BJP supporters see ‘love jihad’ in Ghaziabad inter-religious wedding, create ruckus, disrupt traffic

Anas Salim, son of a Delhi University professor, married his girlfriend Priyanka on Friday after a six year-long courtship. When Anas’ barat came to Priyanka’s house in the posh colony of Ghaziabad, it received a grand welcome. Anas is a senior officer in a multinational company in Noida while Priyanka has completed MBBS and is now pursuing her Phd from Bengaluru. Amid the atmosphere of hatred and violence in the country, these two tied the knot legally under the Special Marriage Act in Ghaziabad.

Priyanka’s uncle says, “Both of them have been friends for years. Anas was ready to get married in a temple while Priyanka was willing to do a Nikah. Both of them respect each other’s religion. Anas knew the girl’s family well and visited them frequently.” People close to Anas say that this marriage did not take place all of a sudden. Priyanka and Anas first got to know each other well and then members of both the families started visiting each other.

The marriage was registered in Ghaziabad last week and the vidai ceremony was planned for Friday. But according to Ghaziabad SSP Harinarayan Singh, some BJP supporters opposed it and wanted to stop the ceremony forcibly. Raj Nagar is the poshest locality of Ghaziabad. During this disturbance, the SP City, Raj Nagar, Akash Tomar, reached the venue with police force from 8 police stations.

BJP supporters say that they were thrashed on orders of the SP. According to local residents, the BJP supporters tried to forcibly enter the bungalow. The police wanted them to stop. This entire protest was led by BJP city in-charge Ajay Sharma. He says, “This boy has trapped a Hindu girl of a well-to-do family in love and thus has done love jihad…today, the boy’s family had come to take the girl with them. We protested against it for the sake of protecting our religion. But the police thrashed us for this.”

He further added, “This is our government and I have complained to the Chief Minister about this.”

“After this incident, BJP supporters held up traffic on Hapur Road on National Highway which lasted for two hours. Later on, SSP Harinarayan Singh reached the spot and he gave us assurance that the matter will be investigated into, then the road was opened,” he added.

Ritu Khanna of Samajwadi Party told NH, “Two educated adults are getting married with their family’s consent and the BJP people are in a hurry to make India a Taliban regime.”

Later in the evening, the girl’s father submitted his statement against the BJP supporters to local CO Atish Kumar. No action has been taken on it as yet. After the whole ruckus, the bride and groom went to their new house amid tight security. UP MLC Ashu Malik says that this is a matter of heart. No one can do anything about it. But according to Balraj Dunger of the Bajrang Dal, this is not love but a trap. Had it been love, the groom would have refused to take a flat worth ₹one crore in dowry, he alleged.

(On request of the family members, names of the bride and the groom have been changed)