Is he Cong CM or a Khap chief?
5 Jun 2010, 0314 hrs IST,ET Bureau
NEW DELHI/CHANDIGARH: There is very little to choose between Haryana
chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Khap panchayats. Mr Hooda
breathed new
life to the controversy on Thursday, over Khap panchayats' decision to
oppose same-gotra marriage, by supporting it. With an eye on electoral
equations, the chief minister who was silent on the issue said: "The
issue was not about Khap panchayats but related to old customs of the
state, as per which such marriages are not solemnised in any castes."
The Jat community comprises 27% of the state electorate.
The campaign of the Jat community had subsided after Union law
minister Veerappa Moily said the Centre was planning a law to allow
same-gotra marriages. Even Congress MP Navin Jindal, who backed the
Khap leaders, had backtracked after this.
The CM's statement said that as per the old customs same-gotra
marriages were prohibited and society did not approve such marriages.
Thankfully, Mr Hooda said that the death sentences pronounced by khap
panchayats were wrong and illegal. When asked on the need to amend the
Hindu Marriage Act, the chief minister played safe by saying that
there is an existing provision in the act.
The Jat leaders of the state don't seem to have the political will to
fight the spate of gory incidents that have taken place of late due to
retrograde mindset of Jat community leaders.
In the past four decades, the only non-Jat satrap to rule Haryana was
Mr Bhajan Lal. The other non Jat CM was Banarsi Das Gupta. Though he
was catapulted to the coveted post twice, his tenures were
short-lived. This seems to have given the impression that a CM can
survive only if he overtly backs the Jat community.
As the Congress and Indian National Lok Dal slug it out to please the
Jat community, Mayawati's BSP has made things tough for the chief
minister by keeping the Mirchpur incident alive. More than 20 houses
of Dalits were torched by Jats resulting in the death of 18-year-old
physically-challenged woman Suman and her father Tara Chand in
Mirchpur.
Political scientists believe that with the changing socio-economic
scenario, Dalits have started fighting for their rights while Khaps,
mainly comprising upper caste landlords, want to maintain status quo.
Dalits constitute 19.3% of Haryana's population and Valmikis
constitute 19.2% of the Dalit population. Meanwhile, Union housing &
urban poverty alleviation and tourism minister Kumari Selja — the
Dalit face of Haryana who criticised Mr Hooda openly on violence
against Dalits — rejected the idea of banning marriages within same
gotra.
On the violence against Dalits, Ms Selja said: "AICC chairperson Sonia
Gandhi and general secretary Rahul Gandhi have taken a serious note of
the Mirchpur incident in Haryana where more than 20 houses of Dalits
were torched by the upper community members resulting in the death of
18-year-old physically challenged woman Suman and her father Tara
Chand."
"Whereas we on the one hand we have best of the programmes for people
who belong to lower strata, and on the other hand these people are
made victims. I believe government should adopt tough stance on
atrocities against Dalits. Its time people should come of age," Ms
Selja said.
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