Khargone: Film director Sanoj Mishra has labelled the marriage of Monalisa Bhonsle—the young woman who went viral selling garlands and rudraksha at last year's Prayagraj Kumbh Mela—a case of "love jihad." He plans to raise the issue with Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav after meeting her family in Maheshwar on Sunday, March 15.
Bhonsle, from the nomadic Pardhi community in Maheshwar, MP, married Farman Khan on March 11 at Nainar Temple in Arumanoor, Kerala. She is currently shooting her Malayalam debut film Nagamma near Thiruvananthapuram.
Speaking to reporters post-meeting, Mishra claimed the family now sees it as "a well-planned attempt to trap the girl." He alleged certain organizations fund unemployed youths to target Hindu girls and "defame Sanatan Dharma." Mishra, who had cast Bhonsle in the lead role of his upcoming film The Diary of Manipur on religious conversion, said he and his "Sanatani ideology" were targeted. The entire episode appears to have been “written and executed like a script,” he added, questioning the Kerala wedding and claims of communal harmony: "Had the boy been Hindu and the girl Muslim, would it be promoted the same way?"
Family members, including Bhonsle's grandmother, aunt, younger sister, and uncle Vijay Bhonsle, expressed facing social humiliation. Vijay alleged she was born in 2009, making her a minor, with her age falsified in passport documents to legalize the marriage. Bhonsle, however, told Kerala media last week: "Reports of me being underage are fake and incorrect. I am 18 years old." A family member claimed Farman once called her his sister.
Local BJP leader Vikram Patel echoed that Bhonsle fell victim to a Kerala conspiracy, with legal experts now involved ahead of approaching the CM. Mishra vowed to pursue "justice."
The term "love jihad" is used by right-wing groups to describe alleged plots by Muslim men to convert Hindu women through relationships and marriage.
(Inputs from PTI)