In pursuit of honour
May 24th, 2010
By Jayanthi Natarajan
The structure and extra-constitutional authority of khap panchayats,
who recently declared that their rulings could not be fettered even by
the Constitution of India or the law of the land have been the subject
of considerable national debate. Khaps are geographically confined
mainly as old systems of social administration in villages of
north-western India, including Rajasthan, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh,
Haryana, National Capital Region and parts of western Uttar Pradesh.
Traditionally, one unit of a khap would take care of the social
affairs of about 84 villages from the same caste and was intended to
promote bhaichara or brotherhood, among the community. In some cases
they were instrumental in controlling or prohibiting the sale of
liquor. However, in many other cases they have become a collection of
caste lords who perpetuate their own law and diktat in village society
and assume the custodianship of the "honour" of the women belonging to
the area.
Khaps claim that sagotra marriages, or marriages between young persons
who belong to the same gotra, cannot be sanctioned as they are
considered incestuous. On some particularly brutal occasions, khaps
have been known to force a wife to tie rakhi to her own husband,
thereby accepting her husband as a "brother". At the same time, khaps
are adamantly opposed to inter-caste marriages as they are committed
to the rigid maintenance of caste divisions in village society and the
infinite perpetuation of those divisions.
Needless to say, the khaps and other similar village social
arrangement such as even the Dorbars in Meghalaya, are comprised
solely of adult males, usually village elders. Women are not eligible
or worthy of being members of this peer group. Inasmuch as these
social khaps encourage brotherhood (note: NOT sisterhood or social
harmony) they were a time-honoured part of the social structure of a
village. They settled land disputes between families and other feuds
regarding inheritance and property. They were courted by political
formations because they represented the collective strength of that
community and hence a powerful votebank.
However, the recent spate of violence and khap-ordained "honour
killings" are a cause for dismay in the minds of right thinking
citizens. The fact that village life is governed by caste is a reality
that every Indian lives with. The fact also that we dream of a society
free of divisions of caste and creed is a goal which we constantly
struggle to attain while grappling every day with the might and power
of the feudal mindset that perpetrates caste. If we are thinking about
a caste census today, it is only at this point a mere collection of
data without analysis because while there can be no harm in collecting
data to ensure for example benefits reserved by the state for backward
sections of society reach their target group, the analysis of the data
should be done after a national debate, a national consensus and
considerable thought in order to avoid the danger of creating a
permanently divided society. Thus when khaps promote bhaichara or
fraternity, they serve a social purpose. However, when the selfsame
khaps assume unto themselves extra-constitutional powers and decree
death for those who indulge an sagotra marriages or inter-caste
marriages, they challenge the Constitution and the criminal laws of
this country and that can never be tolerated in a democracy which
reveres the rule of law.
Thus when the Karnal sessions court awarded the death penalty to five
persons who had ordered the "honour" killing of Babli and Manoj, khap
leaders in Kurukshetra declared themselves to be more bound to the
khap than the Indian Constitution and announced that no law or court
in the land could deter them from their murderous intent. This is a
direct challenge to the rule of law in our country and cannot be
tolerated by any democracy. The political system urgently needs to
join hands to put down this challenge to our Constitution and ensure
that no feudal group challenges our Constitution with impunity. This
is a problem which is bigger than caste or society and goes to the
root of the sustainability of our legal and constitutional system.
However, a look at the larger picture is truly scary. Khaps have been
in the news and so has the recent death of educated young journalist
Nirupama Pathak, who was allegedly murdered for having dared to love a
boy from a different caste.With the family's role in the death being
alleged, it is appalling that this was not a khap but a normal family
that reacted violently to the idea of their young daughter wanting to
marry a man they disapproved of. Thus it is not just the khaps, but
even a single educated family which is intolerant of their daughter
choosing her own husband, which is provoked into brutally killing her.
It is time now for us to ask ourselves what is wrong with our society.
Have we forfeited the right to call ourselves civilised?
The single thread that runs through the whole frightening violence
related to so-called honour killings is the notion prevalent in every
single section of society — rich or poor, urban or rural, educated and
otherwise — is that the "honour" of a caste, family or even religion
depends upon the sexuality of its women. In the modern context, this
deep-held belief is discriminatory and unfair and is the reason why
the wars of present-day India are fought upon the bodies of women.
For example, if a woman belonging to one religion is raped by some
criminals who happen to belong to another religion, instead of taking
urgent steps to ensure exemplary punishment of those criminals, a mob
belonging to the victim's religion gathers and rapes women belonging
to the religion of the attacker. Thus all the women are blameless but
they are the greatest sufferers. We fail to see that the wrongdoer
should be punished, not women belonging to the other religion who are
absolutely innocent. Similarly, in caste wars, it is again the
"chastity" and "honour" of women which are often the cause for
dissension, often leading to the death of the woman.
Modern India has no place for gender chauvinism and "honour" killings.
Caste and religion have to be viewed as distinct from crimes against
women and above all, the Constitution of India should reign supreme.
Our credentials as a civilised society depend upon this.
- Jayanthi Natarajan is a Congress MP in the Rajya Sabha and AICC spokesperson.
The views expressed in this column are her own.
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