Lucknow: Cops Stop Interfaith Wedding. Groom Says, "Can Accept Her Religion And Identity"

On Wednesday Uttar Pradesh cops intervened and stopped a wedding between a Muslim man and a Hindu woman in Lucknow. The police stopped the wedding, despite the consent of their parents, under the new anti-conversion law and said they are following the new ordinance against “unlawful” conversion. The groom, who works as a pharmacist, however, told The Indian Express, “There is no question of conversion… no discussion about conversation… because I feel that if two of us love each other, we can accept each other for who we are. If she is a Hindu, I can accept her religion and identity, and she agreed to do the same.”

Also Read: BSP President Mayawati Requests UP Govt To"Reconsider" New Anti-conversion Law

It's been only a week since the new Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Ordinance, 2020 was passed, which aims to curb cases of "love jihad" in the state. This wedding was stopped just before ceremonies were to begin, even though the bride, 22, and the groom, 24, had known each other for five years. The mother of the woman, who works as a cook, on Friday said they had consented for the marriage.

Police took the step after receiving a complaint by the Hindu outfit Rashtriya Yuva Vahini. The bride and groom are neighbours and said they were planning to marry according to both Muslim and Hindu rituals. A police officer elaborated, “The family of the girl is Hindu, while the boy’s family is Muslim. Both of them were getting married with each other’s consent and there was no coercion of any type."

He further added, “Some representatives of Rashtriya Yuva Vahini objected to the wedding and we stopped the wedding and told them that under the new conversion law, you can only get married if you have notified the District Magistrate for the specified period of time. We told them that it should not seem that there is pressure to convert.” The couple was asked to seek clearance from Lucknow District Magistrate before going ahead.

The mother of the woman, however, responded saying, “It is no one’s business whom my daughter gets married to. We have lived in a mixed colony all our lives and have been friends with Muslims. Then, why can’t my daughter get married to a Muslim? He does not want her to convert either… I don’t know who complained to the police or if they acted on their own.”

Also Read: BSP President Mayawati Requests UP Govt To ‘Reconside’ New Anti-conversion Law

Claiming that neither the man nor the woman intended to convert, the groom further added, “The two of us know each other, we like each other. I would not even call this a love marriage, both families had agreed and it was more an arranged marriage. I asked for her hand from her mother a year ago. I was sure that I would not marry her if her family didn’t agree.” The groom's father was a rickshaw puller but is too old now; his mother died a few years back.

Feature Image Credit: Alamy

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