Accusing Muslims of committing ‘love jihad,’ saffron outfits in Uttar Pradesh’s Muzaffarnagar have warned them against applying “mehendi” on Hindu women’s hands on the occasion of ‘Karva Chauth,’ a popular Hindu festival where married women fast from sunrise to sunset for the safety and longevity of their husbands.
Hindu married women apply mehndi in colourful designs as part of the ‘Karva Chauth’ rituals, and nowadays most of the henna artists are youths from the Muslim community. This year, ‘Karva Chauth’ will be observed, primarily in north India, on Thursday.
Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and other saffron outfits have opened over a dozen centres across the communally sensitive district where women could get henna applied on their hands by Hindu girls.
“We have opened 13 henna centres…only Hindu girls are employed there for applying henna on the hands of our bahus (daughters-in-law) and daughters,” a senior district leader of the VHP said in Muzaffarnagar on Wednesday.
He said that the move would help check ‘love jihad’ and “conversion”.
“It has been observed that Muslim youths lure Hindu girls by becoming friendly with them while applying henna,” the leader said. He also warned that VHP workers would “'teach a good lesson” to Muslim youth found to be applying henna on Hindu women.
“We are keeping a watch on the main markets in the district…our workers will ensure that Muslim youth are not able to apply henna on Hindu women,” the leader went on to add.
District officials, however, said that they had no information about VHP’s “warning”.
“We will ensure that the law and order is not disturbed in the district,” a senior Muzaffarnagar district official.
In 2013, Muzaffarnagar had witnessed large-scale communal violence, in which 60 people were killed, and thousands others displaced.