Love is a beautiful feeling that liberates the world from the constraints of life. Love sees no boundaries; it is beyond the limits of society. These are such consoling words if they are being read, but when it comes to applying them in real, love becomes a big issue in our society! Our society turns out to be extremely conservative while talking about emotions like love.
Love has always been the reason of concern for some orthodox sections of our society who have criminalized such a pious feeling in the name of traditions. There was a time when even talking about love was treated to be no less than a sin! Even though there has been a substantial change in this conservative thinking, love is still targeted by linking it with other societal issues! One such issue that has been storming the society is that of “Love Jihad”.
What is Love Jihad ?
If you have begun to wonder as to what a Muslim term like Jihad has to do with our society, you may be astonished to know its growing impact in different parts of the country. Jihad, which means duty in Islam, is being associated with love to talk about the inter-faith marriages taking place between Hindus and Muslims.
In an explicit way, the term “Love Jihad” refers to an allegation coined by Hindu hardliners wherein the Muslim men are apparently using love tactics to entice Hindu women in the trap of conversion! Religious groups have been raising their voices against this practice for years now. Not only are they hindering inter-faith marriages, but are also raising hurdles in love marriages because they believe that Muslim men might pretend to be Hindu to weave a web for the women.
Love Jihad has unfortunately become a raging issue troubling the equanimity of India. It is no longer limited to the concerns of the religious groups but has eventually reached up the national level. Several political parties have politicized the concept of love marriage to target the religious sentiments. Unrealistic and unacceptable orders are being passed to curb inter-faith marriages.
Muslim men are being segregated to keep them away from maintaining any kind of a relationship with Hindu girls. In fact, these prohibitions have also put at stake the freedom of choosing the life partner for oneself. To a larger context, this whole issue is also being seen as a way of curbing the freedom of women in a patriarchal society.
Love Jihad – Threat to secularism
Religion, caste and creed have been the basis of differentiation in our society from time immemorial. Every sect looks down upon the people of the other sect and tries to over-rule the other’s individuality. The issue of inter-faith marriage is a big hurdle that continues to divide the nation into smaller fragments. We may be one as a nation but when it comes to the connectivity amongst the different religions, we totally fail to stand united!
The secularity of the nation comes to a breakdown when issues like “Love-Jihad” raise their heads in our society. Where on one hand, India has been deemed as the potential superpower of the world, on the other hand the country is stuck up with resolving petty issues! No matter how developed as a nation we are, there hasn’t been much of development in the mind-set of the people.
Whether this concept is actually a voice against the conversion of Hindu women or simply a medium of restricting the women continues to be a debatable issue for the Indian society!
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