Experts from various fields came out in support of Hadiya, a 24-year-old girl from Vaikkom in Kerala whose conversion to Islam and marriage to Sheffin Jahan has become a controversy.
Speaking at ‘Voice for Hadiya’, a programme organised as part of Free Hadiya Movement, retired judge of Madras High Court D. Hariparanthaman, said each individual has the right to choose who they want to get married to and there should be no interference whatsoever. “In the society we live in, from what to study to who their children must get married to, parents want to decide on everything; though, this has been changing slowly, we have a long way to go. Even in states like Tamil Nadu and Kerala which are considered progressive to some extent, such thoughts continue to exist,” he said.
Mr. Hariparanthaman noted the times that the country is going through almost feels like living during the Emergency. “In fact, sometimes it feels like this is worse than the Emergency period itself,” he added. He wondered why the National Investigation Agency was called in to probe this case.
Khalid Mohammed of the Popular Front of India (PFI) said, even beef eating to voicing anti-establishment sentiments are portrayed as acts of anti-nationalism. “What are they trying to accomplish in Hadiya’s case? Doesn’t she have the right to marry who she wants to and embrace the religion she desires to?” he asked.
A. Marx of National Confederation of Human Rights Organizations (NCHRO) said, the society is deeply entrenched in the idea that families play a vital role when two individuals get married. “Only consent of those two individuals matter, that’s what we need to understand,” he added.
A documentary titled “I'm Hadiya” was also screened on the occasion.
