Maharashtra interfaith marriage panel got sole Muslim member after another nominee dropped out

The committee was set up by the state Women and Child Development (WCD) Department on December 13 under the chairmanship of Mangal Prabhat Lodha, the WCD minister.

Pirzade was named a member on the committee after the original choice, advocate Yogesh Deshpande, resigned from the committee citing personal and professional commitments.

Pirzade was brought on board by the state government on December 15. The committee is yet to hold an official meeting, but a few members have met each other informally during the past two weeks. The committee will hold its meeting after the department sets up a helpline for women in interfaith marriages, who are in distress.

Speaking to The Indian Express, Pirzade said, “I am a social worker and have worked in the field for the protection of women’s rights. Due to my work, the government brought me on the committee.”

Meanwhile, Yogesh Deshpande, who resigned from the panel, said, “I resigned because I had other personal and professional commitments that were clashing. I resigned on December 13, immediately after the first GR announced the formation of the committee.”

The WCD department had initially set up a committee named ‘Intercaste/Interfaith Marriage – Family Coordination Committee’, comprising 13 members including the chairman, Mangal Prabhat Lodha. After two days, the department issued a revised GR, dropping intercaste marriages from its purview and retaining interfaith marriages, renaming the committee as ‘Interfaith Marriages – Family Coordination Committee’.

According to government officials, Pirzade is a social worker who has worked toward helping women who are in interfaith marriages, but who are in distress due to their marriage, across the state in many prominent cities. Before appointing members to the committee, the department had called for resumes of all members.

However, the opposition slammed the move, with Samajwadi Party MLA Rais Shaikh saying, “This is only an afterthought. The underlying thought itself is wrong. Even removing intercaste from the purview of the committee was an afterthought. The deputy chief minister had to intervene and get it removed, because it is unconstitutional.”