Lusting for the Hindu Woman

Interreligious marriage

Lust is a word that means intense or unrestrained sexual craving. Sometimes the word does look vulgar or course but it defines a mindset that is dictated by desire and temptation. All over India and Pakistan, the one fact that stands out is the number of Hindu girls with Muslim men as husbands. In Pakistan, it takes a bizarre form with about 20-25 Hindu girls being kidnapped every month in Sind province and forcibly converted and married to Muslim men. In India, there is no coercion but any numbers of Hindu girls marry Muslims. Even the film stars are into it and the most famous present-day heroine Karina Kapoor has married a Muslim star who has 2 grown-up children.

I began to wonder why this is so after all just a few decades the Muslims and Hindus did not have much of intermarriages. Before independence and the advent of the Raj, the Muslims were the rulers and they could have their pick of Hindu girls. Even the warrior Timur selected 200 of the most beautiful Hindu girls for his harem. But it all ended with the Raj and independence.

So frankly I am intrigued to see so many Hindu girls marrying Muslim men. The contrast is stark as in all cases the Hindu girls convert to Islam. This is mandatory and is something that happens, but I suppose there is very little coercion involved, except in Pakistan where the situation is entirely different. I wonder what could be the psychology behind these marriages.

The Big Divide

Obviously, there is some background to it. One thing that strikes me is a loss of power by the Muslims the Hindu girls became unattainable. So the Muslim men with a not a little encouragement from the Mullahs began to assiduously woo Hindu girls. The idea was to win them over and marry them and beget children. It’s like a victory in battle, after all in ancient wars the women were the prize.

These are harsh thoughts, but I suppose there is some truth in it. Thus the Muslim man will go out of his way to court a Hindu girl. What about the Hindu girl? There is a new found freedom given by independent India and the Hindu girl is exercising it to the hilt. One manifestation is these marriages. In contrast, the reverse of Muslim girls marrying Hindu boys is just a trickle. Rigidity in Islam is intense?

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