New Delhi: The opposition parties of Maharashtra have come together to form a working group to exert pressure on the state government to withdraw a controversial government resolution on inter-faith marriages in the state, which many believe is a precursor to “love jihad” laws enacted in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled states.
The decision was taken at a meeting orgainsed by Saloka Samiti under the banner of the All India Secular Forum at Y.B. Chavan Auditorium in Mumbai on Monday, February 13. The meeting saw the participation of representatives from Shiva Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), Congress, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Samajwadi Party, among others. NCP chief and senior opposition leader, Sharad Pawar, was also present in the meeting to extend his support to the proposed working group. Prominent Mumbaikars, including lawyers, writers, activists, filmmakers, actors, among others also took part in the meeting.
The government resolution passed by the Eknath Shinde government in December 2022 led to the formation of the ‘Interfaith Marriage-Family Coordination Committee’ at the state level. According to the government, the committee is aimed at monitoring inter-religious marriages in the state and extending support to women in distress in such marriages. The sensational murder of Maharashtra woman Shraddha Walkar in May 2022 by her live-in partner Aftab Poonawalla in Delhi that drew national attention prompted the resolution. The BJP, which is part of the coalition government under Shinde, has joined the chorus with Hindutva groups across the country in projecting it as a case of “love jihad”.
Speaking on behalf of the Congress party in the state, Neela Limaye said the working group would strategise on ways and means to oppose the government committee in every district. “We decided on two main points: One is that the government resolution that set up the interfaith marriage committee should be quashed. The opposition has also decided to form a working committee and plan a strategy to oppose the committee at the district level. We will create awareness and pressure the government to withdraw it,” Indian Express quoted Limaye as saying.
Samajwadi Party MLA Rais Shaikh, who has been a vocal critic of the government resolution, reiterated his party’s stand that it would take legal recourse to force the government to withdraw the “unconstitutional resolution”.
This story was originally published in thewire.in . Read the full story here
