Brakes On Quick Love Marriage Via Arya Samaj Route: Will It Plug The Loopholes?

There is no doubt that the institution of the Arya Samaj weddings has helped in ushering in a system where the couple can get married with due legal and social sanction. This has helped in cutting the rigid and, at times, orthodox social customs, beliefs and practices which have long been the bane of Indian social set up. But, since there is no institution which is perfect and where the loopholes do not show up over a period time, the same has also happened with the love marriage conducted by the Samaj. The easy and simple way in which the marriages are conducted have also provided the opportunity to the unscrupulous elements to hoodwink the other partner as well as society and misuse this platform to get married. Love marriage conducted by the Arya Samaj, often without the permission of the families, is something which leaves a bad taste in the society.

In order to ensure that this system is not misused, there has been a recent judgment by one of the State High Courts which seeks to put in place a system of check and balances. So, for the people in love, it might not be so quick a marriage anymore as was done previously. If you look at the key difference between the court marriage and the Arya Samaj wedding, it relates essentially to the presence of this system of making the checks and balances in the former and the absence of the same in good measure in the latter. In the court marriage, there is a provision of issuing the notices announcing the intent of the parties to get married and also to invite the objections to this marriage from the respective parents and others from the public. There is a time gap between the application for marriage and the actual marriage.

With the same system sought to be applied for Arya Samaj wedding as well, there is a lot of speculation on what would be the results of this measure? Clearly, the people who are marrying against the family wishes and without their knowledge would find it difficult to go ahead with the same. So, they would be left with the option of either co-habiting without getting legally married or be simply getting married at a different state. So, it is not surprising to find that the other neighboring states might witness an increase in the number of love marriage of the couple from this state. So, the measure is not likely to be effective till the time all other states do not follow it.

Another issue pertaining to this stricture is that this might further complicate the otherwise simple married life which the couple is willing to lead. By informing the parents or the other people, there might be unnecessary intervention from the people who are against the love marriage. It might also be used by others for making false claims on age and other legal eligibility criteria, resulting in time loss and further enquiries. This will lead to a situation of helplessness and the trust in the institution of Arya Samaj wedding will dwindle. So, the ruling has initiated a debate on its efficacy.