“These types of cultural & religious changes will have devastating impact on the very social, educational, emotional and mariatal coexistencies of next gereration population pool in Kashmir”
Marriages hold an important position in life to live socially and to meet one’s personal needs. Marrying a woman of chastity and to marry with honour and dignity is everyone’s internal demand to the immediate society that offers him or her choice of life partner. Different religions hold different beliefs of matrimonial ceremonies and different ethnic groups have their own cultural variants of carrying out their marital rituals. Parents spends willfully their lifetime earnings in getting their children married with a sense of satisfaction and receiving respect and applause from the society in which they live. Marriage functions hold an important part of enjoying to one’s heart. In Kashmir, the structure and existential procedure of marriage is world known and famous for it’s cultural diversification. The taste of Kashmiri marriages is testament to the fact that preoccupancy of mariatal rituals in Kashmir are the best one’s offered world over. But the recent trend of extravagant marriages is a disturbing one so far as spending of money and unrealistic and unassociative innovative practices of marriage rituals are concerned that have erupted in the society, verily out of society acceptable terms. This negative improvisation puts a heavy toll on the marriages of poor candidates prevalent in the society. These rising and unabated practices lead to late marriages in wake of poverty and for not matcing the existing standards of society. Some rich families are literally putting the marriages of poor families at standstill, because being out of society bounds, no one comes to their rescue as a result they have to live individual life. These practices inturn add to the social crimes as persons who are unable to get married legally follow other route to get their needs fulfilled. In order to check this menace, we have to contribute by simplifying marriages as much as we can. We have to create a society of equal standard for every person irrespective of his family background and history. This way we can put a check on the eruption of anti-social outbursts in wake of rising extravagance in marriages. In Kashmir, the unique and rich cultural identification is fading way slowly due to these changes at society level. The response to these malpractices is somehow hazy as no individual belief or any section of collaborative social organization work to eradicate this menace from the society. Government in it’s show has put a restriction on the number of invitees in marriages but has never literally worked to check this rising trent of extravagant marriages in Kashmir. It should have been primary focus of government to manhandle the situation by virtue of it’s power, but it is clear that government has enough time to dispose off out of social issues not pertaining to Kashmir but has nothing to offer to control the rising crimes as whatever they appear. Any agency in particular has to come forward on voluntary basis, whether it be social groupings of respective villages, towns or cities or any authoritarian might to educate people regarding the ill effects of these malpractices prevalent in the society. They should be awared that it is not only the poor who suffer in wake of these anto-social intrusions but they themselves have to taste the repercusionary result of their doings in the times to come. If someone offers anything to someone, It is presumptive that the receiver have to pay more than that what he/she had received. It is a give and take process based on greed, lust and false beliefs. More or less these practices have added to the miseries of poor and have doublefold increased the social crimes. It is time that we ordain from our past doings and take it as a social and moral responsibility for not to take part in these rituals of deceit and destruction. Being an Islamic state, we must acknowledge the teachings of Islam and practice the principles with true spirit and dedication. We have to shun the rising trend of global living standards as they offer nothing except temporary pleasure and long term destruction and devastation. We have to and must live our life with simplicity, that only will provide us with the feelings of satisfaction and will help in resolving and preventing the crimes that have erupted in society out of these malpractices and falsified ritual adoptions. Our happiness lies in the true essence of living our life as per the set standards of Islam. May Allah protect us and bless us all, Insha’Allah.
Author is PG in Biotechnology with Gold Medal of Excellence, currently Working at CSIR IIIM Jammu as DST INSPIRE Fellow (Doctoral Research Scholar) .
