Opinion Vikram Patel writes: To keep its youth, India needs a love revolution

Instead, a craven and unforgiving interpretation of “love jihad” has planted its poisonous arrow in the soul of the country. Those who think that these are isolated incidents affecting a handful of young people who have lost their way are horribly mistaken. The denial of the freedom to love is a driver of suicide and homicide in India, which are now among the leading causes of death in our youth. Moreover, this mindless cruelty will ultimately hurt the future of all Indians for, to quote Martin Luther King Jr., injustice to one is injustice to all. The many young people in India whose hearts are being torn asunder by hate, and the countless more who do not even countenance romance across the forbidden boundaries of caste and religion, is only the canary in the coal-mine, for a society in which one form of hate is allowed to flourish will become a crucible which catalyses other types of hate.

Indeed, the violence against love is indelibly linked to the sustained violence faced by women in diverse spaces and the conflicts which routinely break out between communities across the country. There can be no better strategy to empower women or to bring diverse peoples together than the freedom to love, but instead, we witness the deliberate stoking of fires burning in the hearts of those who believe that such freedoms are alien to our culture. These fires are reaping a harvest of fear in our minority communities, an absurdly inappropriate term for a group of persons who, together, would comprise the fourth most populous nation in the world! I was astounded to discover how far this fear has spread when a dear friend from Goa, a state better known for its religious harmony, announced that he, a son of a proud Catholic family, no longer felt safe in his own country and was seeking Portuguese citizenship. In doing so, he would become just one more of the estimated four lakh Goans who have abandoned their homeland to become Portuguese citizens, a number we can add to the lakhs of other Goans, the vast majority of whom are Catholic, who have migrated to the UK, Canada and Australia.

And the haemorrhage is likely to quicken in the wake of the growing vitriol about Goa’s Portuguese heritage. At a recent public event, referring to the 450-year history of Portuguese rule, the Chief Minister proclaimed that “at least after 60 years, we should wipe away the signs of the Portuguese. We need to start afresh”. He may well have his way soon, for the emigration of Goa’s Catholics has resulted in her dwindling population of native-born sons and daughters being swamped by those migrating in, ironically, for a slice of the very same Portuguese heritage which makes Goa unique. Indeed, Goa’s long encounter with Portugal is its most distinguishing feature, creating a society where there is much greater freedom to love for young people than anywhere else in the country. And if love is not a priority for those who believe Indian culture is threatened by its history of colonialism and conquest, imagine Indian cuisine if the Portuguese had not introduced the tomato, pumpkin, cashew nut, chilli, papaya, pineapple and guava to our shores, not to mention the potato and pao which, together, make up the crowning jewel of Mumbai’s street-food.

The hate sweeping our country is changing its very demographics, driving our smartest young people to flee for foreign shores and threatening the fragile social fabric which holds our diverse peoples together. And if the recent Karnataka elections were a harbinger of what lies ahead, then I fear that much worse is in store as the country gears up for the national elections. I think I speak for the overwhelming majority of my fellow citizens in appealing to our leaders, across all our parties, to vow that, as they canvas for votes, they will eschew divisive and hateful language and embrace our diversity unconditionally. A good place to begin is to enshrine the right for every Indian to love anyone they might choose.

The writer is Pershing Square Professor of Global Health at Harvard Medical School