By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor
Founded in 2010, a non-profit organization in India has garnered much success—it claims thirty thousand persons—who are sheltered or provided opportunities to pursue their right to marry the person of their own choosing despite pressure and even threats of violence against them.
Love Commandos offers a help line service where verified callers can receive immediate assistance to relocate and receive social benefits on building a future of their own choosing.
The organization operates mostly out of Delhi but has regional centers of varying sizes throughout India. It offers to provide protection, including guards, to dissuade often times angry parents, relatives, or police from harassing and assaulting these couples who have married against the wishes of their home environment. Marital choice against the wishes of others continues to be problematic despite assurances from elected officials made to the outside world that progress is being made.
Sanjoy Sachdev, Chairman of Love Commandoes in an interview stated:
“We want lovers to unite no matter which caste, community, religion or place they come from. There should be a society where love prevails over everything.
Our organization started on July 2010 after we helped a couple in Delhi to unite after the boy was falsely charged by the girl’s family and had registered a police case against him. There are police cases lodged against many people whom we are helping and there are several groups who do not want us to continue with our activity.
If a couple needs assistance at place other than Delhi or NCR, we set up a shelter home nearby that area till the time we rehabilitate them.
It is becoming very difficult to operate with the soaring price of food, water, electricity, etc. We receive donations from people. Even legendary tennis player Bjorn Borg had donated to us twice.”
Despite the difficulties Love Commandos faces in providing these essential and morally courageous services, it continues to promote marriage equality and for couples to thrive in a new life.
16×9 News provides an closer insight into Love Commandos via YouTube
There is no honor in honor killings
There is honor in honoring love
~+~
By Darren Smith
Sources:
India Express
16×9 News via YouTube
Love Commandoes Website
Love Commandos Facebook Page
The views expressed in this posting are the author’s alone and not those of the blog, the host, or other weekend bloggers. As an open forum, weekend bloggers post independently without pre-approval or review. Content and any displays or art are solely their decision and responsibility.
happypappies,
I support their struggle… And I will encourage them to continue on and keep pressing for their ability to be treated as equals. I can’t be a bystander, per say, and not at least express my support and recognition to seek equality within a society. We are talking about two people, who love each other, seeking to solidify their love through ceremony of some sort, be it small and private, secular or religious, or grand and Bollywood. The upper/lower caste divide is ugly by design.
I’m not sure I get your ‘missionary’ reference unless it is to a past that does need to be overcome and dealt with. These are people living in India, seeking equality in the country they live in. I fail to get this notion that equality is something being ‘imported’ into India, no less from the USA. They are seeking it from within. And I support that.
Okay Max-1 – I re read the article and missed the part where it said it was within India. I stand corrected. Somehow I was confused and thought it was international. Probably from looking at the other article. Anyway, I stand corrected and I wish them all the luck in the world being a Social Progressive. 🙂 I am just Fiscally Conservative.
It is nice to see, but it has to be the only the people of India making it happen. I just hope it isn’t one of those side jobs of the NED to destabilize a country that is part of the non-US oil dollar BRICS. That’s all we need–a billion more enemies…
happypappies
It’s a good start.
= = =
Yes it is and it is essential that this start isn’t forsaken to those who scream they’re being choked by equality, as you said, “shoved down their throats.”
Max -1 I am trying to be patient here. I know you think I am the basest sort of Conservative but I am actually a Classical Liberal. In order to clear up any misunderstanding of the previous statement I am going to ignore the previous ad hominem attack and explain to you that I don’t quite think you have followed enough history to understand that the Western form of democracy is going to be quite a great fit for the Middle East. As I said in the other thread and I know you saw it, I personally agonized over this. We can be here to help them but to go over as Missionaries will not work. It never has. It is taken as shoving it down their throats. Look at what happens every time we go to Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran and so forth. We topple regimes of benevolent dictators and worse come into power. Obama has shorted the Military money and the Muslim Brotherhood is not going to welcome us with open arms.
Thomas Eric Duncan
I don’t understand your animus toward gay people that would lead you to feel contempt enough to target me like that. If you need someone to hate, look inside first.
Sorry Max -1 I was thinking of the other thread and not the Near East. But basically the same principle applies. Don’t you consider it the least bit arrogant that we would come over with our brand new Ideas of equality? Do you think they are going to trust us after England and their Mercantilism for example? The East India Company you know?
We celebrate your “right” to marry your dog, Max. We just pity the dog.
The first steps are the shakiest. If the government takes this as a paradigm, the problem will be well on its way to being solved. If the government has the balls.
Marriage Equality is about everyone’s Right to marry the person they love. Again I’ll ask, what is wrong with two consenting adults choosing to marry each other… Be they of different creeds, race, or of the same sex? Aren’t we all human and therefore, shouldn’t we be afforded the same Rights, equally among each other?
When society condemns love… hell isn’t far behind.
God bless them.
The caste system is still deeply entrenched in India. And women, especially, lack self determination and power over their own lives. Bride burning to clear the way for another dowry still happens in this country.
India is such a contradiction. Birthplace of Ghandi and yoga, a spiritual place, lovely poetry and stories, fantastic architectural marvels, and yet still bound by an iron caste system, temporary brides, savage gang rapes are still common and often go unprosecuted, and they have a terrible dish of monkey brains that’s essentially vivisection.
It really does seem to have the whole range of extremes.
Max-1
Not every country is into equal rights. Especially one that has had a caste system for 6000 years. We have only been here for 400 years. Think of it that way. It’s a good start. All we can do is set an example and follow it lovingly. If you go and try to shove it down their throats like a missionary, it will not work. Check it out historically
happy, Darren is a positive and forthright weekend contributor.
I can just hear him talking in the room you know? 🙂
Darren, you are truly a nice guy
Awesome. 🙂
Heartwrenching.
Kudos to the commandos. Dangerous work.