India boasts of being a secular country. From a religious point of view, it is indeed secular. We accept and accommodate so many religions and cultures in our country. Straight to the point, let me bring your attention to another fact. Women in various sections and parts of India don't have the freedom to marry a person of their own choice. They are intimidated and scared away from the thought of love marriage, and sometimes love marriage is virtually considered as a sin. The proponents of this line of thought will have justifications ranging from "statistics of failed love marriages" to "respecting parents wishes". Firstly, the bulk of failed love marriages are caused when parents, relatives and some people who claim to be "the society" don't cooperate and even harass the married couple unlike what they would have done had it been a purely arranged marriage. Secondly, the decision is not regarding the life of the parents. The decision is on with whom, their daughter is going to spend the rest of her life with. Why is it better that she spends her life with a person formerly unknown to her, rather than a person she knows and who already loves her knowing who she is? Parents can guide her and help her differentiate true love from fake. That is how you become a great parent. Not by forcing her or intimidating her from choosing her love. We have girls who are scared to even speak out for themselves because by the time they reach the relevant age, they are already completely brainwashed since they are taught the wrong things from an early age.
Now let me come back to the keyword, secular. What is the underlining principle behind being secular? Tolerance. It is to tolerate ideas and views that one doesn't have to agree with. It is to agree to disagree with each other. It is to coexist, respecting the fact that you don't need to fear, hate or harm something that doesn't go along with your thoughts. This nonsense tradition of considering love as a sin is so widespread, that it is impossible to turn a blind eye or keep quiet. Senseless, wrong concepts are blindly followed and upheld like a tradition, while voices that question are suppressed. It is high time our society needs to come to its senses and question every tradition we have. The same way we tolerate different religions, we need to tolerate different outlooks on love. Boasting of being secular and not having tolerance in the matter of love is sheer hypocrisy.
