Saif shrugs off ‘love jihad’ notion

Actor talks about what he perceives as unfair targeting and his daughter’s entry into Bollywood

Saif Ali Khan’s marriage with Kareena Kapoor Khan has often raised eyebrows among Hindu nationalist groups, apprehensive about the rampancy of love jihad, the alleged practice of Muslim men marrying non-Muslim women to convert them to Islam. In a recent interview with NDTV, Saif spoke about what he perceives as unfair targeting, along with his daughter Sara’s entry into Bollywood and the ongoing ‘ban politics’ in India.

The actor clarified that he tied the knot with Kareena under the Special Marriage Act. On the subject of love jihad, he said, “No one converts and, even if they did, why should it be a problem, really? God knows, who somewhere gets offended, and starts a chain reaction.”

In January, right-wing Hindu nationalist group Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s women’s wing, Durga Vahini, used a morphed picture of Kareena, showing half her face covered with a burqa, captioning it “Conversion of nationality through religious conversion.” The picture gave rise to speculation about whether Kareena, a Hindu, had converted to Islam to marry Saif, a Muslim.



Although Bebo had chosen to remain silent on the conjecture, Saif had vocally criticised the campaign. Kareena chose not to change her religion, post-marriage. A similar controversy had arisen in the same month, when the political party Hindu Mahasabha had challenged actors Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan and Saif Ali Khan to convert to Hinduism if they “really love their wives.” All three actors are married to Hindu women, none of whom have converted to Islam.

Of his daughter Sara’s plans to enter the industry, Saif stated, “Yes, she wants to join films, but, currently, she is at Columbia and doing very well, and I want her to focus on her studies.” Referring to the current ‘ban politics’ in India, Saif said the government has been great for the Indian economy but added, “They have a task ahead in dealing with certain sections, which seem to be taking the role of moral guardians. That’s what I wait to see.”

Published in The Express Tribune, April 26^th, 2015.

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