People's Democracy

AIDWA Decries Communalisation Of Inter-Religious Marriages  

AIDWA president and general secretary have issued the following statement on April 18, 2007 in New Delhi  

THE AIDWA strongly condemns the attempts being made in the recent past by the Sangh Parivar to communalise the issue of inter-religious, self-choice marriages. The harassment of couples who have chosen to marry across religions in Surat, Gujarat, and Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh by the BJP governments in both states is violative of the Constitution and indicative of their communal and fascist nature. Not only have the young couples had to leave their home-states but, at least in MP, their family members have been threatened and harassed by the police and the henchmen of the Sangh Parivar.   

It is important to note that these events are taking place at a time when the BJP has released a most objectionable CD as part of its election campaign in UP which depicts the most inflammatory scenes of Hindu girls being lured away and then being forcibly converted to Islam by Muslims disguised as Hindus. The speeches of BJP leaders in this campaign have also been directed at arousing communal passions and hatred against the minorities.  

AIDWA calls upon the women of India to uphold their right to self-choice marriages and also to condemn all efforts being made to infringe upon their basic rights, including their right to dress as they please, to use mobile phones, to move around freely etc. It is shocking that self-styled “Saviours” of Hindu women have had the audacity to approach the governor of Madhya Pradesh to demand that the minimum age of girls marrying out of their religion be raised. The state has a very large incidence of marriages of minor girls but this is of no concern to the Sangh Parivar, its government and its goons.  

AIDWA commits itself to an uncompromising struggle against communal forces hell-bent on destroying the social fabric and on demeaning the status of women.