Why are Indians against inter-community marriage?

India has a vast history relating to communal violence, the first major one taking place in August 1893 in Mumbai where about 100 people were killed and 800 people were injured.

The partition of India, a very controversial one at that would prove to mark the time where communal violence in India reached its all-time peak. The first major riots between Hindus and Muslims after the bloodshed of partition in 1947 occurred in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh.

Fast forward, almost 50 years later, after the demolition of Babri masjid, the city of Mumbai was in shambles. For five days in December of 1992, the city witnessed riots after riots. 1,788 people were killed and property nonetheless, destroyed. These are just a few major examples, where intercommunal violence has shaken the very roots our country is built upon and that is secularistic living. Intercommunal violence and Indians have a long history as I mentioned, reasons varying for each riot that takes place. Some call it a reason for jealousy; some call it a reason for fighting for what belongs to them and most call it a reason for the dominance of the religion of the majority. Now that comes to the question- why are Indians against inter-community marriage? The answer according to a group of Hindus, as proven by a survey conducted by BBC was that 64% of Hindus said it was very important to be Hindus in order to be “truly” Indian. It was found that, despite sharing certain values and religious beliefs, the members of these communities “often feel they don’t have much in common” India’s Special Marriage Act mandates a 30-day notice period for interfaith couples. Some states of the country have also taken steps to introduce laws that ban “unlawful conversion” by force. This was in response to a baseless rumor that Muslim men “fall in love” with Hindu women with the main purpose of converting their faith to that of Islam. A video clip that went viral some time back, shows a group of men heckling a woman in Moradabad town in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh. Cursing the woman and calling her out for marrying a man of a different religion, blaming her for the reason that the anti-conversion law was enacted. Days after this incident, the woman who was reportedly pregnant is said to have suffered from a miscarriage, a baby too innocent to witness this horror-filled world. The irony, the woman and her husband were arrested for the cruel deed of this group of violent individuals. Love is not a crime; love is just loving and I personally think it is about time that people understand that. “At the center of non-violence stands the principle of love” - MARTIN LUTHER KING JR