By Team Clarion
NEW DELHI — A disturbing campaign has emerged in the Madhya Pradesh city of Indore where the son of a senior Bharatiya Janata Part (BJP) leader and former mayor, has reportedly been visiting shops in several markets asking traders to remove Muslim salesmen from their jobs.
The BJP leader’s son, Gaur, visited the city’s historic and the busy area, claiming that Muslim men working in shops were involved in so-called ‘love jihad’. He told shopkeepers to dismiss their Muslim employees immediately and to refuse hiring any Muslims in the future, reports reaching here said on Friday.
“This is nothing but open hatred,” said Abdul Rahman, a garment shop owner in Indore. “We have Muslim and Hindu staff working together peacefully for years. Calling every Muslim a ‘jihadist’ is poisoning minds for politics.”
Gaur’s statements have drawn sharp criticism from Muslim community leaders and rights activists, who say such remarks place innocent Muslim youths at risk. They accused him of spreading baseless fear to polarise Hindus and gain political mileage.
Community activist Shabana Ansari said, “These leaders are trying to portray an entire community as criminals. First, they talk about love jihad, then land jihad, then UPSC jihad. This is just a strategy to create fear and divide people.”
Activists say this pattern of accusing Muslims of imaginary ‘jihads’ has become common in political speeches. Terms such as ‘love jihad’, ‘land jihad’ and ‘population jihad’ are being used to build suspicion towards Muslims in general, reports said.
This story was originally published in clarionindia.net. Read the full story here.