Dehra Dun, May 15
Feeling helpless
in stemming the growing trend among the Sikh youth to marry into
non-Sikh families, the Sikh clergy and community leaders here have put a
virtual ban on inter-faith marriages.
Deliberating on the issue in a
meeting of representatives of around 35 local gurdwara committees and
other Sikh organisations at Gurmat Kender, Race Course Road, yesterday,
a resolution was passed banning such alliances being solemnised at local
gurdwaras. “We took the decision as such marriages were taking place
in violation of the Sikh maryada,” said Balwinder Singh, president,
Gurmat Satsang Sabha.
To make the decision more deterrent, the Sikh
families failing to pay heed to this collective concern of the community
would be liable for social boycott. Balwinder Singh, however, maintained
that the decision should not be misread as communal. The resolution also
warned against observing Hindu marriage rite of “jaimala” before
“anand karaj.”
What if any boy or girl gets married through court?
“We are helpless in that situation. But we do not mind such marriages
if the non-Sikh bridegroom or bride embraces Sikhism,” he added. When
contacted for his comments, SGPC president Avtar Singh Makkar endorsed
this view.
The step has not come without a note of dissension. “The
idea is okay so far as its reformatory spirit, especially about checking
other social religious ills, is concerned. But we strongly disapprove
the social boycott of the family as it normally happens these days that
parents have to relent due to insistence of the children,” observed
Gurdip Singh Tony, president, Uttarakhand Sikh
Federation.
Interestingly, his wife is a Hindu. The resolution also
took strong exception to taking Guru Granth Sahib to marriage palaces or
hotels for marriage ceremonies as well as use of liquor on these
occasions.
