Anu Anand - Support the Love Commandos!
In India, "love" is still considered by many to be a dirty word with most marriages arranged by parents along religious or caste lines. But a group of "love commandos" are increasingly stepping in to protect Cupid and his targets
Rajveer Singh is a handsome young man of 23. He has large, earnest eyes and hair that falls over his forehead. He is well-built, quiet, thoughtful. When Rajveer was 12, a new family moved into the house across the narrow alley. The first time he saw Madhuri, who was then 14, he says he fell in love. "I thought to myself 'this is the girl I want to marry'. She was mischievous, she had a beautiful smile, and I knew she would look after me." Madhuri, a petite, bright-eyed woman with a winning smile, says she felt the same. Over the years, as Rajveer and Madhuri went to school together and shared their best hopes and worst fears, they fell utterly in love.You know what happens next. This is India, where parents vet a potential marriage partner like Nasa scientists checking a space shuttle before lift-off:
caste
complexion
horoscope
height
character
qualifications
family
eating habits
Love just does not get a look in. So when Rajveer and Madhuri told their families they wanted to marry, the answer was a resounding "no". Rajveer's family are Thakurs, or landowners. Madhuri's are Banias, or traders. Apparently incompatible. But they were undeterred. As Madhuri's family took her back to the village to forcibly betroth her to a more suitable boy, Rajveer hatched a plan. He called the Love Commandos. Perhaps you are picturing them now - tall, chivalrous men in tights, wielding swords and roses. Well, not quite. A group of aging businessmen and journalists, the Love Commandos began 10 years ago as a movement to protect lovers from harassment by both Hindu and Muslim hard-liners. One of their co-founders, Sanjoy Sachdeva, is a rumpled, white-haired hack whom I met after a series of phone calls. "Come to the Imperial Cinema. Come alone. One of my commandos will meet you."
Down a fly-blown alley in Paharganj, near New Delhi railway station where backpackers sip mixed fruit juice at cheap open stalls and disembowelled televisions are repaired on the street, I met Sanjoy in one of the Love Commandos' secret shelters. It had all the charm of a broom closet. But in India, where falling in love is a provocative social and political statement, a safe broom closet can come in very handy. Sanjoy explained that the image of a commando is central to the helpline he and his colleagues operate. Indian lovers need protection and they need to believe that they will receive it.
Madhuri managed to escape from her relatives' house in the village, and met Rajveer at the train station, knowing they were guaranteed sanctuary back in Delhi. That same evening, they arrived at the Love Commandos' shelter to find flowers, clothes and some simple jewellery for Madhuri. More importantly, they found smiles of encouragement and good wishes.
Within hours they were man and wife.
Rajveer and Madhuri flanked by Love Commandos
On paper it is very Romeo and Juliet - or the eastern equivalent Laila and Majnu - but in reality, rescuing lovers is expensive and difficult. In Delhi alone the Commandos' monthly operation costs up to $5,000. After pontificating about love over a cigarette, Sanjoy pins me with his green eyes and says, plaintively: "We need money. We are broke. Our friends are broke. I'm not sure how long we can sustain this." Still, he and his Commandos fervently believe that the only way to change India's caste-riven society is through love marriages. They hope that the children born of such unions will be freer and more equal.
But, if Rajveer and Madhuri's story is any barometer, change will come grudgingly and violently. Last year, after the couple dared to move back to their old neighbourhood, Rajveer was held at knife point by four men. They drove him to a secluded spot, tied him up and beat him severely and left him for dead. At first, the police refused to act. With the Commandos' help, they did eventually file a report. No one has been charged. Madhuri is convinced her own family was involved. She says someone recently toppled a pile of bricks from a shared rooftop onto the couples' bed. Luckily they were not in it. According to Unicef, nearly 40% of India's billion-plus population is under the age of 18. Falling in love here is not easy, but more couples are choosing to brave the consequences. For the Commandos, love is war. And as long as they can afford it, they do not intend to surrender peacefully. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-18280997
Meet the Love Commandos
Couples daring to marry against the wishes of their families and community are getting support from a civil society initiative launched to help those in love. Calling themselves 'Love Commandos,' a group of volunteers including lawyers, journalists and human rights activists offer counsel through a helpline, provide shelter to lovebirds seeking a safe nest and even help them get married. Most of the calls come from western Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana, from where many honour killings have been reported. On getting a call from desperate lovers, the volunteers inform the police and activate their legal cell in that area. If the police don't respond, they move the courts seeking legal protection for the couple. The group believes love is a means towards creating a classless society. "In a love marriage, evils such as dowry and ostentation are rooted out," says lawyer Pradeep Chowdhary. So, Love Commandos (LC) encourage marriages and alliances that challenge conventions of caste or religion. For instance, Sanjeev Kumar, a Dalit lecturer of Maths in Una, Himachal Pradesh, eloped with Lavangna Joshi, his Brahmin student, in 2010. They got married and went to Jammu. When the girl's parents intimidated her and threatened to get their marriage annulled, they sought refuge in an LC centre for two weeks. "It was a home away from home. They also helped us get a police protection order after getting the Home Ministry involved," says Kumar.
Similarly, in Khammam, Andhra Pradesh, when engineering student K Anitha Reddy converted to Islam to marry MA Mujahed, all hell broke loose. "We escaped a number of attacks from her relatives," says Mujahed. After marrying in January 2011, they hid at a Love Commando centre in central Delhi for 25 days. "During this time, they contacted the director general of police in Andhra Pradesh and got us a protection order. Still, the attitude of a majority of cops is callous," he says.
On July 7 last year, a group of like-minded friends launched Love Commandos as a movement against honour killings, with a telephone helpline, recalls chief coordinator Harsh Malhotra. "We got the first call at 5.52pm. The phone hasn't stopped ringing since. I didn't realise the problem of lovers in distress was so widespread." The group now claims to have 5,00,000 members from across the country. The helpline is free and the operation funded by an annual contribution of Rs. 100 from the volunteers. The movement helps girls above 18 and boys above 19 years get married. They also provide services of priests, imams and pandits to conduct wedding ceremonies. "We prefer not to call ourselves an NGO, since we don't seek funds from the government," says their chairman Sanjay Sachdev. Volunteers often get threatened by angry relatives and local politicians. So, they maintain secrecy about the location of their helpline centre.
One of the callers to the helpline was an Indian boy working in Australia who married a girl in Dera Baba Nanak, Punjab. "The girl's family hid her at her aunt's home in Amritsar," recalls Malhotra. "We approached the police and they promptly rescued her at 6am the next morning. The girl, 22, wished to stay with her husband. Now she is set to join him in Australia after her studies."
Over the last year, claims Sachdev, his group has helped more than 5,000 people get married. The commandos built bridges with lawyers, who pitch in with legal aide for distressed lovers. "They are working for a noble cause. So we have no qualms pitching in with pro bono assistance," says advocate Navkiran Singh, a human rights lawyer with the Punjab and Haryana high court. The most common complaint that the commandos get on the helpline is that the couple's parents are threatening to kill them. Many times, says Malhotra, the police look the other way. "Still, after a year, they've come to realise that we are working for a good cause. Now, even the cops have begun to help us." Last heard, they helped a love-struck Delhi Police constable marry the daughter of a sub-inspector in Uttar Pradesh. http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=2597011166656336985&postID=669741807135738969&from=pencil
Lovers in distress can call the helpline at 93137-84375
Satyamev Jayate: Meet the Love Commandos
Thanks to Aamir Khan's TV show 'Satyamev Jayate', Love Commandos has become a familiar term for thousands of television viewers. Fifth episode of 'Satyamev Jayate' talked about the issue of honour killing in India. Sanjay Sachdev, chairman of Love Commandos was interviewed by Aamir during the show. The name of this organisation sounds like a Bollywood film and they are the real heroes for many couples. In a scenario where a large section of society is still against love marriages, Love Commandos provide help to lovers. Established in 2010, it is a voluntary organisation having a national network of volunteers. The volunteers include lawyers, journalists and human right activists as well. They provide counseling to youngsters through their helpline. Apart from that, Love Commandos provide food, shelter, protection and legal assistance to the couples who tie the knot against their family’s wish. They have seven shelters for lovers across India.
Working with a motto of 'no more honour killings', Love Commandos was established by a group of friends with Harsh Malhotra as the chief coordinator. The organisation motivates couples to stand against the caste system. During the show Sanjay Sachdev said, "According to the Supreme Court, caste system is like a curse to our society. Inter-caste marriages can actually save our society from division. The entire society has to understand this." A few members of Khap Panchayat, who are strictly against love marriages, were also present in the studio. And Sachdev didn’t fail to take dig at them as well. Sachdev added that even police officials consider love as a crime. Do you think having more organisations like Love Commandos can help in stopping honour killings?
http://content.ibnlive.in.com/article/03-Jun-2012tv/satyamev-jayate-meet-the-love-commandos-264073-44.html
Rajveer Singh is a handsome young man of 23. He has large, earnest eyes and hair that falls over his forehead. He is well-built, quiet, thoughtful. When Rajveer was 12, a new family moved into the house across the narrow alley. The first time he saw Madhuri, who was then 14, he says he fell in love. "I thought to myself 'this is the girl I want to marry'. She was mischievous, she had a beautiful smile, and I knew she would look after me." Madhuri, a petite, bright-eyed woman with a winning smile, says she felt the same. Over the years, as Rajveer and Madhuri went to school together and shared their best hopes and worst fears, they fell utterly in love.You know what happens next. This is India, where parents vet a potential marriage partner like Nasa scientists checking a space shuttle before lift-off:
caste
complexion
horoscope
height
character
qualifications
family
eating habits
Love just does not get a look in. So when Rajveer and Madhuri told their families they wanted to marry, the answer was a resounding "no". Rajveer's family are Thakurs, or landowners. Madhuri's are Banias, or traders. Apparently incompatible. But they were undeterred. As Madhuri's family took her back to the village to forcibly betroth her to a more suitable boy, Rajveer hatched a plan. He called the Love Commandos. Perhaps you are picturing them now - tall, chivalrous men in tights, wielding swords and roses. Well, not quite. A group of aging businessmen and journalists, the Love Commandos began 10 years ago as a movement to protect lovers from harassment by both Hindu and Muslim hard-liners. One of their co-founders, Sanjoy Sachdeva, is a rumpled, white-haired hack whom I met after a series of phone calls. "Come to the Imperial Cinema. Come alone. One of my commandos will meet you."
Down a fly-blown alley in Paharganj, near New Delhi railway station where backpackers sip mixed fruit juice at cheap open stalls and disembowelled televisions are repaired on the street, I met Sanjoy in one of the Love Commandos' secret shelters. It had all the charm of a broom closet. But in India, where falling in love is a provocative social and political statement, a safe broom closet can come in very handy. Sanjoy explained that the image of a commando is central to the helpline he and his colleagues operate. Indian lovers need protection and they need to believe that they will receive it.
Madhuri managed to escape from her relatives' house in the village, and met Rajveer at the train station, knowing they were guaranteed sanctuary back in Delhi. That same evening, they arrived at the Love Commandos' shelter to find flowers, clothes and some simple jewellery for Madhuri. More importantly, they found smiles of encouragement and good wishes.
Within hours they were man and wife.
Rajveer and Madhuri flanked by Love Commandos
On paper it is very Romeo and Juliet - or the eastern equivalent Laila and Majnu - but in reality, rescuing lovers is expensive and difficult. In Delhi alone the Commandos' monthly operation costs up to $5,000. After pontificating about love over a cigarette, Sanjoy pins me with his green eyes and says, plaintively: "We need money. We are broke. Our friends are broke. I'm not sure how long we can sustain this." Still, he and his Commandos fervently believe that the only way to change India's caste-riven society is through love marriages. They hope that the children born of such unions will be freer and more equal.
But, if Rajveer and Madhuri's story is any barometer, change will come grudgingly and violently. Last year, after the couple dared to move back to their old neighbourhood, Rajveer was held at knife point by four men. They drove him to a secluded spot, tied him up and beat him severely and left him for dead. At first, the police refused to act. With the Commandos' help, they did eventually file a report. No one has been charged. Madhuri is convinced her own family was involved. She says someone recently toppled a pile of bricks from a shared rooftop onto the couples' bed. Luckily they were not in it. According to Unicef, nearly 40% of India's billion-plus population is under the age of 18. Falling in love here is not easy, but more couples are choosing to brave the consequences. For the Commandos, love is war. And as long as they can afford it, they do not intend to surrender peacefully. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-18280997
Meet the Love Commandos
Couples daring to marry against the wishes of their families and community are getting support from a civil society initiative launched to help those in love. Calling themselves 'Love Commandos,' a group of volunteers including lawyers, journalists and human rights activists offer counsel through a helpline, provide shelter to lovebirds seeking a safe nest and even help them get married. Most of the calls come from western Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana, from where many honour killings have been reported. On getting a call from desperate lovers, the volunteers inform the police and activate their legal cell in that area. If the police don't respond, they move the courts seeking legal protection for the couple. The group believes love is a means towards creating a classless society. "In a love marriage, evils such as dowry and ostentation are rooted out," says lawyer Pradeep Chowdhary. So, Love Commandos (LC) encourage marriages and alliances that challenge conventions of caste or religion. For instance, Sanjeev Kumar, a Dalit lecturer of Maths in Una, Himachal Pradesh, eloped with Lavangna Joshi, his Brahmin student, in 2010. They got married and went to Jammu. When the girl's parents intimidated her and threatened to get their marriage annulled, they sought refuge in an LC centre for two weeks. "It was a home away from home. They also helped us get a police protection order after getting the Home Ministry involved," says Kumar.
Similarly, in Khammam, Andhra Pradesh, when engineering student K Anitha Reddy converted to Islam to marry MA Mujahed, all hell broke loose. "We escaped a number of attacks from her relatives," says Mujahed. After marrying in January 2011, they hid at a Love Commando centre in central Delhi for 25 days. "During this time, they contacted the director general of police in Andhra Pradesh and got us a protection order. Still, the attitude of a majority of cops is callous," he says.
On July 7 last year, a group of like-minded friends launched Love Commandos as a movement against honour killings, with a telephone helpline, recalls chief coordinator Harsh Malhotra. "We got the first call at 5.52pm. The phone hasn't stopped ringing since. I didn't realise the problem of lovers in distress was so widespread." The group now claims to have 5,00,000 members from across the country. The helpline is free and the operation funded by an annual contribution of Rs. 100 from the volunteers. The movement helps girls above 18 and boys above 19 years get married. They also provide services of priests, imams and pandits to conduct wedding ceremonies. "We prefer not to call ourselves an NGO, since we don't seek funds from the government," says their chairman Sanjay Sachdev. Volunteers often get threatened by angry relatives and local politicians. So, they maintain secrecy about the location of their helpline centre.
One of the callers to the helpline was an Indian boy working in Australia who married a girl in Dera Baba Nanak, Punjab. "The girl's family hid her at her aunt's home in Amritsar," recalls Malhotra. "We approached the police and they promptly rescued her at 6am the next morning. The girl, 22, wished to stay with her husband. Now she is set to join him in Australia after her studies."
Over the last year, claims Sachdev, his group has helped more than 5,000 people get married. The commandos built bridges with lawyers, who pitch in with legal aide for distressed lovers. "They are working for a noble cause. So we have no qualms pitching in with pro bono assistance," says advocate Navkiran Singh, a human rights lawyer with the Punjab and Haryana high court. The most common complaint that the commandos get on the helpline is that the couple's parents are threatening to kill them. Many times, says Malhotra, the police look the other way. "Still, after a year, they've come to realise that we are working for a good cause. Now, even the cops have begun to help us." Last heard, they helped a love-struck Delhi Police constable marry the daughter of a sub-inspector in Uttar Pradesh. http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=2597011166656336985&postID=669741807135738969&from=pencil
Lovers in distress can call the helpline at 93137-84375
Satyamev Jayate: Meet the Love Commandos
Thanks to Aamir Khan's TV show 'Satyamev Jayate', Love Commandos has become a familiar term for thousands of television viewers. Fifth episode of 'Satyamev Jayate' talked about the issue of honour killing in India. Sanjay Sachdev, chairman of Love Commandos was interviewed by Aamir during the show. The name of this organisation sounds like a Bollywood film and they are the real heroes for many couples. In a scenario where a large section of society is still against love marriages, Love Commandos provide help to lovers. Established in 2010, it is a voluntary organisation having a national network of volunteers. The volunteers include lawyers, journalists and human right activists as well. They provide counseling to youngsters through their helpline. Apart from that, Love Commandos provide food, shelter, protection and legal assistance to the couples who tie the knot against their family’s wish. They have seven shelters for lovers across India.
Working with a motto of 'no more honour killings', Love Commandos was established by a group of friends with Harsh Malhotra as the chief coordinator. The organisation motivates couples to stand against the caste system. During the show Sanjay Sachdev said, "According to the Supreme Court, caste system is like a curse to our society. Inter-caste marriages can actually save our society from division. The entire society has to understand this." A few members of Khap Panchayat, who are strictly against love marriages, were also present in the studio. And Sachdev didn’t fail to take dig at them as well. Sachdev added that even police officials consider love as a crime. Do you think having more organisations like Love Commandos can help in stopping honour killings?
http://content.ibnlive.in.com/article/03-Jun-2012tv/satyamev-jayate-meet-the-love-commandos-264073-44.html
