New Delhi: A BJP legislator Thursday likened live-in relationships to a “deadly disease” and urged the central government to bring a law against such bonds, which he said were “destroying Indian culture”.
Dharambir Singh, an MP from Haryana’s Bhiwani-Mahendergarh, told the Lok Sabha Thursday that this “disease” was also spreading hatred and evil in society.
Raising the issue during a discussion on matters of urgent public importance, Singh said: “Duniya hame jis sabhyata aur sanskriti ke liye janti hain, agar yehi haal raha toh hamara culture dam tod dega aur unke (West) aur hamare me koi fark nahi rahega. (The civilisation and culture that India is known for will die if this practice continues and there won’t be any difference between the West and India).”
Singh cited the case of Aftab Poonwala, who is accused of killing his live-in partner Shraddha Walkar last year, and added that such violence was being reported more and more in recent times. “This is the result of a live-in relationship,” Singh said.
Singh was also very disapproving of love marriages, which he said, had resulted in more divorces in recent years.
Arranged marriages, on the other hand, the MP felt, had a “very low divorce rate”.
He attributed this to the decades-long “culture of arranged marriages” in India, which he felt was more prevalent and had the blessings of parents and family members. “In this practice, the consent of both the bride and groom is also taken,” Singh added. He suggested that the consent of parents was paramount in love marriages too.
Singh was happy to note that India’s divorce rate was only one percent as compared to the US’s 40 percent, but despaired that love marriages would soon skew this “advantage”.
(Edited by Tikli Basu)