Love Jihad works on both genders! Most of Bharat focuses on incidents of girls or women trapped-by-love into Islam by the ‘peaceful’ community. However, a startling incident in UP’s Hamirpur district reveals that Love Jihad has a Honeytrap Version 2.0.
Ashish Kumar Gupta is a senior revenue department officer. Until recently, he was the Naib Tehsildar in Maudaha, UP. Apart from this, he was a Hindu married man and a father of two. Currently, this government official is entangled in a web of a controversial tale of ‘Love, Sex, or Dhoka’?!! Let’s talk about the layers of this complex tale and its serious social and personal ramifications!
Love Jihad: The Dhoka Angle
Aarti Gupta, Ashish’s wife, claims that her husband was forced into Islam by his lover and her family!! After filing a complaint with the City Kotwali Police Station, she states that her husband has been missing for the past four months. This Hindu wife discovered her husband’s Dhoka and the Honeytrap Conversion through social media.
Firstly, she states that Ashish was in an extramarital affair with a ‘peaceful’ Rukhsaar for a while. Now comes the twist! She claims that Rukhsaar was a Love Jihad Honeytrap! Allegedly Ashish married Rukhsaar! Aarti states that her husband was probably coerced into converting to Islam to marry Rukhsaar under pressure. What is the proof for the alleged marriage or conversion? She discovered the clandestine union through social media platform pictures! It also explains her husband’s four-month absence from home.
Some reports claim that Ashish has been caught! While his Rukhsaar remains untraceable at the moment!
Love Jihad: The ‘Extramarital Love Triangle’ Angle
The illicit relationship between Ashish and Rukhsaar, unbeknownst to Ashish’s wife, adds a layer of personal drama to this illicit love story! Some believe that this is the classic tale of the “Extramarital Love Triangle.’ However, the socio-religious dynamics of UP cast an emotional shadow on the whole situation.
Some reports suggest that Ashish Kumar Gupta willingly converted to Islam. Unverified claims state that Ashish took on a new name of Mohammad Yusuf to marry Rukhsaar under Islam. Moreover, some locals claim to have witnessed him offering namaz at a local mosque in Maudaha. These statements conflict with the narrative stated by Aarti Gupta. However, the police are unable to verify these claims as yet.
Was this a honeytrap carefully laid to trap a married Hindu man? Was the man forced upon discovery of the illicit affair by Rukhsaar’s family? Or was this just a random Extramarital Love Triangle where the man illegally moved on in life?? The mystery can only be solved once the police give a formal statement on this!
The Legal Angle
The UP Police’s FIR names five individuals: Ashish Gupta, Rukhsaar, her father Munna, and Maudad’s local Maulvi Babu Aadhati. The charges on them fall under the ‘Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act’ of 2020. This Act aims to regulate religious conversions in the state. It ensures that any religious conversion occurs without coercion, undue influence, fraud, or allurement.
The salient features of this Act that apply to this case are:
- Advance Notice: Anyone desiring to convert voluntarily must provide a declaration one month in advance to the District Magistrate. This applies to both the converter and the convert. Obviously, this document is absent in the case of Ashish Gupta!
- Procedure for Conversion: The Act outlines a detailed procedure for religious conversion, emphasizing the need for voluntary consent. The person converting must declare that the conversion is not under any pressure, force, or allurement. Did Rukhsaar’s family force or threaten Ashish to convert? Or Did Rukasaar lure Ashish through love into Islam? The answer remains unknown to Aarti Gupta or the public.
- Penalties for Violation: The Act imposes penalties for violating its provisions. These penalties include fines and imprisonment based on the nature and severity of the offense. If Ashish faced force or allure; then the Maulvi, Rukhsaar, and her father face a grim legal future! If Ashish did this to legalize his illicit love affair, then he faces charges of marrying again during the lifetime of a spouse! Either way, someone will face legal consequences!
- Void Conversions: If a conversion is in violation of the Act, it is declared as void, and the person reverts to their original religion. Thus, no matter if Ashish sprung the honeytrap or was under force, the conversion is void!
The Sad Reality of Aarti Gupta
While the case of Ashish Gupta brings a new angle to Love Jihad, the biggest losers in this case are his legal spouse Aarti Gupta and her two children. There is no doubt that Aarti Gupta was betrayed in her marriage. Her husband was having an extramarital affair and has not returned home for the past four months. Was he threatened to leave his wife and family? No one knows for sure.
Ashish Gupta’s case stands at the intersection of personal choices, societal norms, and legal boundaries. Honeytrap Love Jihad or Extramarital Love Triangle?! Irrespective of the truth, Aarti Gupta and her children will be paying the highest price in this complex case. The only question that remains is, was Ashish physically or emotionally forced? As the investigation unfolds after Ashish’s arrest, the story serves as a point of reflection for all Hindus. When legal divorce is an option, why choose a clandestine marriage via conversion? Why place personal gratification over a righteous life with your legal spouse? Why put yourself in a position where you can be threatened by someone to the point of religious conversion?
Let this case be a lesson to all. Never place self before family! Sanatanis should never ignore the call of Dharma to step into the gray zone of ‘Peaceful Love.’ Their ‘peaceful’ idea of marriage is just a meeting of flesh bound by a kazi’s contract. Contrarily, the Sanatani concept of marriage is a binding of atman and karma. Thus, all Sanatanis should think twice before accepting their pseudo-modern versions of love, where partners and responsibilities are easily shed! Or else, they just might end up missing, threatened, absconding, or ignoring his legal duties like Ashish Gupta, ex-Naib Tehsildar of Maudad!