Mumbai: Vishal Vimal, a Pune-based social worker working with the Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmulan Samiti, has helped facilitate 18 interfaith marriages in the last six years.
Intercaste and interfaith couples approach the organization seeking help. “Many of their parents are against their union,” Vimal said.
“We check whether they are really in love or if it is just infatuation. We provide some counseling and make sure they will be able to live independently,” he said. The organization then helps inter-faith couples to register their marriage under the Special Marriage Act.
Vimal himself is married to a Muslim woman since 2016. However, in his case, the marriage was blessed by both the sets of parents.
Focus on interfaith marriage and ‘love jihad’ after Maharashtra deaths faith walker And actor Tunisha Sharma last year, however, left Vimal worried. He said that this is being done to polarize the votes.
Maharashtra cabinet minister Girish Mahajan on 25 December, Call Describing the alleged suicide of Tunisha Sharma as a case of ‘love jihad’, he said that the state is planning to enact a law against it. comment was followed to arrest Actor Sheezan Mohammad Khan accused of abetment to suicide
Maharashtra’s Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has also said several times in the past that the government is considering enacting a law against love jihad. “Other states have enacted stringent laws to curb such cases and hence Maharashtra is ready to enact a similar law to ensure the safety of women,” he added. Told In the state assembly on 20 December.
According to political analyst Hemant Desai, earlier Hindu-Muslim tension was seen only in some parts of the state, but with recent incidents, communal lines are being drawn across the state.
Earlier in December, the Shinde-Fadnavis government in the state to establish A committee to gather information about intercaste and interfaith couples, and to inquire whether the women involved had separate families. However, after facing backlash over the committee “promoting the caste system”, the government amended its scope to include only inter-religious marriages.
On 14 December, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Jitendra Awhad tweeted that the formation of the committee was an “anti-constitutional” and “abhorrent” move.
What the hell is this committee to inquire into inter-caste/religious marriages? Who is the government spying on who marries whom? This is a regressive, nauseating move in a liberal Maharashtra. which way is progressive #Maharashtra Heading towards Stay away from people’s private life. pic.twitter.com/pnjwNjE6Rt
– Dr. Jitendra Awhad (@Awhadspeaks) December 14, 2022
Ambadas Danve, Leader of the Opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Council and a member of the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), told ThePrint that flouting the ‘love jihad’ law is a politically motivated move by the BJP.
“Once the law comes, we will study it. If the couple is deliberately going for these marriages then why oppose it?” He said that forced conversion should be with certain conditions.
Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant told ThePrint, “The state government shows utter disrespect to the Constitution. This law will be anti-women as it takes away their right to choose. This is an anti-India view.
Political experts say it sets a dangerous precedent and further divides people on communal lines.
“The government got these two cases [Shraddha and Tunisha] Serving up on a platter for the BJP to push its agenda. They are creating a story that divides the public on communal lines,” said political commentator Pratap Asbe.
Flavia Agnes, women’s rights activist, and lawyer in the Bombay High Court, called the Interfaith Marriage Committee “absurd”. “They claim to protect women against domestic violence, but this is prevalent in all types of marriages, not just interfaith marriages,” she said, adding that such laws would only harm Hindu women and their right to choose.
Read also: There is a new area of ’Love-Jihad’. With Jharkhand murder, it has entered the tribal belt
political mileage?
Some believe that the BJP is using these two cases to portray the opposition as anti-Hindu, especially the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray).
Hemant Desai said, “BJP is trying to portray Uddhav Thackeray as a person who is anti-Hindu and moving closer to NCP and Congress.”
Asbe believes that while the BJP is trying to gain political mileage, the BMC elections will be fought on BMC issues and not on communal lines. “More than the success rate, this is being done to stir up the communal pot in Maharashtra,” he said.
Desai said earlier there were only a few areas in the state like Aurangabad, Malegaon and Bhiwandi where Hindu-Muslim tension prevailed, but by using these cases the government was trying to establish a uniform narrative across the state.
This was observed when Kolhapur, which according to Desai had ceased to be historically communal, was Location Marches were taken out on Monday by Hindu organizations against ‘love jihad’, alleged illegal conversions and cow slaughter.
He said that BJP would like to contest elections on this issue in future.
(Editing by Therese Sudeep)
Read also: Maharashtra Interfaith Marriage Panel Not About Love Jihad But To Help Women: Minister Lodha