First ever mass marriage in Kashmir, 105 tie knot

Fayaz Bukhari
SRINAGAR, July 15: In first ever biggest mass marriage in Kashmir, 105 couples from economically weaker sections of the society tied the knot at a simple function in Amar Singh Club here today.
According to rough estimates by some NGOs, there are around 10,000 girls in Kashmir, mostly from economically weaker sections of the society, who have crossed the marriageable age as their families can’t afford the costs.

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Chairman of the Jaffri Council of Jammu and Kashmir, Haji Musadiq Hussain Manhas said that as many as 105 couples tied knot here today. “This is not a new thing for us as we have been doing it from past four years. In every area we have our people who identify the persons who can’t afford marriage of their children. We do not arrange the partners for them, they did that themselves and we only help them during the time of marriage ceremony as they are not able to afford the huge cost used in the marriage ceremony”, he said.
“We have a team of 125 people who are working round the clock for the noble cause. It is in the Islam that the marriages should not be costlier and people at the helm of affairs should come forward to help the poor girls in arranging their marriage”, Manhas said.
“The couples belonged to various parts of North Kashmir and Srinagar and they are from weaker sections of society. This is the first such mass marriage,” Ghulam Rasool Chakan, the general secretary of the Council said.
“This is the biggest such exercise undertaken by the Council. The marriages are set by the families themselves and we only help them financially. Since we can’t help the individual marriages that is why we do mass marriages”, Chakan said.
He said it was for the first time in 2015 when the Council undertook marrying 38 couples from deserving categories of the society. “In 2016, we helped 70 couples marry in a joint function and in 2017, the number rose to 75. And today’s function is the biggest ever such exercise”, he added.
“In this mass marriage, we have couples from Uri, Sumbal, Pattan, Beerwah, Budgam, Khan Sahab, Baramulla and Srinagar,” Chakan said.
The Council which has its office in Bemina and couples are asked to register there for such mass marriage. “For a proof we seek their details and verify to check if they deserve the help,” Chakan said. “We visit their homes and recheck the details they submit”, he added.
Chakan said they have a number of donors who do not wish to be identified and the function is an annual exercise. “We give some items to the couples after the ceremony is over,” Chakan said. “This year, we are giving as many as 41 items to these couples for starting their lives which are being provided by the doners”, he added.
As the word about the mass marriage spread, there were hundreds of people who came to be part of the major event. People in general lauded the effort of the Council.
The marriage comes at a time when these girls who have passed the marriage age and their families were finding it very difficult to manage the huge costs for their marriages. Father of one of brides from Sonawari said: “We are very happy about the step the Council has taken today and this exercise should be done more often. We appeal to all the parents to take part in this exercise so that the marriages will happen in a simple way”, he added.

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