My parents brought me to the country where I was born (India) but am not a citizen and won't let me go back to the country of my citizenship (USA). I want to run away now, but am wondering about things concerning my passport and citizenship. Questions in text.

I wanted to reply to your question a while ago, but I couldn't. So I am now.

India has a lot of cultural things that are actually beautiful. I love the food and the clothes and the fact that there are different types of people here, like with different religions and all. I think its architecture is beautiful and I could spend all day being in some part of India, preferably by a gorgeous building or nature itself, because there's a lot more of it here than in America.

But, socially, I think it has a long ways to go. I can't speak for a large portion or population of India, but I can say things about my family. I come from an Orthodox Muslim background, but honestly religion has very little to do with it because I know that a Hindu or Sikh or a Christian would agree, maybe not with everything but with the things that are substantial. Going back to my family, immediate and extended, it's kinda just a mess. Yes my parents and my cousins' parents give us what we need, but they don't give us our individual freedom. My one cousin is engaged and she actually got a job but her would be in laws don't want her to. You usually can't pursue what you want, especially if you are a girl, because what's more important than anything else is getting married to whomever your parents choose for you because it's just now it's been done. A lot of my female cousins don't feel any point to studying because they won't be able to have jobs and become independent. It's very restrictive, like that's just the best way I can put it. I don't think it should be like that because I think individual freedom should matter just as much as the collective whole. Even in America, as I was growing up, I could feel my brother (I have an older brother too) get a lot more freedom than me and my sister and then my parents, usually my mom, would use his actions, like things he shouldn't have done, as justification to restrict us more. And that's not fair. I don't know if I'm a feminist or egalitarian or something else entirely, but I strongly believe that boys and girls are equal. We should have equal rights and equal opportunities. India does not give me that. Here it is not right for me to walk down the street to get something I might need. My brother was allowed to move out, but when i asked the same, I was told no. I'm supposed to be something they want to protect, even though I believe that I have the ability to protect myself. I want to take care of myself and protect myself. I want to be my own person. But I cannot because I am dependent upon my parents until I get married and then it's my husband, and by judging myself compared to the people in my community, I'm not going to enjoy being married here. I was engaged for a while. I was engaged when I was finishing senior year of HS, but I broke it off when my would be mom in law told me I couldn't finish my college degree (this was last year and I was a sophomore this time last year). My mom then called me selfish for not thinking about her and her parents and then said that I should care about her dreams of me being married and being able to be with my kids. When do I have the time to think about me? Shouldn't I be allowed to think about me? I do it in my head all the time, why not in real life? Sure my parents might not kill me through an honor killing. Maybe they won't even force me marry someone (they borderline did though just saying. My dad was all like "why don't you just get married? You can come back if you do".). But they did know how I felt about being here and what I wanted to do to make my life right. And they didn't support me. And that's okay, like not everyone or anyone at all has to be there for me, but in my own understanding of what being a parent is, it's to understand your child and not just see them as a continuation of your lineage, but their own desires and beliefs and wants. They didn't for me. A lot of parents here don't.

The younger generation here might be more harmonious, at least in my own family, that is true. But it's not for the people who are actually supposed to help you, and those people are your parents.

India does have a rich culture. But it also in need of a serious reconsideration of what is actually important for society, but also the individual.

I'm sorry you got down voted a bunch. I personally do not think you should have because it was just a question and there's no harm in asking.

/r/legaladvice Thread Parent