The Supreme Court order asking Kerala girl Hadiya asking to continue her studies in Salem has not provided much respite to her as she needs complete freedom and wants to meet her husband. The 24 year old girl said that she was only asking for her fundamental rights. Hadiya wants to stay with a person whom she loves. Why has the largest democracy of the world denied liberty and fundamental rights to a married woman? The Supreme Court on Monday passed an interim order asking that “Hadiya be taken to Salem so as to enable her to pursue her internship/housemanship” in the homeopathy college where she was studying when she married Jehan. She alleged that her parents and relatives were compelling and making attempts to re-convert her. Parents also imposed several restrictions on Hadiya and they had issued statements that she was mentally unstable. They also didn’t allow her to watch television as she remained in dark about the incidents happening in the world.
Raksha Khadse, BJP MP said, “Couple go for love marriage but many of them lack maturity. Parents must create awareness among children about this and ask them to take informed decisions. They should have a frank discussion with children about this topic. There is nothing wrong with a person going for inter-religious marriage but it must be taken into consideration whether boy and girl are matured and will they face any problems after marriage.”
Advocate Rizwan Siddiqui, “If two people want to get married then religion should not cause hindrance to them. Religion is just a way of living. A person has a freedom to choose his or her religion. If a Muslim woman marries a Hindu boy and if she wants to follow Hinduism then it’s her wish. A person can go for inter-religious marriage as per the provisions laid down in Hindu Marriage Act and Muslim Marriage Act and there should not be any political intervention in it.”
Shaina NC, BJP spokesperson said, “National integration augurs well for India as I also had an inter-religious marriage. If a person is forced into marriage with wrong intentions then it is not right. Love jihad is a controversial topic. Hadiya has already said that she had adopted Muslim religion as per her wish and she was not forced to do so. We should believe in the statements made by Hadiya as she is an adult and capable of taking her own decisions.”
Teesta Setalvad, civil rights activist said, “We should support the verdict delivered by the Supreme Court in Hadiya case. If Hadiya has embraced Muslim religion then nobody can compel her to do what she doesn’t want to do. Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar had said that casteism can be abolished from India if people go for inter-religious marriage but how many people are willing to do so.”
