My interactions with a few of them suggested that they were all driven by a strong yearning to create an alternative to the BJP, particularly at a time when the Congress appeared to be losing political grip in Gujarat. All of them—except perhaps Kalsaria, who seemed more of a grassroots campaigner for environmental protection—had strong left-of-centre leanings, and were not politicians as we know them today.
Having such ideological leanings, they often didn’t even agree with each other on different issues. Not without reason, the fledgling party unit suffered fissures in less than a decade of its formation in Gujarat. Indeed, none of the persons mentioned above remained in AAP for long. Of these, Kalsaria and Mevani remain politicians: Kalsaria joined the Congress but returned to the BJP in 2024, while Mevani is a Congress MLA despite his stronger ideological stance.
That was the end of whatever contact I had with AAP. I thought the party was virtually finished.
However, it seemed to rise phoenix-like in the 2022 Gujarat assembly elections, when it secured 13 per cent votes, though ascending to just five MLAs in a house of 182. While some commentators said this was at the cost of the Congress, it was also seen as the outcome of disillusionment among sections seeking a veritable alternative. Indeed, AAP appeared to have made some dent in two major communities—Patels and tribals.
But was this also the end of the party in Gujarat, which seemed to stand for social reforms, especially in Delhi, where despite its recent electoral setback, it left behind a legacy of revolutionising two major sectors—health and education? And was it also the end of what seemed to be value-based politics of a party that had begun to take roots in Gujarat? I wasn’t sure, as I haven’t once interacted with those currently holding its reins.
The recent victory of AAP’s Gopal Italia in the Visavadar assembly by-election, however, appears to give some indication. Won from a seat known to have Patels as the most influential voters (they are said to constitute around one-third of the electorate), it was from here that former chief minister, the late Keshubhai Patel, would win hands down in successive polls until 2012. Himself a Patel, Italia seemed to many a future face of AAP in Gujarat because he fearlessly spoke truth to power and appeared committed to progressive ideology and values.
However, this new, upcoming face of Gujarat AAP has turned out to be one who upholds regressive social values widely prevalent in large sections of society. I don’t know the reason, but the first letter he wrote to the Gujarat chief minister upon taking oath as MLA was to demand a law ensuring that young girls are not allowed to elope with their boyfriends to get married—without expressing concern over poor health and educational standards in Gujarat, the very areas where AAP had made major contributions under Arvind Kejriwal’s chief ministership in Delhi.
Shared widely on social media, let me quote from the letter itself. Written in Gujarati, it appeared to be more concerned with appeasing the dominant sections of the community he belongs to—the Patels—where, especially in rural areas, love marriage without parental sanction is looked down upon as something terrible. The letter has nothing to say about the poor sex ratio said to be widely prevalent among sections of Patels, leading to such practices as sata-pata and even “importing” tribal brides.
So, what does the letter, which seeks to express concern over young rural girls being lured and eloping, actually say? Also an advocate of the Gujarat High Court, Italia, while hiding behind the alleged need to come up with a law “to increase the marriage age of girls to 21 years,” insists that to stop the large number of “incidents of girls running away or being made to run away at a legally adult but socially immature age,” it should also become mandatory to “register marriage only at the permanent residence of the bride.”
Italia does not think that what he considers a “sharp rise” in “the incidents of girls running away or being made to run away” in Gujarat is because young couples are becoming more aware of choosing their life partners on their own. Stating that such cases are “increasing at an alarming rate in Gujarat,” and that there is “great anger among all communities in Gujarat regarding the incidents of girls running away or being made to run away,” he calls it a “huge social problem.”
He insists: “When any innocent girl from a family is lured or enticed and taken away, it not only brings shame to the girl’s family or her community but also raises many other new problems in society. The incident of a person luring or threatening a girl from Gujarat and taking advantage of her youthful innocence and making her run away cannot be tolerated by the mainstream society forever.”
He continues: “The issue of girls is not just a problem for families or castes, but a matter of laws, administrative procedures, the distribution of failures, and a huge social problem. Hence, considering the issue very seriously, a study of many past incidents of running away or being made to run away reveals that in most cases, girls are targeted and trapped in a love-web when they are of an innocent age and studying in school.”
He adds: “Even when a girl is studying in 12th standard or college, she is trapped in a love-web and deceived through fake internet contacts. After that, they wait for the girl to turn 18 years old.” He then attacks “love marriages (court marriages),” stating, “A well-organized and systematic conspiracy is underway to arrange marriages for runaway boys and girls. They are taken to a remote village in a district far from their hometown, and a marriage is registered for money without any kind of documents.”
Calling it a “marriage registration scam,” he cites “data” of registered marriages, often higher than the total population of villages. Thus, in Panchmahal district’s Bhadrala there were 560 such registered marriages; in Amreli district’s Dhampur, Jamka, Mujyasar, and Tulindhya villages there were 1341, 944, 380 and 258 registered marriages respectively; and in Anand district’s Sandh, Rel, and Vali villages there were 365, 1193, and 113 registered marriages.
He contends that these registrations are often based on “fake documents,” employing different types of “irregularities,” in which “private agents, ‘love mafias,’ and gangs,” some from outside the state, ensure registration of such “fake marriages,” often to “financially and physically exploit the boys and girls in the name of ‘protection’.”
Italia believes: “When a girl is made to run away or she runs away with someone herself, this problem is not just for her family or a specific community, but it also creates other new problems. Her education is ruined; she is unable to become self-reliant; and due to lack of social or legal clarity regarding the property of the young man who runs away or makes someone run away and gets married, or the property he inherits, a problem regarding the share of property arises in the boy’s family later on.”
Further, “When a marriage of a boy and girl from different categories happens after running away, it raises the issue of religious conversion. In such cases, the newborn child is deprived of certain government benefits. And when such love marriages break up, the issue of divorce becomes extremely complex. In some cases, the girl does not get a divorce easily, while in others, the boy does not get a divorce easily.”
Often, the girl “files a false complaint against her parents,” leading to the parents facing “harassment,” and “when a complaint is filed against the boy’s parents, the family members have to face police action.” So, in order to stop love (court) marriages “done out of impulse, emotion, or some scheme,” he seeks a change in law to make the marriage age of girls 21 and to make it “mandatory for marriage to be registered only at the permanent residence of the girl… A person from Banaskantha should not have their marriage registered in Bhavnagar or Amreli.”
Already, socially aware critics—even those who once regarded Italia with hope—are up in arms against such a letter. One of them wonders: if increasing the age would solve the problem, why not raise it to 25 for both boys and girls? However, it is argued, “In India, a 25-year-old—or even a 35-year-old—is still considered immature or naive in the eyes of society when it comes to making their own life decisions, especially if you are a woman!”
It is pointed out: “The issue here is not the safety of daughters, because they are not safe anywhere—not even in the womb. Don’t harassment and murder happen in family-arranged marriages? Are young women not beaten or brutally murdered by their own fathers or brothers in the name of a fictional sense of honor?”
Further, “Do you know the statistics on how many women and girls are victims of domestic violence and honor killings each year? No one ever expresses such concern for the daughters who die a premature death at the hands of their own family! In reality, the issue here is not safety. It is about maintaining a patriarchal and casteist mindset.”
Indeed, Italia’s letter is just one step away from branding Muslim boys marrying Hindu girls as love jihad—a powerful Sangh Parivar bogey against inter-religious marriages. Would he care to clarify his stance on this, or would he wait for the day when he receives support from the more aggressive sections of the saffron forces? And, I wonder, what's AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal and his close associates' take on this?
Comments
Vinod Chand
I feel sorry for ltalia that he has to tackle such matters when there's many an issue burning ... But this is no less an issue it needs all the attention and l am sure something good will emerge !!