Filmmaker dubs viral Kumbh Mela girl’s wedding ‘love jihad’, plans to approach MP CM
Khargone (MP) (PTI): Film director Sanoj Mishra has claimed the marriage of Monalisa Bhonsle, the young woman who gained prominence during last year's Prayagraj Kumbh Mela, with a Muslim man is a case of "love jihad".
After meeting Bhonsle's family on Sunday, Mishra said he would take up the matter with Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav.
The term ‘love jihad’ is used by right-wing groups to allege a conspiracy by Muslim men to lure Hindu women into relationships and marriage to convert them to Islam.
Bhonsle, who is from Maheshwar town in MP and part of the nomadic Pardhi community, shot to fame after videos of her selling garlands and rudraksha during the 2025 Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj went viral on social media.
She married Farman Khan on March 11 at the Nainar Temple at Arumanoor in Kerala, according to her family.
Bhonsle is shooting in the southern state for her Malayalam debut movie ‘Nagamma’, which is being filmed near Thiruvananthapuram.
Talking to reporters after meeting her parents in Maheshwar, Mishra said he expected the MP government to take the matter seriously and that he was trying to secure an appointment with the chief minister to present the entire sequence of events along with the family.
He claimed the family now realises that it was “a well-planned attempt to trap the girl”.
Certain organisations fund unemployed youths to target Hindu girls to “defame Sanatan Dharma”. Bhonsle's wedding is 'love jihad', he charged.
Bhonsle had been selected for the lead role in his upcoming movie ‘The Diary of Manipur’, which deals with the issue of religious conversion, the filmmaker said.
Mishra alleged that he and his “Sanatani ideology” were targeted because of the film and that Bhonsle was brainwashed and trapped. The entire episode appears to have been “written and executed like a script”, he added.
The filmmaker also questioned why the wedding took place in Kerala. He said the relationship between Bhonsle and her husband was being portrayed as an example of communal harmony.
“Had the boy been Hindu and the girl Muslim, would the relationship have been promoted in the same way?” he asked.
During the meeting, Bhonsle's grandmother, aunt, younger sister and other family members said they were facing social humiliation due to the incident.
Her uncle Vijay Bhonsle claimed she was born in 2009 and was still a minor. He alleged that her age was increased in documents during the passport process, enabling the marriage to be projected as legal.
Monalisa Bhonsle, however, earlier said the reports of her being underage were “fake and incorrect. “I am 18 years old,” she told the media in Kerala after her marriage last week.
A family member alleged that Farman had earlier addressed Monalisa Bhonsle as his sister.
Local BJP leader Vikram Patel claimed that Bhonsle had fallen victim to a conspiracy in Kerala and said legal experts were being consulted before raising the matter with the chief minister.
Mishra said he would continue to raise the issue until “justice” was served.
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Allahabad HC orders FIR against Rahul Gandhi in dual citizenship case
Lucknow (PTI): The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court on Friday ordered an FIR be filed against Congress MP Rahul Gandhi in connection with an alleged dual citizenship controversy.
The bench permitted the state government to hand over the probe to any central probe agency after registration of the FIR.
The order was passed by a bench of Justice Subhash Vidyarthi on a petition filed by S Vignesh Shishir, who had challenged a January 28 order of a special MP/MLA court rejecting his plea for an FIR against Gandhi, the leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha.
The special court had earlier held that it was not competent to adjudicate on issues related to citizenship.
The petitioner, a BJP worker from Karnataka, had sought registration of an FIR and a detailed probe into the matter, levelling allegations against Gandhi under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), the Official Secrets Act, the Foreigners Act and the Passport Act.
The complaint was initially filed before the special MP/MLA court in Rae Bareli. However, on the petitioner's request, the high court transferred the case to Lucknow on December 17, 2025.
The MP/MLA court in Lucknow subsequently dismissed the plea on January 28, 2026, prompting the petitioner to approach the high court, which has now ordered registration of an FIR.
In its order, the bench said that from a bare perusal of the allegations, prima facie cognizable offences were made out against Gandhi and hence the allegations required to be investigated.
The bench said that the special court should have looked into whether the allegations prima facie made out any cognizable offences or not, but it failed to consider it.
Earlier, Deputy Solicitor General of India SB Pandey produced the central government's records in the court relating to the citizenship controversy surrounding Gandhi.
Government counsel VK Singh also consented on behalf of the UP government that the allegations prima facie made out cognizable offences.
After having a detailed hearing, the bench found that the material on records showed that Gandhi had committed "cognizable offences" in having dual citizenship, and these allegations required to be probed.
The petitioner has alleged that Rahul is a UK Citizen and incorporated a company named M/S Backops Ltd in August 2003.
It was further submitted that Gandhi categorically admitted and voluntarily declared his nationality as British, having a Director Identification ID and London and Hampshire addresses.
In his petition, Shishir claimed that Rahul submitted the company's annual returns in October 2005 and October 2006, listing his nationality as British.
Thereafter, the company was dissolved through a dissolution application in February 2009.
According to the petitioner, the material placed before the court includes records suggesting that Rahul Gandhi may have been listed as a voter in the United Kingdom and participated in electoral processes there.
During the course of the hearing, the high court earlier directed the Ministry of Home Affairs to place all relevant records, including classified documents, before the court.
