Love Jihad

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Love jihad (or Romeo jihad) is an Islamophobic conspiracy theory promoted by Hindutva activists that aims to misrepresent consensual marriages between Hindu women and Muslim men to be a part of broader agenda of initiating religious conversions into Islam. 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 demographic "war" by Muslims against India, and an organised international conspiracy, for domination through demographic growth and replacement. The conspiracy theory relies on disinformation and is noted for its similarities to other historic hate campaigns as well as contemporary white nationalist conspiracy theories and Western Islamophobia. It features Orientalist portrayals of Muslims as barbaric and hypersexual, and carries the paternalistic and patriarchal notions that Hindu women are passive and victimised, while "any possibility of women exercising their legitimate right to love and their right to choice is ignored". It has consequently been the cause of vigilante assaults, murders and other violent incidents, including the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots. Created in 2009 as part of a campaign to foster fear and paranoia, the conspiracy theory was disseminated by Hindutva publications, such as the Sanatan Prabhat and the Hindu Janajagruti Samiti website, calling Hindus to protect their women from Muslim men who were simultaneously depicted to be attractive seducers and lecherous rapists. Organisations including the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) have since been credited for its proliferation in India and abroad, respectively. The conspiracy theory was noted to have become a significant belief in the state of Uttar Pradesh by 2014 and contributed to the success of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) campaign in the state. The concept was institutionalised in India after the election of the BJP led...