New Delhi: Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan claimed on December 4 that people were marrying tribal women to purchase land and run for sarpanch posts and that this was an instance of ‘love jihad’.Addressing a gathering of tribal people on the death anniversary of tribal freedom fighter Tantya Bhil in Indore, Chouhan mentioned an unnamed community, called them “cheats” and said that if required, the existing state law against ‘love jihad’ would be made stronger.‘Love jihad’ is a term coined by Hindutva groups to claim an unfounded conspiracy of Muslim men attempting to convert Hindu women by marrying them. While the Union home ministry has said it has no record of any such cases, several Bharatiya Janata Party-run states have brought ‘love jihad’ laws. Madhya Pradesh was among the first.On paper, the Madhya Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act, 2021, prohibits conversion from one religion to another by use of misrepresentation, force, undue influence, coercion, any other fraudulent means, allurement, or promise of marriage.In his speech, Chouhan made no bones in equating this law with ‘love jihad’ – a term with does not find mention in the description of the law itself. He also did not mention a community by name but instead used the phrase ‘love jihad’, which is exclusively used by Hindutva supporters against Muslims.“Several people marry tribal women to purchase land in their names. This is not love. It is love jihad,” Times of India quoted Chouhan as having said.He then appeared to allude to the murder of Shraddha Walkar, whose live-in partner murdered her and disposed of her body in 35 pieces. Chouhan repeated a claim made by Hindutva social media participants and mainstream media – that this was a communal crime.“I will not allow this game of ‘love jihad’ to continue in the state. Someone cheats our daughters in the name of love, marries them and cuts them into 35 pieces. Such acts will not be allowed in Madhya Pradesh,” the MP CM said.The news agency PTI had the following quote from Chouhan’s speech.“If needed, the law regarding ‘love jihad’ will be made stronger so that none of the culprits go unpunished. It has been seen that some people marry tribal girls and their aim is to grab their property. The religious freedom act will be made stronger to check incidents of men marrying tribal women for grabbing the latter’s family land. It will stop love jihad aimed at grabbing their land,” he said.Last month, listening to no fewer than seven pleas against this law, the Madhya Pradesh high court called a mandatory provision within it, as per which the district magistrate must be informed before a person converts, as ‘unconstitutional’.If Chouhan had data or evidence to prove that select communities were targeting tribals this way, he did not reveal it in the speech. Last year, The Wire had reported that sitting BJP MLA from Madhya Pradesh’s Sidhi district had been accused of grabbing 17.41 acres of land worth crores of rupees from a family belonging to the Gond tribal community.Earlier this year, a tribal woman was reportedly set on fire and thus severely injured in Madhya Pradesh’s Guna for resisting attempts by the group accused to encroach upon her family’s land.According to The Hindu, Rampyari Bai’s family alleged that they sought police protection in the past because of threats from the accused, but were not provided with security. Arjun Saharia, Rampyari Bai’s husband, had told The Hindu that he saw three fellow villagers — Pratap, Hanumat, Shyam Kirar — fleeing the spot in a tractor along with their family members. The Opposition had then accused the Chouhan government of not taking any action against them.According to TOI, Chouhan also called an unnamed community “cheats” and said they married tribal people to fight for the post of village sarpanch.“These cheats have devised many such ways to grab tribal lands. They marry tribal women only to fight elections for the post of sarpanch. The state will make laws to curb this,” Chouhan said.He then said that his predecessor, Congress’s Kamal Nath, had spread corruption. According to PTI, he said:“I’m the master trainer of Panchayats Extension to Scheduled Areas (PESA) Act. I am disseminating information about it in detail. This act will stop all such activities that are against the interests of the tribal community as many rights and powers have been given to the respective gram sabhas.”“The government has realised that just because the panchayats don’t have the access and control over revenue records, many influential people buy land in their areas in the names of their servants without their knowledge. To check this, their land documents will have to be kept in the gram sabha,” the chief minister said.On December 1, Chouhan made similar comments while calling for the Uniform Civil Code.(With PTI inputs)