THEust is a word that means intense or unbridled sexual desire. Sometimes the word seems vulgar or vulgar, but it defines a mindset dictated by desire and temptation. Across India and Pakistan, the only fact that stands out is the number of Hindu girls with Muslim men who have husbands. In Pakistan, it takes a strange shape with around 20-25 girls abducted each month in Sindh province and forcibly converted and married to Muslim men. In India, there is no coercion, but many Hindu girls marry Muslims. Even movie stars like it and today’s most famous heroine Karina Kapoor marries a Muslim star who has two grown children.

I began to wonder why this is so, after all, only a few decades Muslims and Hindus did not have many mixed marriages. Before independence and the advent of the Raj, Muslims were the rulers and could choose from among the girls in the Hindu community. Even the warrior Timur selected 200 of the most beautiful girls for his harem. But it all ended with the Raj and independence.

So frankly, it intrigues me to see so many Hindu girls marry Muslim men. The contrast is marked since in all cases these girls convert to Islam. This is mandatory and it does happen, but I suppose there is very little coercion involved, except in Pakistan where the situation is completely different. I wonder what the psychology behind these marriages could be.

The great gap

Obviously, he has some background. One thing that strikes me is a loss of power on the part of Muslims that Hindu girls have become unattainable. So Muslim men, with no little support from the mullahs, began assiduously courting these girls. The idea was to conquer and marry them and beget children. It’s like a victory in battle, after all, in ancient wars, women were the prize.

These are tough thoughts, but I guess there is some truth to them. Therefore, the Muslim will go out of his way to woo a Hindu girl. And the Hindu girl? There is a new freedom given by independent India and the Hindu girl is exercising it to the fullest. One manifestation are these marriages. In contrast, the opposite of Muslim girls marrying Hindu boys is just a trickle. Is the rigidity in Islam intense?