From Hindus To Muslims, All Do Inter-Faith Marriages, ‘Love Jihad' Only A Ruse
Amid a sudden uproar over 'Love Jihad’, which many claims has become a menace in India, many BJP governments are preparing to bring a law against it. It is being said that Muslim men by changing their identity trap Hindu women into marriage with an aim to convert their religion. It is part of a larger framework. However, no data in this regard is available with the government.
The fact is that the law of the country allows two adults to marry without any hindrance. For this, the 'Special Marriage Act' remains in force. Since 2004, Dhanak, a Delhi-based organisation which offers aid in inter-caste and inter-religious marriages, has so far received thousands of cases. The statistics of this institution clearly show that there is nothing like 'Love Jihad' in the country.
Between December 2012 and September 2020, of the 1778 girls who approached 'Dhanak' to get married in other religions, 53% were Hindu girls, 39% Muslim, 4% Christian and 3% Sikh. Nothing unusual appears from these figures, nor does any pattern emerge. It is also not the case that inter-religious marriages have started happening recently. The fact is that wherever youth have the right to choose a life partner, they do such weddings without hesitation. Given the state of Indian society, such marriages are rare anyway. A study titled ‘Dynamics of inter-religious and inter-caste marriages in India’, using data from the third round of the National Family Health Survey 2005-06, states that only 2.1% of marriages in the country are inter-religious. According to the study, the highest number of inter-faith marriages occur in the northeastern states of Arunachal (9.2%) and Sikkim (8.1%) and the lowest in the country in West Bengal (0.3%) and Jammu and Kashmir (0.7%). The reason is that women in the Northeast states have more freedom than other states of the country, due to which these states top in the list of inter-faith marriages. Now cheating is also present among marriages of the same faith. There are already legal provisions in the case of forced conversion and cheating. So does the government want to use 'Love Jihad' as a ‘ruse’ to divert attention from the crumbling economy and other issues? It seems like this.
Between December 2012 and September 2020, of the 1778 girls who approached 'Dhanak' to get married in other religions, 53% were Hindu girls, 39% Muslim, 4% Christian and 3% Sikh. Nothing unusual appears from these figures, nor does any pattern emerge. It is also not the case that inter-religious marriages have started happening recently. The fact is that wherever youth have the right to choose a life partner, they do such weddings without hesitation. Given the state of Indian society, such marriages are rare anyway. A study titled ‘Dynamics of inter-religious and inter-caste marriages in India’, using data from the third round of the National Family Health Survey 2005-06, states that only 2.1% of marriages in the country are inter-religious. According to the study, the highest number of inter-faith marriages occur in the northeastern states of Arunachal (9.2%) and Sikkim (8.1%) and the lowest in the country in West Bengal (0.3%) and Jammu and Kashmir (0.7%). The reason is that women in the Northeast states have more freedom than other states of the country, due to which these states top in the list of inter-faith marriages. Now cheating is also present among marriages of the same faith. There are already legal provisions in the case of forced conversion and cheating. So does the government want to use 'Love Jihad' as a ‘ruse’ to divert attention from the crumbling economy and other issues? It seems like this.
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