Opposition to interfaith marriages has always remained a private affair in Bengal. Until now.
Calcutta HC grants protection to interfaith couple: 'Adults have right to choose life partners'
As Hindutva groups target a Howrah couple's wedding, court orders police protection and pulls up authorities for inaction, with a compliance report due August 10
Opposition to interfaith marriages has always remained a private affair in Bengal. Until now.
As right-wing politics gains ground in the BJP-ruled state, Hindutva groups appear to be weaponising inter-faith marriages to raise the bogey of 'love jihad' to advance a political agenda.
A recent case in Uluberia in West Bengal illustrates this point. Two consenting adults, who had been in a relationship for 15 years, decided to formalise their bond under the Special Marriage Act of 1954. However, the 34-year-old man and his 31-year-old fiancée faced heavy vigilante pressure, threats, and the woman’s father was even taken forcibly to the police station and asked to give a written statement denouncing his daughter.
In frustration, the couple who did not want to call off their wedding on July 29, approached the Calcutta High Court seeking state protection.
Right to choose life partners
Acting on the petition, Justice Saugata Bhattacharyya on Monday (July 27) directed the police to provide adequate protection to the petitioners and ensure a seamless inter-faith marriage in Howrah, observing that "adult citizens of this country have the right to choose their life partners.”
"This court does not find any hindrance even if it is a case of inter-faith marriage since the petitioners are adult citizens of this country and they have the right to choose their life partners," Justice Bhattacharyya observed.
Representing the petitioners, senior advocate Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya told the court that a furore in the locality over their decision led the man and woman to fear that they may be prevented from solemnising the marriage.
Couple face threats, harassment
According to reports, the trouble began shortly after they filed their official notice of intention to marry. Intended solely for administrative processing, the document was leaked into the public domain. Within hours, the couple became the target for local and regional Hindutva groups, including Hindu Sanghati, Ram Sena, and Singhabahina.
What followed was a swift campaign of online harassment, social media intimidation, and direct threats directed at both families.
The woman, who is a private tutor told The Telegraph that she received a phone call at night from some leaders, including women, asking her to sign an undertaking at the police station declaring that she won’t marry her finance. The woman refused and the pressure began to mount.
They targeted her family next. On July 23, her father, a local shopkeeper, was brought to the police station by group representatives and pushed to sign a pledge disowning the upcoming marriage. He was told to bar his eldest daughter from the family home, and promise that her two younger sisters would not marry outside their faith.
According to court filings, vigilantes warned the family that their home and business would be burned down if the wedding proceeded. The woman said it was not a matter of love jihad since both will follow their own religions.
When the police in Uluberia police station also failed to respond, the woman, knocked on the doors of the court.
Shifting social landscape
While interfaith marriages in Bengal have historically faced quiet resistance within conservative families, this kind of public vigilante intervention is unusual, said local news reports.
Dilip Ghosh, BJP minister told reporters at an interaction that Bengal has been an open ground for love jihad, land jihad, and many other such incidents. He had warned that the government will not tolerate such social crimes. "Strict laws will be enacted against them, and strong action will be taken,” Ghosh had said.
Meanwhile, the Calcutta high court directed the police to submit a detailed compliance report within seven days, setting the next hearing for August 10. Following the ruling, local police authorities confirmed that the court order would be respected and strictly implemented.
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