Why was this BJP leader forced to call off marriage of his daughter with Muslim boy?

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat*
A marriage of two individuals belonging to different faiths was ultimately postponed as the 'champions' of the social morality dominated the discourse and threatened the father of the girl who happened to be the chairman of Pauri city municipality. Yashpal Benam, a BJP leader, posted the invitation of his daughter's wedding with a Muslim boy from Uttar Pradesh. Both the boy and the girl became friend during their B Tech course and were in relationship. There were reports that they already got married in the court but we don't know the reality. Perhaps the family of the girl wanted to send a message of 'acceptability' and 'appreciation' of such a marriage by the society.
Invitations were sent to all but soon after it went wide spread on the social media, the champion of Hindu dharma jumped into the fray and started threatening the father. There were hundreds of calls asking the father hundreds of questions about the marriage. What was strange was that father was ready to provide all the answers to every tom dick and harry who felt 'hurt' with the marriage. Question is why in India we become so insensitive to the individuals issues.
The father hails from the Sangh Parivar back ground. There are number of politicians in Jan Sangh BJP and RSS whose daughters or sons are married to Muslims.
We don't need to bother about these things as they are individual affairs but then BJP raises lots of issues about inter faith marriages terming them as Love Jehad. Of course, the same Sanghis and the brahmanical shouting brigade has never ever promoted the inter caste marriages among Hindus. They would never encourage and appreciate marriages between savarnas and OBC or savarnas and Dalits. Love Jehad angle is basically meant to force people to marry with in their castes. India is ultimately a country of castes where each one of us are too proud of it that we forget that we are human being too and that there are good and bad people everywhere.
Yashpal Benami tried to put a brave face for some time but later when the entire issue became dangerously out of control then he had to postponed the ceremony. I hope the marriage is not cancelled, merely the programme. Question is what do you make out of the entire issue.
I was speaking to a friend from Pauri who said that it might be a conspiracy too to create deliberately the Hindu Muslim issue which the BJP always want otherwise what is there in Pauri to raise this issue.
Yashpal Benami would have silently done it but perhaps he too was doing it for the political gains, may be a consolidation of Muslim votes for him but that boomeranged as the poisonous anti Muslim propaganda is already there in the air for last few years and when the state apparatus not only use these extra state actors to promote the hate agenda then we must realise that things have move beyond our control.
What can be done? The only thing that would have been possible under all national and international laws is that the choice of two individuals is ultimately theirs. The courts remain silent on these issues and their silence has encouraged the extra state actors to take law unto their hands. For the political people, their own ideological issues will haunt them. The Hindutva leaders know it well that they cant do anything if two individuals are getting married out of their choice but what seems to bother them is the 'legitimacy' by the masses.
If the family has accepted them and the relatives too are coming for it, then there is a chance others too will follow the suit and that make them worried. The main worry is: why should the children decide things about themselves. Isn't it a joke that we consider an 18-20 years old boy and girl capable enough to elect our lawmakers for parliament and assemblies but unable to look after themselves. I mean, how and why should we think that they cant make a right choice? And it is also not a matter or right or wrong choice because marriage or friendship do happen and can be undone peacefully if they dont grow up. Hanging up with things for the sake of the social system give us extreme pains and create turbulence in our lives but then in our societies we all dont go for friendship and marriage for ourselves but for 'society'.
I have seen how people 'celebrate' 'intercaste' and 'interfaith' marriages while I say nobody would opt on its own for an inter caste and interfaith marriage. The important thing should be respecting the individual choices and not making a propaganda out of two individual joining hand and making a union. When the personal issues are used to gain political brownie points or get likes on social media then we must be prepared to listen to the other side of the story. That is where caste forces jump into it. In most of the cases, parents and relatives dont agree particularly that of the girl as they feel 'betrayed' but in this case, the father of the girl was promoting the wedding on social media, may be to prove a point that parents must respect the wishes of their children. Unfortunately, Yashpal Benami became victim of the culture propagated by his own party. The moralists jumped and started targeting him.
Let us hope that the two individuals remain safe and happy. When our institutions fails and political parties dont speak on issues these things happen. We all love our jaatis and jaati patriarchy which will never allow the individuals to life on their own terms and conditions.
The last point, I wish to make for the interfaith couples or inter-caste couples is that because they marry out of their own so important for them to opt for secular wedding, taking oath on Constitution and respecting the individual identity. Don't impose your religious values on your children. Make them secular because ultimately it is our secular constitution that allow us space for such marriages.
Thank to Baba Saheb Ambedkar and Jawaharlal Nehru that you have a legal framework to support otherwise a theocratic state would not allow you for such marriages. Interfaith marriages will not survive on merely celebrations of each other's festivals but delinking your children completely for religious propaganda and turning them respecting humanist values. Let the humanist tribe grow which is only possible through respecting individual choices and giving them dignity and respect.
The Constitution must prevail on all to protect our rights as religious thugs try to intrude in our individual lives and dictate terms and conditions to us. Should we allow this to happen in the name of 'culture'. The only guardian for our protection is Constitution and Constitutional Rights and any other person imposing his own will or threatening or intimidating other is purely violating law of the land and action must be taken against them. Let the media not legitmise street thugs in the name of 'culture and morality' as the only morality in India should be constitutional morality.
---
*Human rights defender

Comments

The silencing of conscience: Ideological attacks on India’s judiciary and free thought

By Sunil Kumar* “Volunteers will pick up sticks to remove every obstacle that comes in the way of Sanatan and saints’ work.” — RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat (November 6, 2024, Chitrakoot) Eleven months later, on October 6, 2025, a man who threw a shoe inside the Supreme Court shouted, “India will not tolerate insults to Sanatan.” This incident was not an isolated act but a continuation of a pattern seen over the past decade—attacks on intellectuals, writers, activists, and journalists, sometimes in the name of institutions, sometimes by individual actors or organizations.

N-power plant at Mithi Virdi: CRZ nod is arbitrary, without jurisdiction

By Krishnakant* A case-appeal has been filed against the order of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) and others granting CRZ clearance for establishment of intake and outfall facility for proposed 6000 MWe Nuclear Power Plant at Mithi Virdi, District Bhavnagar, Gujarat by Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) vide order in F 11-23 /2014-IA- III dated March 3, 2015. The case-appeal in the National Green Tribunal at Western Bench at Pune is filed by Shaktisinh Gohil, Sarpanch of Jasapara; Hajabhai Dihora of Mithi Virdi; Jagrutiben Gohil of Jasapara; Krishnakant and Rohit Prajapati activist of the Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti. The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has issued a notice to the MoEF&CC, Gujarat Pollution Control Board, Gujarat Coastal Zone Management Authority, Atomic Energy Regulatory Board and Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) and case is kept for hearing on August 20, 2015. Appeal No. 23 of 2015 (WZ) is filed, a...

History, culture and literature of Fatehpur, UP, from where Maulana Hasrat Mohani hailed

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat* Maulana Hasrat Mohani was a member of the Constituent Assembly and an extremely important leader of our freedom movement. Born in Unnao district of Uttar Pradesh, Hasrat Mohani's relationship with nearby district of Fatehpur is interesting and not explored much by biographers and historians. Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri has written a book on Maulana Hasrat Mohani and Fatehpur. The book is in Urdu. He has just come out with another important book, 'Hindi kee Pratham Rachna: Chandayan' authored by Mulla Daud Dalmai.' During my recent visit to Fatehpur town, I had an opportunity to meet Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri and recorded a conversation with him on issues of history, culture and literature of Fatehpur. Sharing this conversation here with you. Kindly click this link. --- *Human rights defender. Facebook https://www.facebook.com/vbrawat , X @freetohumanity, Skype @vbrawat

Citizens’ group to recall Justice Chagla’s alarm as India faces ‘undeclared' Emergency

By A Representative In a move likely to raise eyebrows among the powers-that-be, a voluntary organisation founded during the “dark days” of the Indira Gandhi -imposed Emergency has announced that it will hold a public conference in Ahmedabad to highlight what its office-bearers call today’s “undeclared Emergency.”

Celebrating 125 yr old legacy of healthcare work of missionaries

Vilas Shende, director, Mure Memorial Hospital By Moin Qazi* Central India has been one of the most fertile belts for several unique experiments undertaken by missionaries in the field of education and healthcare. The result is a network of several well-known schools, colleges and hospitals that have woven themselves into the social landscape of the region. They have also become a byword for quality and affordable services delivered to all sections of the society. These institutions are characterised by committed and compassionate staff driven by the selfless pursuit of improving the well-being of society. This is the reason why the region has nursed and nurtured so many eminent people who occupy high positions in varied fields across the country as well as beyond. One of the fruits of this legacy is a more than century old iconic hospital that nestles in the heart of Nagpur city. Named as Mure Memorial Hospital after a British warrior who lost his life in a war while defending his cou...

New RTI draft rules inspired by citizen-unfriendly, overtly bureaucratic approach

By Venkatesh Nayak* The Department of Personnel and Training , Government of India has invited comments on a new set of Draft Rules (available in English only) to implement The Right to Information Act, 2005 . The RTI Rules were last amended in 2012 after a long period of consultation with various stakeholders. The Government’s move to put the draft RTI Rules out for people’s comments and suggestions for change is a welcome continuation of the tradition of public consultation. Positive aspects of the Draft RTI Rules While 60-65% of the Draft RTI Rules repeat the content of the 2012 RTI Rules, some new aspects deserve appreciation as they clarify the manner of implementation of key provisions of the RTI Act. These are: Provisions for dealing with non-compliance of the orders and directives of the Central Information Commission (CIC) by public authorities- this was missing in the 2012 RTI Rules. Non-compliance is increasingly becoming a major problem- two of my non-compliance cases are...

Urgent need to study cause of large number of natural deaths in Gulf countries

By Venkatesh Nayak* According to data tabled in Parliament in April 2018, there are 87.76 lakh (8.77 million) Indians in six Gulf countries, namely Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). While replying to an Unstarred Question (#6091) raised in the Lok Sabha, the Union Minister of State for External Affairs said, during the first half of this financial year alone (between April-September 2018), blue-collared Indian workers in these countries had remitted USD 33.47 Billion back home. Not much is known about the human cost of such earnings which swell up the country’s forex reserves quietly. My recent RTI intervention and research of proceedings in Parliament has revealed that between 2012 and mid-2018 more than 24,570 Indian Workers died in these Gulf countries. This works out to an average of more than 10 deaths per day. For every US$ 1 Billion they remitted to India during the same period there were at least 117 deaths of Indian Workers in Gulf ...

World Bank arm accused of hiding crucial report on Gujarat’s Tata Mundra power project

By A Representative The Centre for Financial Accountability (CFA) has accused the Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO), the accountability arm of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), of concealing crucial evidence related to the Tata Mundra coal power project in Gujarat during the period when the case was being heard in U.S. courts. In a press statement released on October 10, 2025, CFA said that the CAO’s final monitoring report, which was completed in 2019 but released only in September 2025, revealed that IFC had failed to take remedial action for years, even as environmental and livelihood harms to local communities worsened.

Epic war against caste system is constitutional responsibility of elected government

Edited by well-known Gujarat Dalit rights leader Martin Macwan, the book, “Bhed-Bharat: An Account of Injustice and Atrocities on Dalits and Adivasis (2014-18)” (available in English and Gujarati*) is a selection of news articles on Dalits and Adivasis (2014-2018) published by Dalit Shakti Prakashan, Ahmedabad. Preface to the book, in which Macwan seeks to answer key questions on why the book is needed today: *** The thought of compiling a book on atrocities on Dalits and thus present an overall Indian picture had occurred to me a long time ago. Absence of such a comprehensive picture is a major reason for a weak social and political consciousness among Dalits as well as non-Dalits. But gradually the idea took a different form. I found that lay readers don’t understand numbers and don’t like to read well-researched articles. The best way to reach out to them was storytelling. As I started writing in Gujarati and sharing the idea of the book with my friends, it occurred to me that while...

Search This Blog