To Fight Against Love Jihad Girls Should Aware Of Their Rights And Empowerment

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has taken a new step towards"love jihad". According to the step, innocent gullible Hindu girls or women are tricked into marriage with  Muslim men and then forced to convert to Islam. Adityanath proposed that those who engage in "love jihad" must be prepared to die. It also believes that it has the right to step in to protect the women and honor the Indian tradition of marrying within one's own network. In other states like Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Haryana also similar laws are being considered.

Indirectly this is the promotion of honour killings. “Honour killings” occur when a woman is murdered for marrying someone from a family, caste, or religion that is unacceptable to her family or village leadership. Such murders are intended to avenge the purported dishonour caused to the family and to restore its “izzat”.

Women are not aware of their rights that have been given by the Indian constitution. It includes all the constitutionally guaranteed rights to social justice, liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship, and equality of status. India is a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Office of the High Commissioner, United Nations Human Rights Commission, 1989) that calls for “free and full choice” in decisions on when and whom to marry, and these practices also show that we do not honour this commitment.

As recently as 2015-’16, a state-wide survey by the Population Council reports that in UP itself, as many as 40% of young married women did not participate at all in the decision on when and whom to marry, while 51% simply acquiesced to their parents’ discussion. They just told that “he is from a good family” by showing a photograph of the groom, or felt it was their duty to obey their parents. While a few did have an opportunity to become acquainted with their husband prior to marriage, just 8% made their own decisions.

Women who reported that their parents had sought their consent were asked to talk about their role in marriage-related decisions. Responses included: “They asked me one day before the engagement whether I would like to marry him. I said I will accept their decision. I also said that in future if I have any problem with him they have to stand up for me.”

According to the typical traditions, marrying a man from an “unacceptable” family, caste, or religion – can be severe. There are also threats of resorting to legal action under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act or the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act that subvert young people’s exercise of life choices.

An under-age resident reported, "It was a love marriage. My parents lodged an FIR. They said that their daughter was manipulated and abducted by the boy, that he had forcefully taken their daughter with him. I was not willing to get married in the family in which they had fixed my marriage…. It was fixed without my consent, so then I had to run away…. We made a plan…. and then we eloped…. They (the parents) did not threaten me but they threatened him, saying that if we get married, they will kill him."

Another resident reported, "I used to talk to a boy on a regular basis. I told my brother that this is the boy I wish to marry. My brother told me that it is not possible, because it is a Hindu-Muslim issue…. One day, I saw that they were planning my marriage. So, I told my father about my affair; he was furious. I then told this to the boy, and he asked me what I wanted. I asked him to take me with him, anywhere. He agreed, and the next day we left. Later we received a phone call from my sister-in-law saying that a case had been filed against my husband…. She told us, ‘Your father-in-law has been arrested by the police, so come back here please.’ We went back and surrendered, and I was sent to the short stay home. My husband is in prison."

A mother in Rajasthan, "If a girl goes off with someone and gets married, we will have to hold our heads in shame. Our society will keep passing comments, I would be afraid of that. In our area, if a girl goes off with a boy (galat kaam), she will not be allowed back home, they will kill her, this happens among us, that is why we do not send girls out (Jejeebhoy, 2020)."

To create a new society it needs to vanish all of these. it needs a change. That change should be started from home. Beyond the home, the community leadership, teachers, and health care providers must be exposed to new ideas and to clarifying values about gender roles and their role in protecting the rights of women. Panchayati Raj system, Training for frontline health care providers, Training of teachers, training of elected representatives and so on would help to bring that change.