As reports of Kannada actress Sanjjanaa Galrani, who was arrested earlier this week after the Bengaluru Police widened its probe into the illegal drug market, being secretly married to a Muslim doctor surfaced online, Kannada TV channel Suvarna News took the opportunity to give the event a communal spin, terming the episode as ‘Love Jihad’ and ‘Drugs Jihad’.
Suvarna News editor and well-known right-wing hate monger Ajit Hanamakkanavar aired a program on Saturday, in which the channel interviewed Hindutva extremist and Sri Ram Sene chief Pramod Muthalik, who alleged that Sanjjanaa was a victim of ‘Love Jihad’, and was part of a larger conspiracy led by Muslims.
‘Love Jihad’ is a hate campaign and false propaganda run by anti-Islamic forces claiming that Muslim men lure non-Muslim girls, and trick them into marriage and force them to accept Islam.
“After being lured into it, they are made to rub shoulders with Muslim actors. This process is a continuous one. This is an indirect war against Hindus. Apart from Love Jihad, we also have other forms of Jihad like Trade Jihad, Political Jihad, Finance Jihad and Drug Jihad,” said Muthalik, whose associates were arrested in 2012 for hoisting the Pakistani flag on the mini Vidhan Soudha premises and then blaming it on the Muslims.
Muthalik, then went on to make wild and ludicrous claims that Dawood Ibrahim is the genesis of the entire ‘Love Jihad’ network.
The channel aired the interview without counter questioning Muthalik on his outrageous communal allegations and reiterated the same claims.
This is not the first instance when Suvarna News has aired news targeting Muslims and Islam. In 2018, the channel faced severe backlash after its hate-mongering editor made derogatory statements against the Prophet Muhammad on his show.
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Shaik Zakeer Hussain is the Founder and Editor of The Cognate.
