After Love Jihad, Kerala Bishop Says Narcotic Jihad Is Being Used To Trap Non-Muslim Girls

Joseph Kallarangatt, the Catholic Bishop of the Pala Diocese in Kerala has triggered a controversy after claiming that youth of the state are becoming increasingly targeted using love and narcotic jihad.

The highly influential Bishop made the controversial comments during an address to devotees.

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According to him, extremists were using such methods to destroy the youth belonging to other religions, where arms cannot be used.

"Two such means are love jihad and narcotic jihad. As jihadis know that it is not easy to destroy people belonging to other religions using weapons in a democratic country like ours, they attempt other such means to achieve their target," Kallarangatt said.

He also said that former DGP Loknath Behera had claimed that Kerala had turned out to be a recruiting centre of terrorists and a sleeper cell of extremist groups was present in the southern state.

Pala Diocese

Kallarangatt also alleged that jihadis were trained in trapping and brainwashing girls belonging to other religions, and noted that it was Christian and Hindu girls from the state who had been converted and sent to the terrorist camps in Afghanistan recently. "Nowadays, Christian girls are largely becoming victims of such traps...We need to recognise that jihadis, with extreme mindset, have laid the trap in schools, colleges, hostels, commercial establishments and other such public places and institutions with an aim to lure the girls at their tender age," he said.

#NewsAlert | Girls, boys who are not Muslims are becoming victims of 'love jihad' & 'narcotic jihad': Mar Joseph Kallarangatt, Kerala Bishop.

Vivek K with details & analysis pic.twitter.com/xjZVX2AgOV

¡ª TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) September 9, 2021

Muslim organisations condemn statement

Several Muslim organizations have come out strongly against the comments made by Kallarangatt.

Samastha Kerala Sunni Students Federation (SKSSF), the higher students organization of Samastha Kerala Jamiyyathul Ulama, asked the Bishop to disclose the evidence to prove his allegations targeting the Muslim community.

Kerala Muslim Jamaath Council Kottayam district committee said legal action should be initiated against him for trying to create division among two communities.

The Kerala state unit of the BJP, however, has supported the claims made by the Bishop and said he was only highlighting the increasing drugs menace in the state.

AFP

Not the first time

This is not the first time influential Catholic Church leaders in Kerala have made such controversial comments.

In fact, the Catholic Church in Kerala has been one of the biggest proponents of the 'Love Jihad' conspiracy.

Despite several investigative agencies including the NIA said that there is no evidence to suggest that there is an organized 'Love Jihad' in the country, the Catholic Church has repeatedly said that it was a reality.

AFP

Last year, the Synod (meeting of the bishops of the Church) in Kerala had claimed that incidents of so-called "love jihad" are increasing in Kerala and they pose a danger to the secular harmony and social peace of the state.

BCCL/FILE

The church has alleged that an increasing number of girls from the community are getting married to Muslim men and converting to Islam.

The Church had even alleged that girls who are converted then end up in terror camps in Syria and Afghanistan.

According to the church, among the 21 people who had joined ISIS from Kerala, around half of them were Christians, before they converted and got married.