Marriage is a private enterprise

Marriage is a private enterprise

Rajasthan BJP chief Satish Poonia is quite the communist. His understanding of marriage as being ‘not just an individual choice, but also encompassing approval of religion and society’ is as good a promotion of the collective over the individual as any Stalinist’s. Don’t let his mention of religion make one think otherwise. It is about finding the notion of the private business of two partners unacceptable, and insisting that society at large — religion being one part of it — has to be an active stakeholder in any private enterprise.

Poonia’s ‘critique’ is specifically a defence of state laws being planned in Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka against marriage of Hindu women to Muslim men —the idea of such an activity followed by conversion to Islam being ‘foisted’ on Hindu women, or being ‘tricked’ into it, forming the pillar of this intended paranoia-fuelling law. In Article 25 and 26, the Constitution equally entitles all persons the right to freely profess and practise their religion, and manage their own religious affairs, so long as they stick to the law. The Special Marriage Act, 1954, allows two individuals irrespective of their faith(s) to marry, without renouncing their individual faiths if they choose.

There are too many instances of ‘community’ resistance to such legitimate, lawful unions leading to illegitimate, illegal practices like ‘honour killings’. It is the duty of the State to protect individuals against such mob sentiment presented under ‘our culture’, not to goad them on. A marriage is not a matter for a commune, khap, jamaat or tribunal; it’s a private matter between two people who seek, at best, society’s sanction. A senior member of a right-liberal party should understand that.