A question of faith

Religious fanatics are at it again — trying to stop inter-community marriages. But multi religious couples feel even love and marriage—is a matter of faith!

PAARTH JOSHI

Last week, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad called a bandh in Karjan, a town near Vadodara. The reason: a boy from the Muslim community had eloped and married a Hindu girl. The marriage angered the girl’s family and they set off to make sure the boy ‘divorced’ their daughter. But, it only made news when a few religious fanatics joined the procession to protect their religion by stating that the “trend of inter religious marriages,” must be stopped.

And so, we asked a few couples who had committed the ‘sin’ of marrying each other even though their religions were apparently not ‘compatible’, about the effects of such statements on society. Nuzhat and Amar Desai, who recently celebrated their 24th wedding anniversary, are predictably upset . “Such statements are irrational and instigate ill feelings among communities. We’ve lived happily as a couple for such a long time without any problems. Love and marriage are very personal issues where no interference from fanatics should be entertained,” says Nuzhat, a teacher.

Shafi and Meena Sheikh, who’ve been married for three years too feel that one shouldn’t pay any heed to such incidents. “Marriage is an institution which makes one happy. It’s all about adjustment with the other person. What could be a better way to forget differences and live happily?” says Shafi. But when it comes to the younger generation, such incidents only make them fearful. Anita Shah and Sadaf Vohra are in a relationship for a year but they’re not sure of marriage. “Such incidents only help strengthen orthodox mind-sets. I don’t know whether I’ll be able to marry Sadaf, maybe we would just end up as good friends,” says Anita.

A lesson to be learnt from those who’ve already walked the path?

(Names have been changed to protect identities)