Mar Joseph Kallarangatt, Bishop of Palai, has publicly accused a section of the Muslim community of targeting Christians through ‘love jihad’ and ‘narcotic jihad’.
Addressing the laity on the occasion of the Eight-day lent of Mary, the Bishop urged Christians to be conscious of the pitfalls in “befriending people from other communities”, reports The Hindu.
The statements have upset Muslim groups and activists in Kerala.
Students Islamic Organisation, a Muslim student body, have filed a complaint against the Bishop to Chief Minister of Kerala, Pinarayi Vijayan and police Chief.
SIO Kerala president, Amjad Ali, accused the Bishop of igniting “communal enmity” and peddling the “Hindu nationalist agenda”.
Girls ‘brainwashed’
In the speech, uploaded by Mediaone TV, the Bishop claimed that some Muslims want other communities to be destroyed or converted by “any means necessary”.
“They are highly trained to lure girls,” alleges Bishop Joseph.
To back his claims, Bishop asked how Nimisha Fathima, formerly Nimisha and Ayeisha aka Sonia Sebastian, ended up at the terrorist camps. He also pointed out the statement by the former State police chief, Loknath Behra, that Kerala had become a hotbed of terrorist sleeper cells and a ‘recruiting centre of the terrorists’.
He said Jihadists have traps at all common places like schools, colleges and restaurants.
“Those who say there is no love jihad have their ulterior motives,” Bishop also slammed some media for turning a blind eye to the “reality”.
“It’s not love. It’s a warfare to destroy”.
Regarding the “narcotic jihad that is drug jihad,” the Bishop said the rising number of drug cases were a pointer to the practice’s existence.
“Extremist groups are operating out of ice-cream parlours, and restaurants. They use drugs as a tool to destroy non-muslims. These facts are reinforced by the rising cases of rave parties and the people behind it,” noted the bishop.
This is the first time that the head of any Catholic diocese has directly named Muslims of “Love Jihad”
