Why are we so relentless in our hatred for Sonakshi Sinha and Zaheer Iqbal?

Indian actors Sonakshi Sinha and Zaheer Iqbal are now officially married. The duo held an intimate civil ceremony in Mumbai, with dazzling pictures being shared by theDahaadandDouble XLactors.

The caption accompanying the photos read, “With the blessings of both our families and both our gods, we are now man and wife.”

With Sonakshi and Zaheer’s legions of fans wishing them well and stars like Kajol reportedly gushing over the bride during the wedding reception, the love story and ceremony were surely ones to remember.

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But the Internet and much of social media are focusing on and remembering them getting hitched for a completely different reason.

Go to Sonakshi Sinha and Zaheer Iqbal’s Instagram posts and you will see a recurring pattern. Their comments sections are filled with hate, with people writing downright vile things.

Also see:Salman Khan, Kajol and Heeramandi cast: All the guests at Sonakshi Sinha-Zaheer Iqbal's wedding reception

Comments like “Shaadi waale din hi white pehen liya” (Wore white on wedding day itself) and “Hindus crying in the corner” point to an audience steeped in orthodoxy and prejudice.

Some people have even gone to the extent of threatening the actress with violence and death for marrying a man from a different faith.

As expected, the hate against Sonakshi is much greater than that against her partner because she is a woman and the burden of an entire society rests on her shoulders alone, right?

Before the marriage was made official, fans pointed out how the families of the two stars were allegedly unhappy with the match. There were also reports of Sonakshi’s brothers, Luv and Kush, not attending the event and unfollowing her on Instagram.

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This may be true, or it may not be. Whatever the case, the family is, after all, made up of people like you and me who deserve privacy and respect at all times.

The response of the Internet to an inter-religious marriage is the same response we have when two people belonging to different castes, languages, nationalities, faiths or the same gender attempt to solemnise their unions.

We would all do well to remember that the Indian law recognises people of different faiths marrying each other, and the Special Marriage Act exists to legalise precisely such unions.

Now, the writer is not siding with any one person or faith here. The acrimony to the Sinha-Iqbal wedding has been from both sides (if such sides exist), and the love has also been from both sides. Sadly, many of us are fuelling the former and not the latter.

What is shocking is that such outrage is unleashed when a celebrity marriage supposedly does the ‘unthinkable.’ This high-profile couple is immune to much of the hate and will not have any physical repercussions.7 Celeb Brides Who Chose White For Their Wedding

But many others do.

There have been plenty of inter-religious couples who were killed, maimed, threatened, ostracised or forced to live a life in exile, away from society’s eye.

Many unions are broken, loves forgotten, and families destroyed because of the hate that is unleashed when anyone dares to do anything even minutely different from the norm.

We must not let this celebrity wedding be an example of how hateful we are.

They deserve better, and frankly, we all do too.

So, before we go and spew hate on the internet about Sonakshi Sinha marrying Zaheer Iqbal and focus more on their surnames than their achievements, it is time for us to introspect and wonder if any of it is truly our business.

We should all lock up our pitchforks and unlock our minds.