“Where society is cut asunder, marriage as a binding force becomes a matter of urgent necessity. The real remedy for breaking caste is intermarriage. Nothing else will serve as the solvent of caste,” Dr. B. R. Ambedkar wrote this in his speech ‘Annihilation of caste’.

For better or worse, these words by Ambedkar remain relevant in 2022, albeit the forms of these “intermarriages” are fast overlapping.

At the start of this year on January 22, an interfaith couple got married near Hyderabad. The husband Billipuram Nagaraju intended to convert to Islam as a way of convincing wife Syed Sultana’s family. However, this was not to be as in May the media reported how Nagaraju was allegedly killed by the family. The case was called an instance on honour killing wherein a Dalit man was murdered by the Muslim wife’s family.

The case became more gruesome as media reports (acknowledged even by the National Human Rights Commission) called the husband a Dalit. The victim of the brutal murder, 25-year-old B Nagaraju had married 23-year-old AshrinSulthana a.k.a. Pallavi on January 22 this year, after having known each other for years, stated news reports.

While the incident led to many heated discussions on whether Sultana’s brother allegedly killed Nagaraju due to his caste or religion, the incident also raises the question of whether caste does influence an interfaith marriage more than faith does.

Role of caste in interfaith unions

When asked her views on the issue, Muslim feminist writer Ghazala Wahabagreed that the two social elements of caste and faith hugely impact marriage. Further, she said a Dalit person is likely to be more at-risk of honour killings in such a situation particularly because of two layered aspects of Indian society.

“One is patriarchy. If you bring a woman from another background, the girl will convert her caste/ religion. But if a woman marries someone independently, it shows a will to exercise her opinion. Families can’t accept this move. So, if a girl marries without permission, then the couple is in danger. And if the person is Dalit then that risk increases manifold because of the overall social vulnerabilities of caste,” she said.

Taking the example of the Hyderabad incident, she talks about how the woman later tried to dismiss the cause of the killing being entrenched in caste. However, Wahab stressed that the person’s caste and religion are still equally important, especially considering the boy was willing to convert.

“Mostly conversion settles the issue. But here even that did not placate the family. So, the problem must be the caste. The reason may be that Muslims do not like to accept or acknowledge the caste reality. Muslims caste system is not pronounced as compared to Hindus. But in marriage this is often seen (and opposed) because marriage is a rigid system.”

Dhanak of Humanity Co-Founder Asif Iqbal emphasised that caste has an even greater role after marriage. For nearly 17 years, the organisation has been working on helping couples overcome social barriers, be it relating to caste, faith, stigma related to the LGBTQIA+ community. During this time, they have helped many people ensure a civil marriage via the Special Marriages Act (SMA).

However, of the 400 runaway cases the organisation received directly annually, at least 32 percent involve inter-caste unions. The rest are only inter-faith marriages.The organisation ensures that those seeking help follow due procedure under the SMA in availing a marriage certificate. Further, members ask people to remain in contact with Dhanak after marriage to ensure the family remains safe.

However, more often than not, Iqbal said that inter-caste couples lose contact with the organisation after marriage. As an inter-caste marriage is eligible for a religious marriage, many couples opt for that rather than waiting for the longer administrative procedure.

This is a cause for concern because the issue of caste is much more prominent in post-marriage situations where families either oppose the union or accept the couple but ask about caste.

“After marriage, a fear for life remains in both situations. Honour killings are common in inter-caste marriages especially in rural areas where the practice is less permissible than inter-faith marriages,” he said.

Generally, the issue is also female-centric where a woman’s caste is more important than the man’s caste. In such situations, the husband also has to be proactive about the family’s enquiries, said Iqbal.

Reforms to protect SMA unions

Wahab pointed out that while there are already laws to protect inter-caste and inter-faith marriages, the SMA still requires reform in certain aspects. For example, under the SMA there is a public notice issuance that threatens people’s anonymity.“Majority SMA couples have run away from home. So their information being on the public domain puts them in more danger,” she said.

Wahab also pointed out how there are biases in both Hindu and Muslim communities that people should only marry within their religion. Due to this, when SMA is not feasible, couples try religious marriages and temporary conversion. This further complicates matters for the young couples, she said, with questions of who will convert.

Love is most important

Dalit feminist writer Urmila Pawar said that more than anything, what determines the impact of these social differences are the persons involved in the marriage.

“Love does not see caste. But we live in a jaati-pradhan country. To an extent, it is true that each caste has a unique behaviour lifestyle. The success of a marriage depends on their resolve as well. A subconscious bias is always there. But people have to move forward believing humanity is the dharma,” said Pawar.

She pointed out that there are many issues that people face in marriage other than caste. However, a person believing in such an “unnatural system” will not be able to sustain the marriage.

Regarding the idea that people consciously marry outside their community, Wahabdimissed it saying such a thinking would support love jihad.“People marry for love. There are many cases like Hyderabad. One thing to consider is whom you can access. Some ask why do Muslim girls marry inside the community. This is because Muslim boys can meet non-Muslims at work and colleges. Girl Muslims do not have this exposure. School education is lesser, college education is lesser. The same logic applies with Dalits as well,” she said.

Related:

Hyderabad: Interfaith couple attacked, man stabbed to death!
Sheath the swords, while there is still time!
Should Arya Samaj unions come under the Special Marriages Act?
Conversion will not change caste of a person: Madras HC

The post The interplay of caste and faith appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Image Courtesy: The Hindu

In what can only be termed as an ingenious appeal, Ganesh Devy – Thinker, Professor and Cultural Activist started a fast to call in the attention of the youth of Maharashtra to move beyond caste and religion while considering marriage.

The fast, which lasts for 8 days, starting on Gandhi Jayanti, rests on a very unique condition. In this period, Professor Devy, 69, will not consume any solid food until he gets a commitment of a 100 people every day to join him in his movement against communalism. He promises to eat only if the criteria of a 100 youth committing to the cause is fulfilled every day, else he only survives on water.

His appeal is for fostering secularism and for a modern India and he says, ““We cannot create modern India as long as intolerance and violence in the name of caste and religion does not end.”

He also plans to ask the consenting young people, who associate with this movement, to assemble in Nagpur in the last week of December for a two day sammelan called ‘The Mainstream India’. He is confident of at least 15,000 – 20,000 people attending the event

An email id (rsd@beyondcaste.com) and a Google form (https://forms.gle/U25bdt4uysMYMDoj7) which has been made available for the youth to register with the movement, has already garnered 900 responses from the young people of India in just 2 days of its commencement.

Who is Ganesh Devy and what does he stand for?

Ganesh Devy, as most know him, is a literary scholar, cultural activist and institution builder. He is best known for the People’s Linguistic Survey of India, and is popularly called the ‘man who discovered 750 languages’. He is also the creator of the Adivasi Academy.

Back in the 70s, he along with his wife, Surekha, would set out on his scooter every Saturday morning to a neighboring village in Baroda, where he resided earlier. He visited the villages to understand the people and spend time with them. This absence of an agenda and belief in equality among people—nullifying traditional hierarchies between the observer and observed, scholar and subject—won him not only the trust but also the faith of Adivasis.

Ganesh Devy decided to shift base from Vadodara to Dharwad after the murder of MM Kalburgi. Kalburgi’s death was the last straw for Devy who was deeply disturbed by the killings of NarendraDabholkar and GovindPansare.

He has since taken the lead in many agitations of writers and thinkers with focus on pluralism and the right to free expression. He says that these values are even more threatened today when the makings of a modern India are threatened by forces of communalism.

On asking why he took up such an innovative movement, he said that he wanted the youth of the country to fly out of their cage. The youth, he said, were being trapped in the cages of caste and religion which was fanned by hate by extremist groups. He said that neither did he nor his family members and even his children pay attention to caste while deciding their marriages. They simply got into the union as ‘human beings’.

What His Appeal Is and What It Is Not

Ganesh Devy says that his appeal is a step towards change. He knows that even in this grim atmosphere of hate, people are capable of change. He believes that people are capable of love and compassion.

His appeal is not a political stunt or a media event. His belief ‘love is the true religion’ is the only message he wants to give the youth. He has stood by this principle his entire life and wishes to take this plea of humanity to the young people of India.

His only wish is to see a country that has risen above the shackles of caste and religion to achieve its true potential.

We, at Sabrang India, stand with Professor Ganesh Devy in his noble movement. Do you?
 

The post “Go beyond caste and religion when you’re thinking of getting married”: Cultural Activist Ganesh Devy appeared first on SabrangIndia.