What just happened?

In October, the highly recognized Indian jewellery brand Tanishq released an advertisement for its “Ekatvam (roughly translated meaning-oneness)” campaign, wherein it showcased a traditional Hindu baby shower organized by a Muslim mother-in-law for her Hindu daughter-in-law. The touched and overwhelmed daughter-in-law expressed her gratitude towards her mother-in-law and innocently remarked why she organized the shower despite it not being recognized in Islamic faith. To which the mother-in-law warmly replied that every faith recognized the happiness of their daughters.[1]

Upon reading the description, this ad not only comes across as harmless and harmonious but also thoughtful and beautiful. It was, thus, surprising to note that the advertisement ran into controversy, attracting ferocious reactions from people in India claiming that the advertisement promoted inter-faith marriages and was unnecessarily trying to show the Muslim community as warm and kind when in their opinion, it is not. The reactions also absurdly went on to convey that such inter-faith marriages were illegal in the Indian jurisdiction. As a result of the enormous backlash, Tanishq ultimately had to take down the advertisement and issue an explanation saying that its intention was to merely “celebrate the coming together of people from different walks of life, communities and families during these challenging times and celebrate the beauty of oneness.”[2]

What does this mean?

It is disheartening to see such segregation of different communities in the 21st century. When the world could benefit so much with love, peace and harmony; such unnecessary uproar of anger over something that promotes the aforementioned, only takes us back in the dark times of our history. It is interesting to note that in a country like India, one that proudly promotes the message of unity in diversity, such unsettling and violent reactions and actions on the matters of religion are not uncommon. Due to the politics involved around the matter, especially the Hindu and Muslim communities who are often pitted against one another, the aforementioned advertisement fell prey to the same politics around communalism.

To correct the segment of people calling such inter-faith marriages illegal under Indian marriage laws, the author would like to bring their attention to the civil statute that is the Special Marriage Act, 1954. The Act recognizes and solemnizes the marriage between any two consenting adults irrespective of their nationality or faith.[3] However, the legal validity does not erase some very deeply rooted problems in India with respect to inter-faith marriages. In some cases, such marriages result in abandonment by families and in more unfortunate cases they also result in honour killings. More than 350 cases of honour killings were reported in India in the last six years.[4] The statistics presented here are not too accurate because a lot of such cases also go unreported.[5][6]

One of the legal provisions that indirectly add to the threat of such honour killings in the Special Marriage Act, 1954 is the need for the Marriage Officer to publish the Marriage Notices given by the intending parties in a Marriage Notice Book which is open for inspection by anyone at any time.[7]This provision was brought under the legal scanner recently as it was said to be violating the right to privacy of the married couple guaranteed under the Constitution of India.[8]The litigant rightly stated that it was absurd that in order to get married under the Special Marriage Act, the couples had to give up their right to privacy. This is not a requirement under any other marriages that are governed by the personal laws such as the Hindu Marriage Act, Muslim Personal Laws and the Indian Christian Marriage Act in India.[9] The Supreme Court of India’s take on this matter is currently pending.

It is interesting to note how upon analysing the happenings around one advertisement, the underlined deeply rooted problems that otherwise remain latent, started revealing themselves. It is unfortunate that such archaic problems continue to exist even after having gained legal recognition in a developing country like India more than half a century ago. We are, nonetheless, a hopeful bunch of people dreaming of a world where humanity overpowers communities and that there actually exists in its real sense- unity in diversity.

References:

[1] Mirror Online, “What's the controversial Tanishq ad and why is #BoycottTanishq is trending on social media?” (15 October 2020) https://mumbaimirror.indiatimes.com/news/india/whats-the-controversial-tanishq-ad-and-why-is-boycotttanishq-trending-on-social-media/articleshow/78636691.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

[2] ibid

[3] Special Marriage Act, 1954 s4

[4] Abhilash Kumar Singh, “Special Marriage Act’s public notice is a privacy loophole” (25 September 2020, Indian Legal) https://www.indialegallive.com/cover-story-articles/special-marriage-act-supreme-court/

[5] Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada “India: Honour-based violence, including prevalence in rural and urban areas; legislation; state protection and support services available” https://www.justice.gov/eoir/page/file/1290791/download

[6] Singh (n4)

[7] Special Marriage Act, 1954 s5 and s6

[8] Singh (n4)

[9] ibid

Disclaimer: This article (and any information accessed through links in this article) is provided for information purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.