People come up with certain topics like this just before elections: Nusrat Jahan
Highlights
- Nusrat Jahan says people come up with topics like this just before polls
- Don't make religion a political tool, she adds
- The Trinamool Congress MP says "love is very personal"
Trinamool Congress MP Nusrat Jahan today said love and jihad don't go hand-in-hand and people come up with topics like this just before elections.
"Love is very personal. Love and jihad don't go hand-in-hand. Just before polls, people come up with topics like this. It is a personal choice who you want to be with. Be in love and start falling in love with each other. Don't make religion a political tool," said Ms Jahan in reply to question at a press conference in Kolkata.
The actor-turned-politician is married to businessman Nikhil Jain.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had recently announced that his government will enact a law to curb "love jihad" and forcible religious conversion.
Before this, the Shivraj Singh Chouhan-led BJP government in Madhya Pradesh had said the state would soon have a law against "love jihad". Karnataka has formulated a strict law against "love jihad".
The Home Ministry on February 4 this year clarified that the term "love jihad" is not defined under existing laws and no such case has been reported so far, including by central agencies.
Two cases from Kerala involving inter-faith marriages have been investigated by the National Investigation Agency, according to the Home Ministry.
The West Bengal assembly election is due next year. With 294 seats, a keen contest awaits the state as BJP is looking to wrest power from Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress.