Presently my nation seems to be stung deep by the 'love jihad' bug which has spread like an unknown 'Ebola' virus. Origin - not known….. Purpose: very clear….
I wonder if this is to divert peoples' attention from that dirty phenomenon called 'rape' or to reorient the misogynistic moral-brigade to suit the modern tool of propaganda. By the time our cerebral media and intel brigade debates its semantics, gullible mass would be taken for a ride. it's like selling veneral disease with a catchy name of a candy.
Issue is not of Hindu, Christian, jew or Muslim!… it is of that element of hatred that brews so much of barbarism…and it goes to such inebriating proportions that it doesn't really remain in the domain of a followed faith. I am sure it doesn't come from the respective religions; it is crafted elsewhere.
in my village, way back sometime in 1975-76, when a Brahmin boy of a very respected family eloped with a local muslim girl (daughter of a Darzi who had entry to all our otherwise restricted 'janaanakhana' because of his sublime skill of stitching perfect fitting blouses for our ladies at home), the brahmin leader mobilised all kshatriyas along with dusadh, mushar and others of caste hindu (who otherwise didn't get to even sit in front of us) with a clarion call to punish the 'malechhas'. something very interesting happened. one of the poor brahmin family youngster informed that the girl was very fearful of eloping and it was the brahmin son who prevailed upon her to follow him. Many of these boys were the witness of the same in the local hat in a nearby village - a rendezvous for all and sundry belonging to at least 3-4 neighbouring villages. Not that my village folks didn't know it, but none had the courage to divulge the truthful account of that incident fearing backlash in the hands of this powerful brahmin clan which held irrevocable sway over the sentiments of gullible Rajputs (dominant in their size and might). Once the truth came out of a Brahmin boy, our Dusadh Mukhiya (quite a progressive feat for our village to have a 'Mukhiya' from a backward caste - thanks to the hold my uncle held over the local politics of the village and turned in favour of having a wise man leading the flock rather than a Rajput with his musclemen & cronies) took the lead and reasoned out the consequences of such rash and illegal action. Despite Brahmins' superior status and dubious notoriety, villagers turned in to favouring the Muslim family and the issue became of a collective honour as the girl too was a daughter of the village. ultimately, they were brought back, married happily and given a separate piece of land (both homestead and agricultural) to start their life afresh as responsible villager. Separation from family removed stigma from Brahmins having a blot, but property on which they settled on was all part of the rich brahmins. Their children (3 of them) gradually were accepted as part of the brahmins, though they could not perform rituals or earn making it a vocation (none of them were interested either). They studied in the village school, went on to study further in the capital with brahmin name and I remember one of them is a Deputy Magistrate in Bihar today. I hear when he goes to village, he visits his Nana-nani's family (both of them have since expired) and meets all his muslim folks in the local small mosque…..
Now, Why i told you this story is to point out that one very simple act of sanity and courage changed the course of the ensuing violence without having any impinging affect on our respective faiths.
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