Love Commandos

Last updated
Love Commandos
FormationJuly 2010
Legal status Non-profit organization
PurposeProtecting lovers in India, and preventing honor-killings and suicides
Location
Region served
India
Website lovecommandos.org

Love Commandos is a voluntary non-profit organization in India which helps and protects couples in love from harassment and honor killing. They provide housing, legal aid, and protection to couples seeking their aid who are being persecuted by family and society for wanting to marry based solely on mutual attraction and love. [1] [2]

Contents

Overview

In India, most marriages are arranged by parents, with potential marriage partners vetted on the basis of caste, complexion, horoscope, etc.,—the matter of love is rarely considered. Falling in love carries a strong social stigma in India. [2] Love across the barriers of caste, religion and economic class can be problematic, resulting in violence and occasionally honor killing. The police have been known to refuse protection to such couples, sometimes even siding with parents and arresting the male lovers on false charges of rape. [1]

The Love Commandos consists of journalists, businessmen, lawyers and human rights activists. They provide protection to lovers from religious hardliners. They also run secret shelters for eloped couples, where they may stay until they gain financial independence. [2] [3] [4] They also help willing couples to get married and register their marriage with the civil authorities. [1]

The group was originally called the Peace Commandos, who worked to protect lovers from religious extremist groups during occasions like Valentine's Day. Later, they decided to rename the group, and concentrate on protecting lovers and on the issue of honor killing. [3] In 2010, Love Commando was formed after a man was arrested on statutory rape charges. Even though the woman went on record that she was an adult and the relationship was consensual, the police decided to attest the father's statement that she was a minor. [5] [4]

Harsh Malhotra, a travel agent, founded the group. He was assaulted himself when he went to his future wife's family and later they had to elope. [1] He is now an interior designer and the chief coordinator of the group. [3] Sanjay Sachdeva is one of the co-founders and now runs the organization as its chairman. [2] [4]

The organization completed its 500 days of formation in November 2011. It has more than 20,00000 members across India. It receives an average of 300 calls everyday on its 24-hours helpline 09313784375 and 09313550006 WhatsApp 09311050004. [3] They have 450 plus shelters across India. [4] Their cost of operations in the Delhi unit alone is about US$ 5,000 per month. [2]

Sachdeva was interviewed on the 5th episode of Aamir Khan's television show Satyamev Jayate . [4] After his appearance on the show, the organization began getting more calls than before. However, Hakim Abdul, who appeared in the same episode with his wife, was murdered five months later in November 2012 in Bulandshahr village in western Uttar Pradesh. [6] The Love Commandos continued to protect his widow and infant daughter. [7]

In April 2014, Björn Borg launched the website Unitethelovers.com to collect funds for the organisation. [8] In the same year, photographer Max Pinckers featured Love Commandos and eloped couples in his photobook, Will They Sing Like Raindrops or Leave Me Thirsty. The book won the Photographic Museum of Humanity grant. [9]

In 2014, a girl, whose father was a liquor baron in Agra, eloped with a man and sought shelter with the Love Commandos in nearby New Delhi. The girl's father used his influence to ask Agra police to search for the girl. Agra police allegedly managed to find the girl's location in a suburban area in New Delhi by using her cellphone signal. They began combing area while being armed. Delhi police had to intervene and stop the search. [5]

UK based film maker Miriam Lyons directed film "The Love Commandos" on their work is on Google Plus, I Tunes, Microsoft and other social platforms. Special Screening of Miriam Lyons directed film 'The Love Commandos' was held at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy, Hyderabad on March 24, 2017, for Indian Police Service probationers, which is a landmark for the Non Profit Organisation.

In January 2019, Sanjoy Sachdev was arrested for confining people and extorting money from them. [10]

In fiction

The organization was featured in Tarquin Hall's fourth book starring the fictional private investigator Vish Puri, The Case of the Love Commandos. [11]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bajrang Dal</span> Hindu nationalist militant organisation

The Bajrang Dal is a Hindu nationalist militant organisation that forms the youth wing of the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP). It is a member of the right-wing Sangh Parivar. The ideology of the organisation is based on Hindutva. It was founded on 1 October 1984 in Uttar Pradesh, and began spreading more in the 2010s throughout India, although its most significant base remains the northern and central portions of the country.

A love marriage is one which is driven solely by the couple, with or without consent of their parents, as opposed to arranged marriage. While there is no clear definition of love marriage, the term was in common use globally during the Victorian era. It is still used in the Commonwealth countries of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, as well as Nepal and Egypt.

A Khap is a community organisation representing a clan or a group of North Indian castes or clans. They are found mostly in northern India, particularly among the Village people of Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh, but also amongst states like Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh although historically the term has also been used among other communities. A Khap Panchayat is an assembly of Khap elders, and a Sarv Khap is an assembly of many Khap Panchayats.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Society Against Violence in Education</span>

Society Against Violence in Education (SAVE) is a non profit organization working for the eradication of ragging and bullying from educational institutions in India.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kiran Rao</span> Indian film director, screenwriter and film producer

Kiran Rao is an Indian film producer, screenwriter, and director who works in Hindi cinema. In 2016, Rao co-founded Paani Foundation, a non-profit organisation working towards the mission of fighting drought in Maharashtra.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dushyant Kumar</span> Indian writer

Dushyant Kumar Tyagi was an Indian poet of modern Hindi literature. He is famous for writing Hindi Ghazals, and is generally recognised as one of the foremost Hindi poets of the 20th century.

The Manoj–Babli honour killing case was the honour killing of Indian newlyweds Manoj Banwala and Babli in June 2007 and the subsequent court case which historically convicted defendants for an honour killing. The accused in the murder included relatives of Babli. Relatives of Manoj, especially his mother, defended the relationship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sona Mohapatra</span> Indian singer

Sona Mohapatra is an Indian singer, music composer and lyricist. In addition to her own material, Mohapatra has recorded remixes of songs by David Bowie, with "Let's Dance", and INXS, with "Afterglow", with the latter proving particularly successful.

Aamir Raza Husain was an Indian theatre actor and director, noted for his large outdoor stage productions like The Fifty Day War (2000), based on the Kargil War and The Legend of Ram (2004), based on the epic Ramayana. He was also the creative director of Stagedoor, a theatre company established in 1974, which has staged over 91 productions and more than 1,100 performances.

Satyamev Jayate is an Indian Hindi-language television talk show aired on various channels within Star Network along with Doordarshan's DD National. The first season of the show premiered on 6 May 2012 and marked the television debut of popular Bollywood actor and filmmaker Aamir Khan. The second season of the show was aired from 2 March 2014 and the third season started from 5 October 2014.

The first season of Satyamev Jayate was premiered from 6 May 2012 on various channels within Star Network along with Doordarshan's DD National. It marked the television debut of Indian Bollywood actor and filmmaker Aamir Khan. While Hindi is the primary language of the show, it is also dubbed and simulcast in several other Indian languages such as Bengali, Malayalam, Marathi, Tamil and Telugu.

In the 2012 Dharmapuri violence, a Vanniyar caste mob set fire to about 268 Dalit houses in Natham, old and new Kondampatti and Annanagar Dalit colonies in Dharmapuri district, Tamil Nadu on 8 November 2012. The violence occurred after a Vanniyar girl from Sellankottai village, and a Dalit boy, from the neighbouring Dalit colony of Natham, fled due to parental opposition to get married, a caste panchayat held on the morning of 7 November by leaders from both communities ruled that the girl be returned to her family. Distraught at her decision to stay with her husband, her father allegedly committed suicide. The discovery of his body later that day is said to have provoked a 1,500-strong mob to rampage through Natham and two smaller Dalit settlements, Kondampatti and Anna Nagar, where it set ablaze over 200 houses, damaged at least 50 others, and allegedly looted valuables and cash worth lakhs of rupees. The mob rampaged for four hours and was brought under control after arrest of 90 men and an additional deployment of 1000 policemen.

Prem Chowdhry is an Indian social scientist, historian, and Senior Academic Fellow at the Indian Council of Historical Research, New Delhi. She is a feminist and critic of violence against couples refusing arranged marriages.

Vandrevala Foundation is an NGO established by Cyrus Vandrevala and Priya Vandrevala in 2008. In 2009, the foundation launched the "Mental Health - India" initiative to raise awareness and provide services for emotionally distressed individuals.

The second season of Satyamev Jayate premiered on 2 March 2014. While Hindi is the show's primary language, it was dubbed and simulcast in Bengali, Malayalam, Marathi, Tamil and Telugu.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Violence against women in India</span> Public health issue of violent acts against women

Violence against women in India refers to physical or sexual violence committed against a woman, typically by a man. Common forms of violence against women in India include acts such as domestic abuse, sexual assault, and murder. In order to be considered violence against women, the act must be committed solely because the victim is female. Most typically, these acts are committed by men as a result of the long-standing gender inequalities present in the country.

Farzana Parveen Iqbal was killed on 27 May 2014 outside a court in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. Her father, two brothers and former fiancé were among the nearly twenty attackers. Farzana, who had eloped with a man of her own choice, and was pregnant by him, was killed in the tradition of honour killing.

The celebration of Valentine's Day in India faced criticism and appeal to celebrate it as Cow Hug Day in view of cultural values. There have been protests against the celebrations by groups who consider it a Western influence. Almost every year, law and order problems occur on 14 February in many cities in India due to protests.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lucy Kurien</span>

Sister Lucy Kurien is the founder and director of Maher, a community and interfaith organization for abused and destitute women and children, headquartered in Pune, India.

<i>Satyameva Jayate 2</i> 2021 film directed by Milap Zaveri

Satyameva Jayate 2 is a 2021 Indian Hindi-language vigilante action thriller film written and directed by Milap Milan Zaveri with production by T-Series and Emmay Entertainment. It is a spiritual sequel of the 2018 film Satyameva Jayate and stars John Abraham in a triple role alongside Divya Khosla Kumar, Rajeev Pillai and Anup Soni. The release date was postponed due to rise in COVID-19 cases.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Indian couples whose families disapprove turn to the Love Commandos". The Globe and Mail . 6 December 2011. Retrieved 10 March 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "The 'love commandos' protecting young Indian couples". BBC News . 5 June 2012. Retrieved 10 March 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Instant help for lovers in distress". The Asian Age . 6 April 2012. Archived from the original on 6 April 2012. Retrieved 10 March 2014.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 "Satyamev Jayate: Meet the Love Commandos". IBNLive . 3 June 2012. Archived from the original on 5 June 2012. Retrieved 10 March 2014.
  5. 1 2 "Love Commandos : Policing those who police love". DNA India . 15 February 2015. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
  6. ↑ "The Bitter Truth". The Telegraph (India) . 9 March 2014. Archived from the original on March 10, 2014. Retrieved 10 March 2014.
  7. ↑ "India's 'Love Commandos' protecting eloping couples". The Telegraph . 30 November 2012. Retrieved 10 March 2014.
  8. ↑ "Björn Borg Highlights Lovers in Distress; Sparks Refugee Wave to Love Commandos". Yahoo News . 22 May 2014. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
  9. ↑ "India's Love Commandos – and the runaway couples they protect". The Guardian (UK) . 24 October 2014. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
  10. ↑ 'Love Commandos' owner arrested for confining, extorting money from couples The Times of India, 2019
  11. ↑ "The Case of the Love Commandos". NPR . Retrieved 10 March 2014.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.