Muslims won't be allowed at Garba dance festival to stop love-jihad cases: BJP MLA Usha Thakur

Indore, September 10: In an attempt to avert cases of "love-jihad", a BJP MLA from Madhya Pradesh on Wednesday issued an order that Muslim men should not allowed in the upcoming Garba festival celebrations.

"When the going gets tough, the tough get going", the quote seems apt for Usha Thakur, an MLA from Indore since 2003, and state Vice President, who took to the 'communal' way to avoid any further cases of controversial and trending 'love-jihad'.

According to media reports, Usha is about to write to Garba organisers in Indore, asking them to stop Muslim men from entering the dance venues and seducing women.

The NDTV report quoted her as saying, "We have got data that during the Garba, on an average, four lakh girls convert to Islam every year. So we have started this awareness drive. It has been seen that people who have no faith or devotion to the festival put tilak and wear sacred thread and practice Garba and during that time woo our girls."

She was quoted by the Indian Express as saying, "If they (Muslim youths) want to take part in the festival, they should first convert to Hinduism. Muslim youths hoodwink the organisers by sporting tilak on their forehead and get inside the venue to mingle with Hindu girls. I am going to write to the organisers to insist on electoral identity cards for men and allow only Hindu men inside the venue."

If Muslims want to take part in festival, they should convert to Hinduism: MLA

Thakur is convener of an outfit called 'Samagra Kranti Chetna Manch' that has released leaflets listing 11 points on "maintaining discipline, culture and propriety" during the Navdurga festival, which begins later this month.

She also said that the "people will be allowed entry at the festival venue only if they will display their voter ID cards."

However, Usha's stern move has not been welcomed by the ruling party-BJP, who has already distanced itself from her diktat.

Meanwhile, the opposition Congress has slammed and condemned the controversial move of the legislator.

In last few days, there have been many cases of 'love-jihad' controversy, where Hindu women have been forced to convert to Islam.

On Saturday, Madhya Pradesh goes to bypolls apart from Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat.

OneIndia News