It’s the 21st-century, still, we are in a state of not accepting inter-caste and interfaith marriages. A recent ad drew outrage from tweeples showing us how some sections of people are still reluctant to change their attitude towards inter-religious matters.
I would like to write about my experience here. When I reached out to the families who had not accepted inter-caste marriages, they said it’s a matter of ‘pride’. They even justify the heinous acts committed to preserving this so-called pride. They say it’s about family honour and failing to preserve it would lead to disrespect within their community. They would not be able to show their face to their neighbours and relatives. Hence, they could not allow their son or daughter’s inter-caste marriage even if the person is well off/well settled. This is because the casteist beliefs make have injected the idea of superiority in some of us. We think that “Our caste is superior to others”.
It’s all about our pride. We only think about our pride, not the future of our children.
Some parents feel that in inter-caste marriages, the couple would only face problems in the future. When they look behind, there would be no one to support them. In arranged marriages, it’s totally different—as there would always be some family member to help them with their problems.
Some parents believe that “it is against our culture to marry a person from outside their caste.”