The raging controversy over ‘religious jihad’ took a new turn with a Christian priest cautioning the community against “Christian girls being systematically lured into love marriages by some Ezhava boys.”
The statement was made by Fr. Roy Kannanchira, who heads the Deepika Children’s League, at a training session for Catechism teachers.
A recent statement by Mar Joseph Kallarangatt, Bishop of the Pala diocese of the Syro Malabar Church, that extremists elements were using ‘love jihad’ and ‘narcotic jihad’ to lure away Christian girls had created a furore in the State.
According to Fr. Kannanchira, a priest of the Carmelites of Mary Immaculate congregation of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, the statement was made to highlight the fact that the marital life of many Christian girls, who married outside the religion, ended up in familial discord. The case of Ezhava boys was discussed when one of the participants at the meeting brought up the issue of nine Christian girls of a parish marrying Ezhava boys, he said.
The statement was not intended to show the Ezhava community in poor light, but to drive home the message that marriage was a holy sacrament and that the children from the community should pay heed to their parents while selecting their life partners, he said.
SNDP view
However, Vellappally Natesan, general secretary of the Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana (SNDP) Yogam, said
it was not the Ezhava community members who were converting the Christians, but it was the other way round.
“Several Ezhava community members were converted into Christianity in the past decades. Hundreds of Ezhava and Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe members had been converted into Christianity in the hill areas of the State over the years. The Christians, who constitute around 17% of the State’s population, grew in strength by converting people from other religions to their faith,” he said.
The economic backwardness of some community members was being exploited by some people with offers of free education, employment, housing and even money, said Mr. Natesan, while refusing to respond to the statements of the priest.
