Asif Iqbal and Ranu Kulsreshtha are co-founders of Dhanak, an organisation that helps interfaith and inter-caste couples register their marriage through Special Marriage Act (SMA), 1954. Members of Dhanak explain how the SMA, which allows Indians to marry irrespective of religious differences, has certain provisions that can endanger the privacy and safety of couples who are often already targets of self-proclaimed moral brigades.
Dhanak, whose network includes nearly 800 interfaith couples, assumes greater relevance in India’s current political climate where inter-faith couples are harassed in the name of ‘love-jihad’.
By Moniza Hafizee