman Kohli when he was actually Afzal. The woman alleged that her husband revealed his real identity only after their daughter was born. More recently, in May 2021, another case of Love Jihad came to light when a man named Abid posed as ‘Inspector Aditya’ and blackmailed a Hindu woman to marry him. After marrying the woman, he forcibly converted his wife to Islam.

And these are just two cases that have been reported in the last few days. There have been hundreds of cases that have been registered across the country. Hindu women are not the only victims of Love Jihad. Even Christian women have been targeted by the offenders. Back in 2020, it was widely reported that Hindu and Christian girls were going missing from Kerala. It was later revealed that these girls were specifically targeted and converted, married to Muslims, and brainwashed to join ISIS. In addition to this, Kerala MLA PC George recently admitted that at least 12 Hindu and 35 Christian girls had been victims of Love Jihad in the state.

The preponderance of Love Jihad cases has forced state governments to enact a law to curb the menace. Several state governments such as Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh and Odisha have already notified a law criminalising Love Jihad. Others, who are yet to pass a law, are in the process of formulating it to bring a stop to the abhorrent practice.

Wikipedia dismisses Love Jihad as a conspiracy theory, but recognises reverse Love Jihad

Even as Wikipedia labels Love Jihad as a conspiracy theory concocted by the Hindutva supporters, and ipso facto dismiss the trials and tribulations faced by thousands of its victims, it describes the phenomenon of ‘reverse Love Jihad’ as an “organised movement” carried out by right-wing groups.

So in essence, Wikipedia dismisses the phenomenon of Love Jihad but it does recognise the existence of reverse Love Jihad. For Wikipedia, the phenomenon of Love Jihad exists only when the victims are Muslims. When they are Hindus, Christians, Jews or adherents of any other religion, the concept of Love Jihad becomes a contrived notion, created with the express purpose of vilifying Muslims.

This hypocrisy of acknowledging reverse Love Jihad but brushing off Love Jihad as a fabricated theory encapsulates the treachery of Wikipedia. The recognition of Love Jihad as a real phenomenon when the victims are Muslims and not otherwise betrays that the online encyclopedia is pushing the propaganda peddled by Islamists to feign victimhood and accuse victims of being assailants. When Islamists are caught in the act, they shield themselves by accusing others of Islamophobia. Wikipedia seems to have pulled a trick out of the Islamists’ playbook when it labels Love Jihad as a figment of imagination when the victims are non-Muslims and characterising it as an organised phenomenon when the victims are Muslims.