Dear Sushmita:

“Is there any way that I can save my parents if this happens. Like from society and relatives…… Achieving heights in career?… His only concern is how will we leave your parents in that mess with those relatives and in that society“-

-lawctopus. com has an interesting article titled “Inter-caste & Inter-religious Marriages: Social and Legal Issues“, it reads in part (I added the boldface feature): “Caste is a form of social organization based on Hindu religious belief and has been practiced from the early time in India. The origin of the caste system is in Hinduism, but it affected the whole Indian society. The ethnic groups and castes are by no means isolated from each other in India. They have been interacting with each other groups over many years.

“Furthermore, with more globalization and increase in educational facilities there is great change in the views of people on caste behavior. With the opportunities for cultural exchanges, travel, work and study abroad have brought contacts and relationships with different castes. Within India also, more and more young people are in contact with one another across caste and ethnic lines in schools, colleges, and workplaces. Thus, mingling with different castes and ethnic groups many people are entering in to such marriages…

“The modern youth who are well educated are very positive towards such marriages. As they study along with people of different castes and religions thus they develop good relations with them. Due to this their mindset is improving with every successive generation. But the sad part is this that the older generations are still very strict with the caste and religion aspect of marriage. Similarly the uneducated youth is also an obstacle in this way.

“Conclusion: India is still more or less a traditional society with rigid caste and religious system. Caste and Religion play a very important role in the selection of mates in marriages. To most Indians, it is difficult to think of marriage beyond their own caste. But it is quite heartening to notice that the force of the caste in marriage selection is gradually loosening over time as about ten percent of the marriages in India are reported to be inter-caste marriages.

“This is a good beginning to completely eradicate the caste system in India… There seems to be higher inter-caste marriages in socio-economically developed states like Punjab, Haryana, Assam, Maharashtra and Karnataka in comparison with the socio-economically backward states of northern India namely Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Rajasthan.

“It is expected that the incidence of such inter-caste marriages will increase with degree of modernization and socio-economic development. There is need to glorify, give media exposure and encourage such marriages in order to reduce the caste barrier prevalent in Indian society. India will require long time yet to come when the marriage system in India will be completely feed of caste discrimination.

“Inter-caste marriages are the only means of completely eradicating the caste barriers in India, whether urban or rural…. The Constitution of India gives us the fundamental rights of Right to Equality, Right of Freedom & Personal Liberty, Right to Life, and all these are also conferred to the couples marrying under the Special Marriage Act as well. So the government, NGOs, teams of Lawyers, young students should take up initiatives to promote the inter-caste marriages even at the rural areas at the grass root panchayat levels…

“For years, Indians had an orthodox mindset… Talking about inter caste and inter religion marriages in India was a taboo for most people in the earlier days. However, with time, things changed and inter caste marriage also became a part of the society. Marriages are regarded as the most important social custom and hence, were viewed as the best means to remove the barrier of caste system. Today, in Indian society, though we can see inter caste marriages, but mostly it is the part of the city culture. The rural parts of the country still have a long way to go.”

* The Special Marriage Act enacted by the parliament of India in 1954 allows for inter-caste and inter-religion marriages for Indian nationals in India and abroad.

Back to your post: “I know I am being stubborn…but I want our parents and both of us happy… please suggest“- I suggest that you look at the different phone numbers listed on ncw. nic. in/ helplines. It lists phone numbers in India under “For women in distress”, and under “Legal aid. Maybe you can get valuable information there!

anita