Nupur J Sharma talks to Mr Salvatore Babones, an American professor from Sydney University about the charade of global rankings, Indian intellectuals being anti-India and how India is being vilified from within. Babones also talks about his Newslaundry interview and why it left him with a sour taste in his mouth. 

After CJI DY Chandrachud made comments talking about the Critical Race Theory and Intersectionality, OpIndia 's Nupur J Sharma talks to Rajiv Malhotra about his latest book, the dangers of Critical Race Theory as applied in India and the Snakes in the Ganga

On 18th May 2022, Aftab Poonawalla strangled Shraddha Walkar, chopped her body into 35 pieces and stored her body parts in a newly purchased fridge, so he could take his time to dispose of her body parts, one at a time. Reportedly, he used to look at her severed head often, hitting it, displaying rage even after he had murdered and brutalised her. He had a history of abusing her, but Shraddha did not walk away – like many victims of intimate partner violence. Her parents, who were against Shraddha marrying Aftab because he was a Muslim, were abandoned by Shraddha so she could be with the man who eventually murdered her.

It was on the 12th of November that the police managed to nab Aftab. Initial reports had indicated that Aftab was miffed with Shraddha for repeatedly asking him to marry her. It was only later that news emerged that Aftab was physically abusive towards her for the past 2 years. In fact, chats suggested that Shraddha had confessed to her friend that Aftab might kill her.

So far, there is no evidence that Aftab’s religious identity played a role in this case in any manner. There have been no reports of forced conversion, him hiding or misrepresenting his religious identity to Shraddha at any point in time or Aftab harbouring any specific hatred towards non-Muslim women (specifically Hindu women) from a cursory perusal of his social media accounts. However, the fact that Aftab was a Muslim has been the subject of conversation among several Hindu circles with the Left decrying this conversation as usual.

While the Shraddha case was being reported in the past week, here are the cases that were documented by OpIndia with a religious angle, that hardly got spoken about:

18th November: Mehmood Khan posed as Raunak Chaurasiya to trap a Hindu girl, forcibly converted her to Islam and performed Nikah, arrested: Details

19th November: Bihar: Already married Taufiq pretends to be Raj to marry Julie Kumari; asked her to convert to Islam after his identity became known

19th November: Madhya Pradesh: Muslim man arrested for forcing Hindu wife to convert to Islam, woman says he was also harassing her for dowry

19th November: Maharashtra: Sana lures Dipak Sonawane, her family circumcizes Dipak, extorts Rs. 11 lakh, torture him for more than two years, AIMIM leader named too

While the Left has decried the conversation about Aftab’s Muslim identity, can one truly blame Hindus for being jaded or talking about the religious identity of Aftab? Be that as it may, it is also important for Hindus to categorise cases adequately, even when emotions run high, in order to not dilute our own cause.

To that end, today, Swati Goel Sharma, a journalist with Swarajya Magazine and I will be discussing the contours of Love Jihad as it is popularly called, the kind of cases we have often seen, the problems that we face while covering such cases and what the society at large can do to mitigate the threat that is claiming the lives of Hindu girls.

Some reading pertinent to the podcast:  1. https://www.opindia.com/2020/11/opindia-to-use-grooming-jihad-instead-of-love-jihad-here-is-why/

2. https://www.opindia.com/2019/12/intersectionality-muslim-criminal-must-be-identified-if-victim-hindu-woman/

3. https://www.opindia.com/2022/11/shraddha-murder-why-some-see-religious-angle-cant-just-be-dismissed-bigotry/

4. https://www.opindia.com/2022/06/islamophobia-does-not-exist-time-to-push-for-politically-incorrect-reality/