Surat: After threats, interfaith couple pulls out of mass wedding
The woman, 25, and her fiancé, 29, have been working together for five years and had their parents’ permission for the wedding
The Foundation said Friday it respects “a proposed amendment in the marriage registration law, wherein consent of parents is necessary”. An interfaith wedding to be performed in Surat as per Hindu rituals, at a mass event being organised by an NGO, has been cancelled after the couple received threats.
The woman, 25, and her fiancé, 29, have been working together at a real estate firm in Surat for five years. They had their parents’ permission for the wedding, which was to be held on March 14. Both families are of modest means. The couple said they came to know from social media about the NGO, Yashvi Foundation Charitable Trust, which has been organising mass weddings since 2024, and approached them. Pre-wedding rituals began Wednesday for 101 couples to tie the knot on March 14, with bridal trousseau handed over to the women. The NGO held a mehndi ceremony Thursday for the couples. The interfaith couple was present at both.
But after videos and photos of the ceremony went viral, and their identities became known, their social media accounts were flooded with threats, the couple said. “It became difficult for us to leave home.” Aslam Cyclewala, the Surat convener of an NGO called South Gujarat Muslim Community, wrote to District Collector Sourabh Pardhi demanding that the wedding be stopped as it was a “violation” of the Gujarat Freedom of Religion Act. Cyclewala also sought legal action against Yashvi Foundation. On Friday, the NGO released a letter saying the couple had come to their office and declared they were not ready for the wedding “due to social and family pressures”.
The man told The Indian Express: “We went to the Yashvi Foundation to seek their support due to the threats and abusive comments on social media. But the foundation told us they can’t do anything. We were heartbroken… We told them we don’t want to get married now… Later, they cancelled our forms.”
He said, “I urged the organisers to keep our names hidden… The staff verbally assured us.” The woman said, “We are scared to leave home… My mother’s relatives and acquaintances have also been calling her, asking her to ensure that the wedding does not happen.” She said they discussed the matter with their parents before deciding to postpone the wedding. “We don’t want to take a risk.”
The Foundation said Friday it respects “a proposed amendment in the marriage registration law, wherein consent of parents is necessary”. “Keeping this in mind, and seeing that the law has not been properly followed, we have decided to cancel the marriage form (of the interfaith couple).” The couple, however, had their parents’ consent for the wedding.
The woman, a commerce graduate, said her mother did multiple jobs to raise and educate her. The two live in a rented home in Surat. She met the man at a real estate firm where she joined as an accountant. Her fiancé now works in another private firm. “…When we learnt that Yashvi Foundation is organising a mass wedding and would bear the cost of the wedding, he and I registered ourselves on the probable couple list, with our parents.” The man’s family hails from Bhavnagar district in Saurashtra, but has been settled in Surat for a long time. He is the only son of his parents and his mother died a few years ago. “My father had no option after I told him I was in love and wanted to marry her. I brought her home, and she won him over too.”
Surat Marriage Registrar A R Rathod told The Indian Express that irrespective of the rituals followed, an interfaith marriage would have to be registered under the Special Marriage Act. The couple said they are unaware of the proposed changes in the Gujarat marriage registration law, but they remain determined to marry. “We will have a simple ceremony, and keep it secret…”
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