PUCL discusses govt attempt to track interfaith marriages

The People’s Union of Civil Liberties (PUCL), Maharashtra, held a public meeting on Saturday to discuss ramifications of the Maharashtra government’s attempts to track interfaith marriages. The state had last month set up a 13-member committee to track complaints of women in interfaith marriages.

Dr Sai Thakur, assistant professor at TISS, who attended the meeting called ‘Love in the Time of Hate: State Regulation of Inter-faith Marriage’, said the committee was equivalent to a state-sponsored Khap.

Actor Ratna Pathak Shah recalled her experience of marrying actor Naseeruddin Shah and how she was “never asked if she was going to convert”. She said she considers herself and others from her time to be “lucky” since now, one’s choice to marry someone by their own volition is questioned. “I thought that was how our country was. I thought we could do what we want,” Pathak added.