The news of Hindutva vigilantes targeting Hindu-Muslim couples in the Dhule district of Maharashtra is shocking. How can anyone stop a young woman from befriending a man belonging to another religion? Whatever happened to liberty and freedom? Organisations such as the Hindu Rakshak Samiti take away the freedom of choice in the name of religion. They have no right to threaten Hindu women who have Muslim friends or women who wish to marry Muslim men. What is more distressful is that many parents join hands with Hindutva groups to combat what they claim is ‘love jihad.’ There is an urgent need for society to rise above the issues of religion and understand that India is a secular country.
Ankita Srivastava
Delhi
The charge by Hindutva forces that Muslim men lure Hindu women into marriage to increase the population of Muslims is superfluous. Islam is the second most accepted religion in the world. It does not need such things to increase its following.
Moreover, women today are sensible enough to see through men seeking to cheat them. Such men cannot inspire women to give up everything to marry them.
Kusum Azad,
Shimla
