"If any Salim changes his identity and becomes Suresh to trap innocent girls, he will be taught a lesson for life,” declared Gujarat’s deputy chief minister Harsh Sanghavi while tabling amendments to the Gujarat Registration of Marriages Act, 2006.

The amendments were, he explained in the Assembly on 20 February, designed to ‘protect the dignity of girls and sanatan dharma’. Sanghavi cited cases from Panchmahal, where he claimed hundreds of nikaah certificates were issued despite there being not a single Muslim or mosque in the entire district. He also claimed that similar cases had been reported from the districts of Banaskantha, Navsari and Mehsana. Independent corroboration of these claims? None.

Suggestions have been sought from the public — within a month — before final provisions are incorporated into the law, which will make parental consent mandatory for registering marriages in the state.

An Indian Express editorial (23 February 2026) was unsparing in its commentary: ‘When a government demands parental permission for consenting adults to marry, it breaches several red lines. It infringes on the private lives of citizens; undermines civil liberties; infantilises women by presuming that they are uniquely susceptible to deception and incapable of independent choice or judgement.’

A wave of conservatism and fundamentalism is sweeping through Gujarat, where the contract system of maitri karars (friendship agreements) was once sufficient for consenting adults to live together. Girls, often better educated than boys and better employed, are increasingly looking outside the clan for soulmates.

Inter-caste and inter-faith marriages are inevitable, says Prof. (retd.) Vibhuti Patil of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. “When young people study and work together, they will end up choosing their own life partners.”

If passed by the Assembly, the amendments would expect couples to submit a notarised application signed by both parties and two witnesses, along with proof of identity, Aadhaar cards, birth certificates or school-leaving certificates, a wedding invitation, photos and a declaration stating whether parents have been informed.

Similar documents would be required from the parents on both sides. The assistant registrar’s confirmation would be conveyed electronically or physically within 10 working days. Marriage registration would take place 30 days after the registrar is satisfied that all requirements have been met.

The amendments are the result of a memorandum submitted to chief minister Bhupendra Patel in December 2025 by former members of the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti seeking compulsory parental consent for marriage registration.

The Patidar sena also sought additional restrictions on court marriages and the age of witnesses. In Nand village — Mahudha taluka, Kheda district — the gram sabha recently passed a resolution to socially boycott couples who marry against the wish of their families. The resolution demands that such couples be barred from community facilities, religious gatherings and social functions, in addition to being fined up to Rs 2 lakh.

Pending the passage of the Bill, marriage registrations have been put on hold in the state, says Prof. Patil. Legal experts emphasise that the proposed amendment violates Article 21 of the Constitution, which guarantees consenting adults the fundamental right to choose their partners.

The Supreme Court has repeatedly affirmed that once individuals attain legal age, their autonomy cannot be restricted by parents. This regressive amendment effectively grants parents the right to veto their adult children’s choice of spouse.

Educator and activist Prof. Hiren Shah believes this is a political stunt to win the Patel vote in the 2027 assembly elections. “We already have a Special Marriage Act (SMA) to facilitate inter-religious and inter-caste marriages. A state amendment cannot override the SMA. Being a Patel, the chief minister has done this only to keep the powerful Patel lobby happy.”

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Reports indicate mounting unease in Gujarat over young couples defying barriers of caste and creed to marry for love. Pre-marital sex among teenagers is not unusual. Disturbingly, cases of so-called honour killings have gone up, particularly in rural areas, where young couples are murdered and their bodies strung up on trees, their deaths passed off as suicides.

A study conducted by the Gujarat-based non-profit Area Networking and Development Initiatives (ANANDI) and the NGO Mahila Sangathan looked into unnatural deaths in three districts of Panchmahal and Dahod between 2018 and 2021.

What they found was deeply troubling. In 88 per cent of the cases officially recorded as suicides, the bodies of young couples bore multiple wounds and bruises prior to their alleged ‘hanging’. Data showed that as many as 60 young men and women from the OBC community and 26 Adivasis died in similarly suspicious circumstances.

ANANDI's executive director Neeta Hardikar says she has “personally seen a boy and a girl hanging from a tree with one short dupatta tied around both their necks. Is that even possible? Not one had any of the common symptoms of suicide (drool, the passing of urine or stool). Some of the boys were wearing chappals. Once, a cripple was found hanging from a tree”.

The police and community leaders do just one thing: they tell activists to mind their own business and not meddle.

The Adivasi community in the state has no history of ‘honour killings’, but local politicians and self-appointed vigilantes are busy ‘persuading’ village sarpanches and panchayat leaders to take action against young people who elope or engage in pre-marital sex.

Activist Sejal Dang says, “A gender backlash is taking place against women. Our jails are overflowing with young men charged with rape, kidnapping and other crimes under the POCSO Act.”

The caste-based sammelans (being organised by powerful brahmin, Patidar and OBC groups in the state) are, she says, “a new form of vigilantism that has gripped our society.… They want complete control over women. First, they talked of ‘love jihad’ to create a fear psychosis. Then they attacked Adivasis and Dalits. Now, it’s a wholesale attack on women.”

In mid-December 2025, Surat-based singer Aarti Sangani’s decision to marry Gondal-based tabla player Devang Gohel sparked intense criticism across the state. Aarti’s father declared he felt betrayed by his daughter’s decision.

In another instance, the inter-caste marriage between a Brahmin youth, Yash Upadhyay, and a Patidar woman, Piyu, created shock waves in the Patidar community. Upadhyay claimed that when he and his father were called by Piyu’s father to arrive at some understanding, he was physically assaulted and Piyu whisked away in a car with no number plate.

Brahmin folk singer Kinjal Dave’s decision to marry Jain businessman Dhruvin Shah led to the community ostracising her father for supporting his daughter. The spunky singer protested the boycott by releasing a video on social media.

Many believe that this act of defiance triggered pro-quota agitation leader Alpesh Kathiria to demand a law that would make parental consent mandatory for registered marriages. A delegation of Patidar quota agitation leaders subsequently met minister of state for home Harsh Sanghavi to reiterate this demand.

Since the children of the rich and famous live protected lives in metropolitan cities or abroad, this proposed law is clearly meant for the rest of us, Dang wryly added.