Rituals in India- Child marriage

Rituals in India- Child marriage

According to elderly people of some communities, child marriage is one of the reasons to start this nata pratha. The child marriage is still in practice in the state of Rajasthan and even after making it a crime, legally, communities are not coming out of it. The child marriage means, a marriage of children at tender age but in most of the communities the cohabitation is allowed when the members of a couple reached to the age of adult.

There are hundreds of cases and photographs carried by newspapers, when children aged 1 to 3 were tied in the knot of marriage by parents and the whole community gathered in the celebration and witnesses this ritual.

Even at present communities prefer child marriages and they give logic that child marriage save extravagant and expenses of marrying their children differently. Still there are hundreds of couples living happily who had child marriage and now they are lawyers, doctors, police officials and also politicians. And there are also cases where life of a boy or a girl spoiled because of this ritual.

In child marriage, parents marry two or even six children together of different ages. Communities say that with this system they have no tension how they arrange marriages of their daughters or sons when they grow up. Another reason of child marriage is to confine blood line within community so that their children do not go out and cross the line and marry girls or boys of different communities.

They also move ahead that child marriage is better because at adolescence their children do not commit crimes and they put forward that crime rate like rape or eve teasing was less in past in their societies because of this child marriage ritual.

Some of the educated leaders of these communities made version that when Moguls advanced in Rajasthan they put bad eyes on their girls and women and therefore to save their blood line and community they went to the child marriage system. In this way envision of enemies do not corrupt their woman and their woman remain safe.

There are thousand and thousand couples in the state who are living together just because they had child marriage and there are also dozens of examples coming out where girls and boys are opposing the child marriage and there is a NGO Sarthi who is taking legal course to nullified the child marriages and challenging these marriages as against the law throughout the state.

These volunteers say that child marriage means blocking the right of a girl to choose the right groom. In India, women had the right to choose her husband and epics like Ramayana and Mahabharata display example of freedom of women choosing their own husband. They add that child marriage is blocking the development of boys and girls and psychologically they feel that their career is stopped with this knot.

The major reason which made the system of child marriage progress in this land is poverty. Farmers are not rich in Rajasthan even having big lands. Most of the farmers who have land near highway are selling them and shifting to cities. Farming is not a handsome business nowadays where lands are turning small pieces with distribution of share in family’smembers, generation to generation and youth are no more interested to continue their traditional work. They wanted jobs in cities and wanted to live comfortable life. Parents who have two or three girls feel tension as marriages in this land are costlier. The feast for the community is essential as well as the dowry to the groom also matters in the community.

Sometimes parents are forced to sale their land and even houses to organize a function of marriage as per the desire of community. Moneylenders in village enjoy such functions as they lend money on high interest. Even these days, money lenders are the main source of loan for farmers and the interest is so high that they remain in debt for whole life and also left debt to coming generation.

Parents found relief and comfort with child marriage when their two or three daughters are tied down in the knot of marriage at same time and at same function without expanding extra money on marriage. They have to spend one time for organizing feast for the community. Mostly at the time of Akha Teej, when no zodiac calculation required fixing the time for marriage, communities organize child marriages. Lakhs of rupees are expanded on bringing awareness against child marriage but things are not changed with pace in rural regions.

Since last ten years there was pressure from the side of government and also from courts banning every sort of child marriage but the ritual still prevails as community leaders participate in such functions because they wanted their community support at the time of elections and secondly police never dare to enter the village and try to stop the child marriage because of the fear of villagers.

The new law also make accuse  to all those who organize child marriage but also who provide services in such functions, like caterer, barber or even musical band operators, The major setback for this ritual which is legally banned is the difference of opinion and thinking in the youth. Girls of different communities are nowadays seeking higher education and therefore they wanted that there groom should be educated and like the modern boy.