A Conspiracy Of Jihads

A central tension runs through the Republic of India between its Hindu majority and Muslim minority. Due to this tension, conspiracy theories of a supposed ‘fifth column’ of India’s Muslim minority have developed, claiming that Muslims are working to carry out ‘Ghazwa-e-Hind,’ the Islamic conquest of India. Some Hindutva activists fear that Muslims seek to alter the demographics of India to gain economic ascendancy in the country. Across social media, false news stories are re-reported with a religious angle, and religiously and ethnically motivated disinformation is shared rapidly and in apparent coordination. The purported Muslim tactics identified by Hindutva activists are labeled as different forms of Jihad. In this report, we analyze on the spread of these theories:

• Love Jihad: The theory thatMuslim men maliciously seduce Hindu women to convert them to Islam and abuse them
• Population Jihad: Muslims seek to have as many children as possible to alter India’s demographics into a Muslim majority
• Land Jihad: Muslims are buying, claiming, or illegally building on land claimed to belong to Hindus
• Economic Jihad: Muslims own stores and dominate markets to threaten India and use their income to fund jihadism and anti-Indian activities