Love, Caste, and Control: How Gujarat is Policing Marriage
https://img-2.outlookindia.com/outlook-money-magazine/summy-art-lg.svgSummary of this article
[*]Recent cases show how personal relationships trigger collective backlash, exposing enduring caste hierarchies and gendered control, particularly over women.
[*]Measures such as the return of parental consent and proposed regulations signal a shift from protecting individual liberty to endorsing family and caste authority.
[*]Expanding regulation of intimate choices risks undermining the constitutional right to personal liberty, making individual autonomy increasingly conditional and uncertain.
In contemporary Gujarat, falling in love appears to be the easiest part, but maintaining that choice of partner is challenging. What should remain a private affair between consenting adults in a democratic republic is increasingly scrutinised and controlled by families, caste networks, and, more and more, by the state.
Love, particularly when it crosses caste boundaries, is no longer seen as a personal choice; it is regarded as a disruption that must be controlled or rectified. This transformation is not merely rhetorical. It is manifesting through a series of public controversies, organised community responses, and legal interventions that collectively redefine the boundaries of personal autonomy. The recent wave of inter-caste marriage disputes in Gujarat exposes a persistent pattern in which patriarchal authority and caste anxieties are not only re-emerging but are also being tacitly validated through institutional mechanisms.
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The Purpose Of Marriage: When Women Say Yes To Love, No To Systems Of Men
BY Anwiti Singh
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