Barber shop forcefully shut down, accused of ‘love jihad’

A Muslim-owned unisex salon in Uttarakhand’s Rishikesh was forced to close before its official opening after a Hindutva organisation, Hindu Shakti Sangathan, accused it of “center of immoral activity.”

The incident occurred on Tilak Road on Thursday, September 30. The right-wing members raised communal slogans and demanded that all unisex salons across the state should be shut down.

Its president, Raghvendra Bhatanagar, accused Muslim barbers of ‘love jihad,’ and claimed that they lure “gullible” Hindu women and force them to convert to Islam.

“Boys from one particular community take the phone numbers of Hindu customers of these salons. They brainwash them, trap them with jihadi talk, and run away with them. This is a danger to our daughters and daughters-in-law,” he claimed.

‘Love jihad’ is a conspiracy theory that accuses Muslim men of intentionally and strategically alluring non-Muslim women with the intent to marry and “convert them” to Islam as part of an “Islamisation project.”

He also questioned why the majority of the salon workers were Muslims while Hindu women were appointed as assistants. “Why don’t they employ women from their own families? Why are only our daughters being dragged into this?” he asked, warning of a bigger movement on streets if salons continued their business.

Local barbers’ association have lent their support to the Hindu Shakti Sangathan demands and stated that unisex salons should not exist.

Muslims have expressed fear and anger, one claiming that one day, even selling tea will be termed as ‘love jihad.’

“This is a well-planned attack on Muslim existence. They want to choke every means of survival for Muslims, so that we either leave or live like slaves. The government is silently watching, if not actively encouraging this hate,” a Dehradun-based Muslim rights activist said.

This is not the first instance. Of late, many Muslim barbers owning unisex salons across Uttarakhand have become social targets for right-wing organisations.