Laws to contain ‘love jihad’, protect customs of Sabarimala figure in NDA manifesto

A legislation to protect customs of Sabarimala hill temple and a special law to contain ‘love jihad’ figure in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance’s manifesto for the April 6 assembly elections in Kerala released by Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar in the state capital on Wednesday.

Like the ruling Left Democratic Front and opposition Congress-led UDF’s manifestos sops are plenty in the NDA manifesto also. Releasing it the Union minister said the NDA manifesto was progressive, dynamic and development-oriented. He said time has come to stop alternating two regimes in the state and there was enough scope for a third front this time.

Some of the promises include ₹5000 pension to the family if the main bread-earner falls sick or is unable to work and the landless among SC&ST communities will be given free title deeds to their land, six free cooking gas cylinders to economically weaker sections and free laptops to school students. It also promises housing, drinking water and power connections to all.

Other highlights of the manifesto include welfare pension to be raised to ₹3500, a strict ban on the ‘Nokku Kooli’ and ‘Attimari Kooli ‘ (militant trade union practices in Kerala). It promises eligibility test prior to the main public service commission examination to be stopped and Kerala Infrastructure Development Fund to be restructured in line with constitutional provisions and be subjected to audit of the comptroller and general.

The manifesto also said all temples in the state should be taken out of the control of government and they should be entrusted with believers, priests and religious leaders. A special legislation will be brought in to protect the age-old customs of Sabarimala. The temple witnessed unrest three years ago when the government tried to implement the Supreme Court verdict that removed bar on women of child-bearing age at the temple.

Similarly a special law will be introduced on the lines of BJP-ruled states in north India to contain ‘love jihad,’ an alleged practice of enticing Hindu girls feigning love and later converting them. The term was first coined in the state after 21 people from North Kerala disappeared in 2016 and was later believed to have joined the Islamic State in Syria. Among the missing three women and two men were converts from other religions.

“In Kerala many central programs have been hijacked by the Left regime and presented to people after making slight changes. Most of the programmes are known by other names to fool people,” the minister said adding in Kerala Congress and CPI(M) were sworn enemies but in West Bengal they are friends. “It is hypocrisy ‘Bengal mein dosti, Kerala mein kushti,” he said.