The Muslim youth whose wedding to a Hindu neighbour was stopped in Lucknow’s Duda Colony by the police under the new anti-conversion law said neither of them planned to convert. Pointing out that the two had known each other for five years, the mother of the woman said the marriage had their sanction and nobody could stop it.

The families also said the wedding was planned before the law came into force, on November 28, and they would have sought permission if they knew it was required.

The groom, who works as a pharmacist, told The Indian Express, “There is no question of conversion… no discussion about conversation… because I feel that if two of us love each other, we can accept each other for who we are. If she is a Hindu, I can accept her religion and identity, and she agreed to do the same.” The woman was not at home.

The police had stopped the ceremony, being held as per Hindu rituals, on Wednesday night, on a complaint by the Hindu outfit Rashtriya Yuva Vahini, though no case has been filed. While the groom is 24, the bride is 22, and the two are neighbours. The 24-year-old said they were planning to hold both Muslim and Hindu rituals, and neither of them was converting. The police earlier said all they wanted was for the two to follow the norms of the new law and that “there was no offence”.

Speaking to The Indian Express on Friday at the house of the groom, the mother of the woman said, “It is no one’s business whom my daughter gets married to. We have lived in a mixed colony all our lives and have been friends with Muslims. Then, why can’t my daughter get married to a Muslim? He does not want her to convert either… I don’t know who complained to the police or if they acted on their own.”

The families said they didn’t want any “jhanjhat”. “We are simple people. We somehow manage with what we make… When we get permission, the wedding will happen. If we don’t, then we will see what to do. However, we don’t see any reason for the administration denying us permission,” said the groom’s brother.

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