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Nakshab, Be a Citizen Journalist (NRI
News.com)
AS A common
saying goes ‘marriages are made in heaven’ in which two person
shares a common bond of love. But presently this saying appears
to be wrong because nowadays most marriages have hidden intentions.
Some people want money, some want fame and now we have a new
intention - to get a passport for foreign lands.
The problem arises due to the belief of Indians that by marrying
a NRI (Non Resident Indian) boy or a girl, they will get an
opportunity to go outside India without facing any legal problem
from authorities. But when we see the ratio of successful
NRI marriages we will find a very low figure. On the other
hand, we will find a devastating number of NRI divorces. Actually
the thing is that while thinking about the advantages we ignore
the disadvantages of these marriages. There are number of
people who have ruined their lives because of these fraudulent
marriages.
The growing westernised mindset of Indians blinds them to
the trap of these marriages. Sometimes they have the knowledge
about those incidents but the temptation is too strong and
entangles them.
The problem emanates from the fact that India is still not
as economically powerful as her Western counterparts. People
don’t find enough opportunities in India to earn well that
is why they are lured towards foreign lands in order to acquire
money, name and fame.
People are attracted by the glitz and glamour of western lifestyles
and go on blindly mimicking it and also want to get rich quickly.
For these people money matters a lot and to get it they adopt
any and all means to go ‘abroad’. Even Kerala, the state with
the highest literacy rate, is under the dark clouds of those
fake passport marriages. The reason is that the people who
are highly qualified want highly paid and reputed jobs, which
suit their profile and if a person doesn’t find that kind
of job in India than he / she will definitely go for foreign
lands.
There is a need to highlight such issues so that people understand
the situation. There are number of cases which highlights
the condition of those who have undergone the trauma of a
fake marriage. In one case, the husband divorced the wife,
who had a H-4 visa. She had to immediately leave the country
but did not want to leave behind her child who was only six
weeks old.
In most cases, the situation remains the same or even worsened
because there is lack of information about the rights. People
without sufficient knowledge can’t take suitable actions in
such situations. Sometimes people remain quiet and decide
not to speak in front of the society because they have the
fear of disclosure. Walk-in marriages and walk-out divorces
are very common and acceptable in the American society. But
in Indian society, such situations are difficult to face.
In Indian society such incidents are very difficult to handle
and bring misery not only to the victim but to her entire
family.
The immigration agents or the travel agents in India do not
know much about laws. Marriage is not the only passport to
America. There are lot of other ways of going there - a work
visa is now easily available these days. And for those who
plan to get married to a person in the United States, there
is the finance visa. Finance visa makes it easy for that person
to meet the concerned person easily without facing any problem.
There is need to create awareness among Indians who wish to
immigrate about all these issues. The Indian government till
now has not been very proactive. The importance of antecedent
verification, awareness of women’s matrimonial rights, maintenance
rights, dowry laws and information about passport and visa
procedures should be made available and regular awareness
campaigns conducted to make people aware of these frauds.
Due to the increasing number of fraudulent marriages there
is a proposal, which has been set by the ministry of Overseas
Indian Affairs in front of the ministry of External Affairs.
In that proposal there is a request for making suitable amendments
in the Indian Passport Act, they have also suggested to include
the photograph of the spouse in the passport because it becomes
a clear identity proof.
If every individual should understands his/her rights. Only
then it would possible to prevent cases of fake marriages.
But along with these rights, it is also necessary that a person
is faithful towards his/her spouse. If this happens then there
will be no cases of divorce or domestic violence and one would
be able to say that marriages are made in heaven. Money is
not what matters in front of happiness.
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