Bar Muslims from entering Garba festival venues, says BJP MLA

, Sept 11: A BJP MLA in

has found a new way to combat love jihad.

Usha Thakur, on Wednesday said that she wants Muslims barred from attending "Garba", a Gujarati dance festival, held in October. Love Jihad, allegedly, is an Islamist strategy to convert Hindu women.

According to an NDTV report, Usha Thakur, who is also the BJP's state vice president, said that based on a meeting of intellectuals, she was planning to write to Garbha organisers in her constituency, asking them to stop Muslim men from entering the dance venues.

The opposition Congress has condemned Thakur's remarks while the ruling BJP has distanced itself from her controversial move.

"We have got data that during the Garbha, on an average, four lakh girls convert to Islam every year. So we have started this awareness drive," the report quoted her as saying. She asked the organisers to check the identities of people before allowing them inside the venues.

Oneindia News