The right-wing organisation Bajrangdal members organised a grand procession during the Maha Shivratri celebrations in Bihar’s Munger city and featured over 50 tableaux. One tableau depicted the controversial theme of “love jihad”. The instance has sparked a huge political row, with opposition party leaders condemning the action, describing it as “outrageous”.
Most of the tableaux depicted Hindu deities, including Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati. However, the “love jihad” tableau became the focal point of controversy due to its graphic appearance and communally charged messages.
The particular tableau display presented newspaper clippings alongside imagery to present reports about Hindu women suffering domestic violence after marrying a Muslim man. One notable display featured a refrigerator with dolls representing dismembered women while displaying warning slogans about religious abandonment.
‘Love jihad’ is a conspiracy theory that accuses Muslim men of intentionally and strategically alluring and entrapping non-Muslim women with the intent to “convert them” to Islam and marry them as part of an “Islamisation project”.
Political outrage
Bajrang Dal convenor Saurabh S Sampanna from Munger justified the tableau as a method to inform people about Hindu women facing violence. He stated that this artwork had no intention to target a particular religion and it was referred solely based on news reports.
“We did not name or target any religion and used some news items published in various newspapers. We wanted to draw people’s attention towards atrocities against Hindu women in the name of marriage,” The Indian Express quoted Sampanna.
However, the opposition parties, including the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Congress, have accused the event managers of trying to start religious conflicts between communities.
RJD spokesperson Mrityunjay Tiwari stated that displaying the particular tableau was “outrageous”, urging the state government to take note of such provocative posters.
Similarly, Bihar Congress spokesperson Gyan Ranjan Gupta also criticized the display and called it “bad taste” and a violation of Indian constitutional principles. “The Bajrang Dal poster was in bad taste. The India Constitution does not permit anyone to attack any religion directly or indirectly”, he said.
The incident has brought mounting pressure on the ruling coalition government in Bihar. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) recognizes “love jihad” as a problem. However, they have officially distanced itself from the Bajrang Dal’s activities in Bihar.
The BJP representative said the organization does not operate under party leadership in Bihar. They argued that social concerns are important but thought that visualizing disturbing images was an unsuitable approach for addressing these issues.
“We have no information about local people self-identifying as Bajrang Dal members. Love jihad is a matter of serious concern. However, the social content could have been expressed genuinely instead of displaying horrific pictures”, the representative said.
