Leaked interfaith wedding card leads to 'love jihad' protests, family forced to cancel ceremony

According to the family, there was no attempt at forced conversion and the marriage had already been registered in a local court.

File photo

New Delhi: Grand preparations for a wedding went to waste when ‘Love Jihad’ protestors got a hold of a wedding card invitation to a union between a Hindu woman and a Muslim man.

Recently, members of a family in Nashik had to call off a function to solemnise their 28-year-old daughter’s wedding to a Muslim man as per Hindu rituals following protests by their community. The protesters described the marriage as a case of ‘love jihad’.

According to media reports, even though the function was cancelled, the family members decided that they would continue to stand by their daughter’s choice.

According to them, there was no attempt at forced conversion. And the marriage had already been registered in a local court.

Prasad Adgaonkar, a prominent jeweller and the bride’s father, said his daughter Rasika suffered from physical disability and the family had faced some difficulty in finding a match for her. 

Recently, she and Asif Khan, a former classmate, announced their desire to tie the knot. Since the two families knew each other for the past few years, they agreed to the match.

In May, Adgaonkar said, the marriage was registered at a Nashik court in the presence of both the families. At the time, they also agreed to conduct the rituals on July 18 before the woman left for her in-laws’ house.

The function, the father said, was to be held in the presence of close relatives at a Nashik hotel. But then, he said, a copy of the invitation card got circulated in several WhatsApp groups, triggering protests, messages and calls, including from “strangers”, for the function to be cancelled.

On July 9, Adgaonkar said, he was asked by community members to meet them. During the meeting, the jeweller claimed he was “advised” not to hold the function. “A lot of pressure started coming from people of the community and others, and so it was decided to cancel the marriage function,” another family member said, according to media reports.

Subsequently, the family submitted a letter to a local community organisation that the ceremony had been called off.

Sunil Mahalkar, president of Lad Suvarnakar Sanstha, Nashik, to whom the letter was addressed, said: “We have received a letter from the family and they have informed us that the marriage has been cancelled.”

But at the same time, they remain firm: whatever happens, the young couple will not be forced to separate.