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A marriage between Mohamed Umer, a 22-year-old Muslim man, and Priyanka Wadhwani, a 21-year-old Hindu woman, has provoked strident protest in India. Because the girl's parents did not accept the relationship, the couple eloped from Bhopal to Mumbai. The parents then accused the man of kidnapping their daughter, whereupon several Hindu extremist groups called for him to be arrested and the young woman handed back to her parents. (Photo of the two lovebirds at right.)
Today protestors closed roads in Bhopal and called for larger public demonstrations tomorrow, threatening to shut the city down.
Hindu rightwing organisations in Bhopal today blocked all roads in the city to protest against the marriage of a Muslim boy and a Hindu girl and called for a shutdown tomorrow.
Radical Hindus objected to the inter-religious nature of the marriage.
Describing it as a case of ‘religion transformation’, the activists of several Hindu outfits including the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), Bajrang Dal, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) swung into action soon after getting the information and protested against the police for being lax in taking action against the boy's family.
“In Bhopal, Hindu girls are being lured by Muslim boys off and on and this has become a routine. We will not tolerate it anymore,” said Bhagwandas Sabnani, former BJP district president.
There was a religious conversion, all right, but not on the part of Priyanka.
Priyanka and Umesh fled from Bhopal on April 2 and took refuge in Mumbai where they got married on April 5. To become a Hindu, Umer underwent a shiddhikaran (purification) ceremony after which he was rechristened as Umesh.
Now I am baffled. Hindu zealots object to Muslims embracing Hinduism?
As well, if I were Umesh, I'd watch my back for Islamic extremists. You know how they feel about Muslims who change religion.
The couple became so alarmed by the threats that they appealed to Indian courts for protection from Hindu extremists, Priyanka's parents, and the Bhopal police.
The High Courts of Madhya Pradesh and Mumbai today ordered police protection to a Muslim man and a Hindu girl whose marriage was opposed by the latter's family and drew street protests by Sangh Parivar outfits in Bhopal.
The courts recognised the validity of the marriage and ordered Bhopal police to quash the kidnapping complaint against Umesh.
h/t: Big News Network.com - Breaking Religious News
Previous related posts:
- Tourists detained for allegedly witnessing to Christ
- Hindu militants want conversions prohibited while they “re-convert” Christians
- Nationalist Hindus want Christian missionaries arrested
- Freedom of Religion Act restricts conversion
- Christian conversions present “grave threat to Hindu society”
UPDATE (14 Apr.): A Muslim group has thrown Umesh out on his ear.
