Love does not come with any condition, it is the people who try to hold it within certain man made boundaries. It has to maintain certain protocols and go with the norms established by the society. Every year love has to pay its price and many innocent lives are sacrificed in the name of ‘honor’.
With the day of love, comes the day of sorrow for many lovers who dare to fall for someone despite social barriers. It is surprising that in an age where we call ourselves as modern, still cannot overcome such evil practices. As a result, many young people are paying the price for falling in love.
An act cannot be claimed as a crime unless it is proven as one in the court. But what happens when a crime like ‘honor killing’, most of the times goes unreported as it involves the conscience of the members of the family or the community who consider their actions as for the greater good. It is also used as the lesson for others and sign of warning for them not to commit such ‘crimes’.
The politics of caste, religion, values are so deeply inculcated in the people that we value these more than someone’s life. But it is time to prevent the growth of such crime, for that we have to change our age-old idea about love and marriage and to stop associating it with reputation or status. Secondly, there should be strict laws against those who commit or are involved in it. Society is made up of people and it is us who make all the rules, so it is very important to change ourselves first. We have to remember that nobody has right to take other’s life and we start valuing other’s life, crimes like ‘honor killing’ will start disappearing.