An all-girls college in Amravati in Maharashtra allegedly made students take a pledge against love marriage, on Valentines Day on Friday, ANI reported. Students of the Mahila Arts and Commerce College, Chandur Railway, took a pledge that they would “not love anyone and never have a love affair nor do a love marriage”.
“I take an oath that I have complete faith in my parents and I will not fall in love and not do love marriage,” the students pledged. The pledge also included an oath not to give dowry.
Rikita Rangaari, a student of the college, backed the pledge. “Whoever we love that person should be good for us and should be self-dependent,” Rangaari told reporters. “It is always better to take advice from the family in matters of love.”
Another student, Bhavna Tayde, said that parents can decide who their children will marry, and will think in the children’s best interests.
Maharashtra Women and Child Development Minister Yashomati Thakur said the students must have taken a non-binding pledge. She added that the pledge may have been taken in the context of the incident at Wardha, where a stalker set a woman on fire, following which she died of burn injuries.
However, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Pankaja Munde lashed out at the college. “Ridiculous!! simply weird !! girls from a school in Chintur, Amravati given oath of not falling in love n not going for love marriage..Why only girls take oath ??” she tweeted. “Rather give oath to boys that won’t throw acid on on a girl or burn her alive because of one-sided love.”
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