CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2024
| Author | Samriddhi Chatterjee |
|---|---|
| Title | Navigating Discrimination And Agency: Hurdles To Interfaith Marriages In Secular India |
| Summary | This socio-legal study aims to understand the legal framework on interfaith marriages in India. In India, despite its secular identity, integrating religious diversity into society poses challenges. Article 25 of the Indian Constitution guarantees freedom of religion. Dr. Ambedkar highlighted marriage as a crucial means of fostering communal ties in the context of caste. The right to marry though is not explicitly mentioned in the Constitution, but has been read into it by the Supreme Court under various case laws. However, interfaith marriages face unique obstacles, with two primary options: registration under the Special Marriage Act or conversion to one party's religion. The former requires a public notice, making couples vulnerable to extremist scrutiny and potential honour killings, while conversion has become difficult due to anti-conversion laws. Anti-conversion legislations in various states complicate matters, deeming conversions for marriage unlawful. These laws place a reverse burden of proof on the accused (husband) to demonstrate the conversion's consensual nature and takes away the voice from the woman. Such regulations infringe on women's agency, as the burden shifts from men to prove a woman's willingness to the conversion. This also challenges established patriarchal norms where women typically adopt their husband's name or religion. The absence of a framework similar to interfaith marriages for intra-religious marriages highlights discrimination. While India is a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which recognizes the right to marry without discrimination, domestic practices contradict these international standards. The conflict between anti-conversion laws and human rights, particularly freedom of religion and women's agency, underscores the need for a re-evaluation of domestic legislation to align with global principles of non-discrimination and equal rights. |
| Supervisor | Winkler, Inga, T. |
| Department | Legal Studies LLM |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2024/chatterjee_samriddhi.pdf |
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