'Love jihad' is a social problem now embedded in religion: Uma Bharti

The Union Minister says shes doesn't want to comment further on this issue

Amid a raging debate over love jihad, senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and Union Minister Uma Bharti on Monday said it is was "social problem" which had now come into the ambit of religion, and that "solution" to it can be found only by parents concerned and religious leaders.

"Love jihad is a social problem which has now came into the frame of religion. I don't want to comment further on this issue," the Union water resources Minister said during her interaction with media in Siddhpur town of north Gujarat.

Love jihad is a term coined by some Hindu groups for alleged efforts to get non-Muslim girls to convert to Islam through love affairs.

The issue came to centrestage in recent by-polls in Uttar Pradesh where some BJP members of parliament (MPs) raised it aggressively.

Some BJP leaders from party-ruled states such as Madhya Pradesh, too, have raise the bogey of love jihad and demanded ban on non-Hindu youths from entering pandals meant for performing garba, a devotional dance in the praise of goddess Durga, in upcoming Navratri festival.