http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Selja-hits-out-at-khap-panchayats/articleshow/5941922.cms
Selja hits out at khap panchayats
Himanshi Dhawan, TNN, May 18, 2010, 02.03am IST
NEW DELHI: Taking on powerful khap panchayats, Union tourism minister
Kumari Selja on Monday stoutly opposed changes in the Hindu Marriage
Act to accomodate the medieval views of the caste groupings that have
off late sought to intimidate mainstream political opinion.
With khap panchayats in Haryana seeking changes in law to ban same
gotra weddings, many political leaders have been muted in their views
with some like INLD chief Om Prakash Chautala seeking to milk the
sentiment. But Selja, an assertive Dalit leader, has chosen to differ
with the major Jat leaders of Haryana.
Speaking in Chandigarh, Selja also criticised the bloody clashes
between Jats and Dalits in which scheduled castes had to bear the
brunt of the violence in Haryana. She slammed the killing of Dalits in
Mirchpur that had seen Dalits having to flee from their homes.
"What are these panchayats,'' the minister countered when asked for
her opinion on self-styled guardians of caste councils. On the demand
for amending the Hindu Marriage Act, she said as far as she was
concerned the law was fine. "The law of the land is supreme. It has to
prevail,'' Selja said.
While she did not comment on party MP Navin Jindal's defence of khap
panchayats and INLD support for amending the law, the minister's
assertive stance is significant. As a Dalit woman leader she has given
voice to the rising economic profile and social aspirations of Dalits
and also challenged the deep rooted caste animosity of the Jats
towards the SCs.
Selja's comments also reflect the faultlines in the Haryana Congress
where the Union minister is opposed to chief minister B S Hooda. The
dominant faction has been keen on sidelining the minister who has,
however, been favoured by the party since she was made a junior HRD
minister during P V Narasimha Rao's tenure as PM. As an articulate
Dalit leader, she is obviously seen as an asset.
Selja also condemned last month's Mirchpur incident at Hisar in which
a disabled girl and her father were burnt alive allegedly by members
of the Jat community. Terming the incident "unfortunate and tragic'',
the minister said that it was a "rude and a sad reminder that we are
yet rise above caste considerations''.
She said that Congress chief Sonia Gandhi had taken a serious view of
the Mirchpur incident while party general secretary Rahul Gandhi had
visited the affected village.
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