Haryana: The Rise and rise of khap
by Braj Mohan Singh
RAVINDER and Shilpa solemnized their marriage in March this year only to be declared social outcastes by the caste panchayats. Ravinder can't enter his ancestral village for the rest of his life. The Mahapanchayat also ordered eviction of his family for three months. This Taliban-style decree was issued by the Sarv khaps (council of all caste panchayats) in Jhajjar district in South Haryana.Ravinder, belonging to Gehlaut clan, was accused of breaking the social norm when he married Shilpa from the Kadian Gotra.Ravinder, it was believed, married within bhaichara' (brotherhood) clan of Kadian.
There had been understanding in Dharana village that Gehlauts and Kadian will not marry into each other's clans.After they married in Delhi the kadyan barha khap (assembly of 12 village panchayats) rejected the marriage of the two and ordered them to leave Dharana village.
The family of the groom has approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court seeking security from the unruly panchayats, which recently issued a decree that either the couple should agree for divorce or the family should leave the village altogether.
During the last couple of years, khaps have taken many illegal, extra-constitutional and barbaric decisions in order to prove its supremacy in the society. Falling in love has become a sin in Haryana if the couple belongs to the same clan (gotra). Caste panchayats take suo motu action, overturning court's verdict, punish lovers, married couples and on numerous occasions lynch them to death.On July 22 this year, Vedpal, a youth in his early twenties armed with a court order went to bring his wife Sonia in Singhwal village in Jind. Members of the bride's family lynched the boy, beat up police personnel and broke the limb of the High Court's warrant officer, who accompanied the groom. Vedpal, a registered medical practitioner in Singhwal village fell in love with Sonia, eloped and later married in March. His body was thrown on the main road to show the angst of the clan. On the day (August 9, 2009) the council of all panchayats was deciding the fate of Ravinder and Shilpa, a young couple Sandeep and Monika were found hanging from a tree in Siwan village of Jhajjar district. They had eloped on July 31 only to be killed later.On August 7, 2009, a young couple was killed in Rohtak's Meham tehsil, after they were found together. This list is endless in Haryana.According to Ram Swaroop, author of "History of Jats," khap is an assembly of villages. They group themselves into a gohand (corresponding to the present thana area) and a number of Gohands form a "Khap" (covering an area equal to from a tehsil to a District). A number of Khaps form a 'Sarva Khap' embracing a full province or state. He adds that Panchayats gather depending upon the magnitude of the problem and the territory it involved. The khaps are spread over Haryana, parts of Punjab, western Uttar Pradesh and parts of Madhya Pradesh. In the Ravinder-Shilpa case mentioned above the Baraha khap was involved, which involved 12 different khaps.The khaps are not a legal entity but most importantly they have got all social sanctions. On the other hand, the village panchayats have no role outside their boundaries.
In a recent declaration in Jind, Jat Khap announced that they are above all courts. This leaves very little scope for negotiations. Khaps consider themselves as natural guardians to check social aberrations and deviations by the "directionless" youths. The khaps have given a war cry, "ladke haath se nikal gaye, choriyon ne bacha lo,"(boys have gone out of hand, now save girls from them.) Even if the male gets away, the female should not get away at any cost. Women's chastity is the honour of the community and it has to be safeguarded. The family and the society have every right to enforce their decisions on her. In most of the cases retaliation is rapid and often results in honour killing. Gruesome acts like lynching of married couples are lauded as a "noble act" in many parts of Haryana. In many instances, caste panchayats celebrate the killings of couples and show no regret.However, the youths are moving away from moribund traditions and showing scant regard to this declining institution. "Women too are uniting in rural areas and voicing their opposition," says Jagmati Sangwan, the Haryana president of All India Democratic Women's Association.Every week dozens of newly wed couples fearing caste panchayat visit Punjab and Haryana High Court and after court marriage melt away in the humdrum of Delhi, Mumbai and Hyderabad. Journalists have asked the Chief minister of Haryana, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, many times why he was not doing anything to stop Khaps from resorting to such illegal and unconstitutional measures. He dismissed the request nonchalantly by saying that he could not do much as this was a "social problem." There is "collective unanimity" among the political parties to ignore the cries of the married couples, says Dr Pramod Kumar, a leading social observer based in Chandigarh..Farmer leader from western Uttar Pradesh, Mahendra Singh Takait said recently that only whores chose their partners. "I support what khaps are doing, they should be killed (inka to katl hi kar dena chahiye, yehi ilaz hai.)""The vilest crimes are committed in the name of defending the honour of the family or women and we should hang our heads in shame when such incidents take place in India in the 21st century," said Union home minister P. Chidambaram. Once again political parties have started queing up before the khap panchayats for their votes as they enjoy a lot of influence among their brotherhood (bhaichara). The moot question is who is going to bell the cat.
(The writer is a Chandigarh-based television journalist.)
((Photo caption: police clash with Khap members in Haryana))
(Courtesy: The herald of India..for more log onto..
http://www.heraldofindia.com/article.php?id=354)
by Braj Mohan Singh
RAVINDER and Shilpa solemnized their marriage in March this year only to be declared social outcastes by the caste panchayats. Ravinder can't enter his ancestral village for the rest of his life. The Mahapanchayat also ordered eviction of his family for three months. This Taliban-style decree was issued by the Sarv khaps (council of all caste panchayats) in Jhajjar district in South Haryana.Ravinder, belonging to Gehlaut clan, was accused of breaking the social norm when he married Shilpa from the Kadian Gotra.Ravinder, it was believed, married within bhaichara' (brotherhood) clan of Kadian.
There had been understanding in Dharana village that Gehlauts and Kadian will not marry into each other's clans.After they married in Delhi the kadyan barha khap (assembly of 12 village panchayats) rejected the marriage of the two and ordered them to leave Dharana village.
The family of the groom has approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court seeking security from the unruly panchayats, which recently issued a decree that either the couple should agree for divorce or the family should leave the village altogether.
During the last couple of years, khaps have taken many illegal, extra-constitutional and barbaric decisions in order to prove its supremacy in the society. Falling in love has become a sin in Haryana if the couple belongs to the same clan (gotra). Caste panchayats take suo motu action, overturning court's verdict, punish lovers, married couples and on numerous occasions lynch them to death.On July 22 this year, Vedpal, a youth in his early twenties armed with a court order went to bring his wife Sonia in Singhwal village in Jind. Members of the bride's family lynched the boy, beat up police personnel and broke the limb of the High Court's warrant officer, who accompanied the groom. Vedpal, a registered medical practitioner in Singhwal village fell in love with Sonia, eloped and later married in March. His body was thrown on the main road to show the angst of the clan. On the day (August 9, 2009) the council of all panchayats was deciding the fate of Ravinder and Shilpa, a young couple Sandeep and Monika were found hanging from a tree in Siwan village of Jhajjar district. They had eloped on July 31 only to be killed later.On August 7, 2009, a young couple was killed in Rohtak's Meham tehsil, after they were found together. This list is endless in Haryana.According to Ram Swaroop, author of "History of Jats," khap is an assembly of villages. They group themselves into a gohand (corresponding to the present thana area) and a number of Gohands form a "Khap" (covering an area equal to from a tehsil to a District). A number of Khaps form a 'Sarva Khap' embracing a full province or state. He adds that Panchayats gather depending upon the magnitude of the problem and the territory it involved. The khaps are spread over Haryana, parts of Punjab, western Uttar Pradesh and parts of Madhya Pradesh. In the Ravinder-Shilpa case mentioned above the Baraha khap was involved, which involved 12 different khaps.The khaps are not a legal entity but most importantly they have got all social sanctions. On the other hand, the village panchayats have no role outside their boundaries.
In a recent declaration in Jind, Jat Khap announced that they are above all courts. This leaves very little scope for negotiations. Khaps consider themselves as natural guardians to check social aberrations and deviations by the "directionless" youths. The khaps have given a war cry, "ladke haath se nikal gaye, choriyon ne bacha lo,"(boys have gone out of hand, now save girls from them.) Even if the male gets away, the female should not get away at any cost. Women's chastity is the honour of the community and it has to be safeguarded. The family and the society have every right to enforce their decisions on her. In most of the cases retaliation is rapid and often results in honour killing. Gruesome acts like lynching of married couples are lauded as a "noble act" in many parts of Haryana. In many instances, caste panchayats celebrate the killings of couples and show no regret.However, the youths are moving away from moribund traditions and showing scant regard to this declining institution. "Women too are uniting in rural areas and voicing their opposition," says Jagmati Sangwan, the Haryana president of All India Democratic Women's Association.Every week dozens of newly wed couples fearing caste panchayat visit Punjab and Haryana High Court and after court marriage melt away in the humdrum of Delhi, Mumbai and Hyderabad. Journalists have asked the Chief minister of Haryana, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, many times why he was not doing anything to stop Khaps from resorting to such illegal and unconstitutional measures. He dismissed the request nonchalantly by saying that he could not do much as this was a "social problem." There is "collective unanimity" among the political parties to ignore the cries of the married couples, says Dr Pramod Kumar, a leading social observer based in Chandigarh..Farmer leader from western Uttar Pradesh, Mahendra Singh Takait said recently that only whores chose their partners. "I support what khaps are doing, they should be killed (inka to katl hi kar dena chahiye, yehi ilaz hai.)""The vilest crimes are committed in the name of defending the honour of the family or women and we should hang our heads in shame when such incidents take place in India in the 21st century," said Union home minister P. Chidambaram. Once again political parties have started queing up before the khap panchayats for their votes as they enjoy a lot of influence among their brotherhood (bhaichara). The moot question is who is going to bell the cat.
(The writer is a Chandigarh-based television journalist.)
((Photo caption: police clash with Khap members in Haryana))
(Courtesy: The herald of India..for more log onto..
http://www.heraldofindia.com/article.php?id=354)
1 comment:
Dear sir, your article was a good read. Really liked it. I think i should thank you for posting it.
thanks and regards,
shilpa
Post a Comment