Promoting Interfaith marriages and presenting them as the ultimate ‘Love’ (Sacchi Mohabbat) has been the sole propaganda of Bollywood for a long time now. But Bollywood is not alone in preaching how love conquers all barriers, especially if it is between a Hindu girl and a Muslim boy. Actors, media personalities, digital creators and intellectuals are also added to the list.
Recently the very famous Offical Humans of Bombay shared an interfaith marriage where a Hindu girl married a Muslim boy and shares all the barriers their love triumphed. The other way round (Hindu boy marrying a Muslim woman) seems next to impossible.
However, the ground reality remains the same where girls after choosing the so-called ‘Sacchi Mohabbat’ end up either being cheated or losing their lives.
On March 28, the Official Humans of Bombay from their official Instagram handle posted a video with the caption, “Hindu Hokar Musalman se Shaadi kese Kar Sakti Ho?”. This four-paragraph long story is about Azim and a Hindu girl falling in love and having ‘Nikah’ after all the struggle as, love always wins.
Here is the story, ‘𝗛𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘂 hokar 𝗠𝘂𝘀𝗮𝗹𝗺𝗮𝗻 se shaadi kaise kar sakte hai?’ Dadi asked when I told everyone about Azim.
We met at university in Singapore while pursuing our MBA. We had the same circle so we’d party together. He had caught my eye; I’d make excuses to talk to him. But we had nothing in common! I came from the hills of Uttarakhand & he was a city boy from Pune. I was a nerd while he ran away from his books. I knew nothing about cooking while he made all his meals. Still, we found comfort in our differences.
And 3 months later, when I received the worst call of my life–’Your mom had a heart attack. She is no more’, Azim became my biggest support. He came with me to India & helped my family with the funeral arrangements. Who does that?
And a few weeks later, when we went back, we began hanging out alone. He was so nice–every morning, he’d make breakfast for me. We lived on different floors. So, he’d come to my place & we’d eat together! Time passed, & we fell in love.
Soon, I decided to tell my family about Azim. While Dad & my brother were happy, 𝗗𝗮𝗱𝗶 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗮𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁 it. I was shocked. Religion had never come between us so why was it now? We went back to India; it took us 3 months to convince her. I’d talk about how happy Azim made me & one day, Dadi finally said, ‘Ask him to come home with his family.’ After talking to his Mom, I could see Dadi’s views change a little. She saw how much we loved each other & soon, she agreed!
A week later, in Singapore, Azim officially asked me to marry him–we had gone for an event & as we were leaving, he went down on his knee! Of course the answer was ‘Yes!’
We tied the knot 2 months ago–we had a Hindu wedding during the day & our Nikah at night. And the highlight of our wedding? 𝗗𝗮𝗱𝗶 𝗰𝗿𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝘆 𝗺𝘆 𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗮𝘀 𝗜 𝘀𝗮𝗶𝗱, ‘𝗤𝘂𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗹 𝗵𝗮𝗶!’
Honestly, that day, love won. Still, people say, ‘Yeh shaadi kaise chalegi?’ We know it’s not going to be easy, people are going to say all sorts of things, & we’re going to be labelled. But I’m not worried…because while we still see people for their caste, religion, & race, love moves beyond all of that & sees just the heart!”
This story has same Bollywood plot where, only a Muslim man can be wise enough to understand a Hindu woman. Other Hindu men treat their women as commodities. Kindly, read the paragraph where the woman says, ‘When I received the worst call of my life, that my mother passed away, Azim came along and helped me out which the last rites, who does that?’
Of course a Muslim a boy.
Earlier in August 2020, The Official Humans of Bombay shared a similar story where another Hindu woman Gayatri, a pure vegetarian married Tausif, a Muslim.
Here is the story, “Tauseef and I were in the same French class. A friend introduced us and the first thing he said to me was, ‘You have a very pretty smile’– my whole face went red!
Later that day, when we bumped into each other at the station, I knew he was waiting for me. He then asked for my number, but I felt like it was too quick and refused. Over the next few weeks, he asked me out for coffee, gave me chocolates– I’d dodge him, but secretly loved the attention.
We were poles apart– he was quiet and charming, and I was talkative and practical. He loved meat and I was vegetarian. He was Muslim and I was Hindu. But despite our differences, we became friends. We only realised we liked each other when I was on a trip with my family and couldn’t speak to him for 2 weeks– I missed him terribly. After I returned, I told him how I felt; he confessed that he liked me too.
The next 2 years in college, it was always Gayathri ka Tauseef– our friends teased us, ‘Get married already.’ But after graduation, he moved to Bangalore and I went to Mumbai for work. For 8 years, we did long distance– there were times when we didn’t meet for a year!
Honestly, it was far from a fairytale– we’d fight and argue over little things like, ‘Why didn’t you pick up my call?’ or ‘Why were you out so late?’ But Tauseef had a rule– ‘Whatever the issue, we sort it out before going to bed.’ That’s how we worked it out.
But when I turned 26, my parents started looking for rishtas. We’d never had a love marriage in our family, forget an inter-religion one. I was so nervous about telling them about Tauseef. In fact, there was a period when I felt that letting go would be easier.
But Tauseef was so sure– he called and said, ‘I’ve convinced my parents!’ That gave me the courage to speak to mine. But Amma broke down and Appa was stunned– he avoided talking about it for months.
Our only advantage was that both families knew us as friends and liked us from the beginning. Over the next few weeks, Tauseef kept coming home to meet my parents, I met his siblings and cousins. We were ready to give our parents as much time as they needed, but stood our ground– belonging to different religions didn’t matter to us; we were in love and wanted to marry. Eventually, after a year, both families accepted us as a couple and we had a big fat Hindu-Muslim wedding!
Through 5 years of marriage and 15 years of knowing each other, religion has never come between us. I fast with him for Ramzan and he celebrates Diwali with my family. We recently had our baby and our only goal is to teach her this– it’s important to be a good human being first and choose love over everything else.”
Another story where a Hindu woman married a Muslim boy, she keeps fast in Ramzan and would have been offering namaz as well. Pages like Humans of Bombay never find a Hindu man marrying a Muslim woman story enthralling enough to give them space in their page.
All they have learned from Bollywood is that the ultimate ‘Saccha Pyaar’ is when a Hindu girl starts believing in Allah and comes in Islam, the other way around is not love but the ‘Bhagwa trap’. Also, only Muslim boys know how to treat a woman.
Apart from these fairy tale stories, here are some of the real-life ends to the ‘Sacchi Mohabbat’:
Who can forget Delhi’s Shraddha Walker murder case who was chopped into 35 pieces by live-in partner Aftab Amin Poonawala. In a 6,629-page chargesheet, Aftab described how he killed Shraddha Walkar, chopped her body parts, stored them in a newly bought fridge and disposed them off in a forest in Mehrauli over the next 18 days. Soon after Shraddha’s Murder, another such case was reported from the Sahebganj district of Jharkhand.
Here Dildar Ansari chopped Ribika into more than 51 pieces. Ribika was his second wife and she left her family and religion to marry Dildar. She was killed on 16 December 2022, and an electric cutter was used for chopping the body. He allegedly chopped her into more than fifty pieces. The police arrested six more members of Dildar’s family including his parents Mustakim and Mariyam; Dildar’s first wife Gulera; and Dildar’s siblings Ameer, Mehtab and Shareja.
Another gory murder incident was reported from Bihar. where, a man identified as Sheikh Shakeel or Shakeel Miyan in news reports, allegedly chopped the limbs and other body parts of a woman named Neelam Devi, leading to her brutal death. He penetrated the deadly weapon into her eyes too as per eyewitnesses.
In December 2022, a case from Bihar Danish set Archna on fire. As per Archana’s statement, while she was sleeping, Danish barged into her house with a can of petrol. He tried to rape her. When she resisted, he poured petrol on her and, using a burning wooden log from the earthen stove, set her on fire. When she raised an alarm, neighbours and relatives gathered and chased him away.
In December 2022, a case was reported in Lakhimpur Kheri Uttar Pradesh where a woman who eloped and had conversion nikah with Wasi Ahmad was found buried inside the bedroom after she was killed with electric shocks.
