A YouTube music video where a singer raps asking women to "stay away from Muslim boys" was released just days after the news of 27-year-old Shraddha Walkar's murder broke. With photos of women who are allegedly victims of 'Love Jihad' in the background, the song has garnered nearly 5K views on YouTube in the last three days.
"Aise kahin Aaftab hamari behen betiyaan tab tak fuslayenge...jab tak hum in jaison ko zinda nai jalayenge (many such Aftabs will trick our daughters and sisters...till we burn them alive)," raps Roy Razneesh in the song. In the next line, Razneesh sings, "Sunlo meri beheno zara, yeh sab inki chaal hai. Jaago neendon se, socho zara, yeh geet likha hai kyunki mujhko tera hi khayal hai (Hear me out my sisters...this is all their trick. Wake up, think, I write this only because of worry for you)".
Aftab in the song refers to Aftab Poonawala who has been accused of killing his partner Shraddha Walkar, chopping her body and storing it in the refrigerator, and later disposing of the parts in Mehrauli in Delhi.
The song called 'Love Jihad Awareness' written by Anuj Mithilawasi, sung by Roy Razneesh and produced by music company Yajoop Music was released as the gory details of the murder started being reported. It is one of the many songs on 'Love Jihad' that have dropped on YouTube over the last few days.
Razneesh Roy told BOOM that the news of Shraddha's death disturbed him so much that he had to do something. "I have been creating music for the last three to four years and I decided to use my music to spread the message." When asked what his message is exactly, he said, "To fall in love and marry with your parents' consent".
The 21-year-old from Darbhanga in Bihar, said, "I am not against any religion in my song. But if you look at the news, you will see that the accused in most rape cases, cases where women are tricked into marriage are Muslims, and the victims are Hindu girls. Now if the accused is named Abdul, then what else will you call him but a Muslim?"
On the question of what is 'Love Jihad', Razneesh said that he believes whenever a Hindu girl is tricked into marrying a Muslim man, it is a case of 'Love Jihad'. The term has been used by Hindu right-wing groups to propagate the conspiracy theory that Muslims are forcibly or fraudulently converting Hindu women on the pretext of marriage.
"Any two people can fall in love. But why will any responsible Hindu girl want to be with a Muslim when she knows her parents will never agree to their relationship? That is why it is obvious they are getting tricked into such things," he said.
Narrating his story, the 21-year-old said that he was in love with a girl from the Rajput caste but her parents refused to let them get married as he is Brahmin. "The girl agreed to her parents' decision and did not ask me to elope with her or go against their wishes. This is how Hindu girls and boys are. So if someone is going against their parents' wishes, that means they are being tricked."
The poster of the song shows a woman- half of her face in a red and green traditional dupatta on her head with a maang tikaa, a bindi and lipstick and the other half has her covered in a black hijab with the bindi, maang tikaa and lipstick fading.
The graphics in the video includes Shraddha Walkar's photo, a fridge, and photos of multiple women, all of them apparently victims of 'Love Jihad'. The women's names are put below their photos. It also has the names of the men they were in love with, or so the video claims. All the men named are Muslims.
BOOM tried to find out if there is any verifiable news published on these women or these instances of' Love Jihad'. We ran a search for the names mentioned and found that while most of the women included are deceased and the accused Muslim men, there is no verifiable report stating the cause as a relationship between them or the angle of 'Love Jihad' as alleged.
Additionally, a photo of a woman included in the video as 'Kajal' is in fact Ramsha from Uttarakhand who was murdered by her boyfriend Rashid. BOOM had in March 2022, debunked viral posts when the same photo was viral with fake claims that she was a Hindu girl murdered by a Muslim man. We had then contacted Uttarakhand police who confirmed that the victim and accused were both Muslims.
BOOM has debunked several pieces of fake news around alleged cases of Love Jihad. Read here
While the graphics change, Razneesh raps in Hindi, "...kabhi bhuka rakhte din bhar, aur kabhi gaay ka maas khilate..." then adds, "aise kahin aaftab hamari behen betiyon ko tab tak phuslayenge, jab tak hum in jaison ko zinda nahi jalayenge (They (Muslims) sometimes starve them (Hindu women) to death and sometimes feed cow's meat...many such Aftabs will trick our sisters and daughters, till we take action and burn these men alive)."
Anuj Kumar Jha, the lyricist of the song told BOOM that he wrote it in less than six hours.
"I am always worried about the girls in our community who are falling victim to these tricks. The news about Shraddha Walkar and her plight at the hands of Aftab really disturbed me. That is why it was so easy to write this song so quickly," Jha explained.
The 24-year-old from Darbhanga who is pursuing an MBA degree goes by the name of Anuj Mithilawasi on social media. His Instagram profile shows him posing with local Bharatiya Janata Party and Akhil Bharatiya Vidyatarthi Parishad members.
The inspiration for the song may have been Shraddha Walkar's murder case, but Jha says, "These things happen to women who are made to believe in love between inter-religious people. There is no law to stop this, no rules to protect Hindu women and all women against such cases," he said.
Incidentally, various states including Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh have brought in anti Love Jihad law in the last few years to curb what the governments deem "forcible and fraudulent religious conversion through marriage." Several states in India have also introduced anti conversion laws and added amendments to existing ones to introduce clauses against marriage between inter-faith couples. One of the first states to introduce such a law was Gujarat in 2003 when Narendra Modi was the state Chief Minister.
While Jha says all the accused in cases of atrocities against women are Muslims, he insists that the song is not to attack "one particular community". "The song is not an attack on Muslims. It is to tell people and especially women that there have been several cases of Hindu girls being duped and murdered by Muslim men and they should be wary," Jha said.
Multiple comments on the YouTube video of their song praise the lyrics and thank the musicians for their work.
Another song, again a rap by a Shubham Panchal who has over 1.44k subscribers on YouTube goes like this: "Samjhao ladkiyon ko jo hai inke pyaar mein, pyaar mein nahi beta, yeh karte vyapar hai...love jihad karke tumko yeh fasayenge" (Make the girls who are in love see sense. This is not love, they indulge in business, they will do love jihad and trick you...)
Panchal, whose video is more of a home production unlike Razneesh's one, also released the song on November 17, 2022. The YouTube channel which is named after him has dozens of videos on the topics of Hindutva and politics. In most of his videos, he is seen mocking Rahul Gandhi and Arvind Kejriwal and praising the BJP and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath. Some of his explainer videos include how Bollywood is ruining Hinduism and how youngsters are getting influenced by western culture of "same sex marriages and insulting parents".
On his social media accounts, Panchal calls himself a digital marketing professional working in Delhi. When contacted by BOOM, Panchal refused to comment on his motivation behind the song.
Another music video "Kisi Jihadi Ki Khair na hogi" (No Jihadi will be spared) with the tagline "35 ke badle 135" was released by a Varun Bahar referring to the reports that said Shraddha Walkar's body was chopped into 35 pieces was released on November 16, 2022. Produced by a company Awadh Music, Varun Bahar's YouTube channel has 3.55k subscribers.
The poster of the music video shows Bahar dressed in saffron, his fingers pointing at the screen. It has a picture of a smiling Shraddha and puts Aftab Poonawala behind bars. Bahar sings, "Maan le baat Hindu behena hamari...yeh toh jihadi, karenge kaataari (Pay heed to my words, sister. They are jihadis, they will cut you up...)" accompanied by peppy upbeat music.
Bahar told BOOM that the song is a dedication to Walkar and the dozens of Hindu women who are "losing their way". "This is what Muslims do, they kill our Hindu girls. All Muslims boys should be hanged to death," he said.
Over the last few days, several such songs have been posted on YouTube with the hashtag #LoveJihad.
Meanwhile, on Instagram, a month old song by rap artist 'Supreme Tiwari' has suddenly gained popularity, viral on audios for Reels. "Hinduon ke desh mein, naariyon pe khel hai...roz ki hai baat bacche Hinduon ke kho rahe, marti Hindu ladkiyan aur kayeen rape horahe...karne wala Shahrukh Bilaal jaise bhaand hai. (In the land of Hindus, there's a game against women...it is everyday news, Hindu children are going missing, Hindu girls are dying and many more getting raped...those doing the crimes are people like Sharukh, Bilaal)" goes the lyrics.
The song which was released weeks before Walkar's case came to light has been used in at least 100 publicly visible Reels on Instagram. All the Reels have the hashtag Love Jihad. A lot of them have Walkar and Poonawala's photos with details of their case from television and newspaper reports.
The rap artist 'Supreme Tewari' whose real name is Gaurav Tewari is a 24-year-old based in Delhi. Speaking to BOOM, Tewari who insists on being called 'Supreme' and not Gaurav said that he is glad people are using his song to talk about the "poison that Muslim men spread."
"Muslim men get paid to dupe Hindu women by making them fall in love with them, converting them and then killing them. All mosques pay Muslim men at least 10-15 lakh rupees per Hindu woman they dupe and kill," he alleged.
When asked where he got this information from, Tewari said that he saw the rate card on social media. The YouTuber was referring to an old viral fake image that claims Islamic State is paying Muslim men to convert women in India. BOOM has fact-checked the claim several times. Read here.
Tewari who claims to be self employed is part of a five-member artist group that write and produce rap songs. Some of their favourite topics are: Hindutva, Sanatan dharma, anti Gandhi and Nehru songs.
Filled with expletives, Tewari's 'Love Jihad' song has already gained over 18K views on YouTube. The rap written and sung by Tewari himself was recorded in their studio in Delhi. And is now available on all major streaming sites including Apple Music and Spotify.
The song has a line, "aayega jab mulla teri behen ko zinda gaad ne, karke thodi himmat lag jaana usko maarne" (When a Muslim comes to bury your sister alive, show some courage and start hitting him). Tewari says this line is the gist of his song and what he believes every Hindu in the country should do. "I have several cases against me in Delhi because I have never shied away from raising my voice for attacking Muslims. Whenever I meet Hindu families, I tell them they should always have weapons in the house. Everybody knows Muslims have weapons, it is time for us Hindus to pick them up too."
Tewari who brags about being friends with Ram Bhakt Gopal, the man who was caught brandishing a gun and firing at students at an anti-CAA protest in Delhi, said youngsters should join Bajrang Dal and RSS. "My team members and I work with the RSS. We also are with the ABVP. I have told my Hindu friends, that if they see any Muslim man around any Hindu girl, they should immediately attack him," he said.
The 24-year-old hopes his rap song convinces Hindu women to stop falling in love with Muslim men. "Girls should inform their families if there is any Muslim boy who tries to talk to them in college. We have enough Hindu men who will protect them, why do they need Muslim men?"