KOCHI: Deepika, the Catholic Church-run Malayalam daily, in its editorial on Tuesday, raised serious concerns over the elopement of Christian girl Joisna Joseph, a native of Theyyapara in Kozhikode, who works as a nurse in Saudi Arabia, and CPM Kodenchery local committee member M S Shejin, who belongs to the Muslim community.
The editorial said people should think about why a few marriages are triggering controversies in a state where thousands of inter-faith marriages happen. "It is not just Christians alone who raise concern over inter-faith marriages involving Muslim youth. All noble people belonging to Hindu, Christian, and Muslim communities should think about the issue. Otherwise, the innocent people in the Muslim community will face accusations over the threat posed by Muslim extremist organisations. Instead of threatening the family of Joisna in the name of secularism and religious harmony, the doubts and mysteries shrouding the incident should be solved," said the editorial titled 'The Questions Raised by Kodencherry'.
The editorial expressed concerns over the accusations by political parties and media alleging attempts to disrupt communal harmony in the state. "They have the right to air their opinion though it is not involving their children or siblings. But don't the parents of the girl have the right and freedom to ensure a safe future for her?" it said.
The editorial said Joisna had returned to her house from Saudi Arabia on March 31. She went missing on April 9 when the family was making preparations for her marriage to a youth with whom she was in love for the past five years. "Though family members tried to contact Joisna, she didn't attend the call. When her sister called Joisna's friend, she said Joisna will not return today. Meanwhile, she heard Joisna saying 'these people have detained me and are not leaving. After that, the phone was switched off. In these circumstances the family approached Kodenchery police," the editorial said.
Though the CPM leadership had assured to allow the girl to meet the parents when she appears before the lower court, Shejin and Joisna left the court before the parents arrived.
Joisna was not born as a woman earning lakhs in a country abroad. It is the parents who struggled to help Joisna pursue her studies. Do you call denying the parents an opportunity to speak to their child secularism?" asked the editorial.
There have been doubts raised about whether it is an innocent love affair, it said. "Why was Joisna repeatedly calling a person to return the money borrowed by him? Who is the leader who borrowed money from Joisna and refused to return it? If he was in love with Joisna what was the need to detain and threaten her as was revealed in the phone call? There were many incidents in which girls were trapped by chatting and misusing their photos. Don't you think the parents have the right to enquire whether their daughter was trapped?" asked the Deepika editorial.
Meanwhile, the Kerala High Court on Tuesday reportedly allowed Joisna to go with Shejin.