It was believed that with modernism,the backward feudal ideologies will be weakened.But a case of honour killing in district Rohtak of Haryana and the behaviour of Khap panchayats in this context makes it clear that there is absolutely no change in the patriarchal way of thinking.
It was believed that with modernism,the backward feudal ideologies will be weakened.But a case of honour killing in district Rohtak of Haryana and the behaviour of Khap panchayats in this context makes it clear that there is absolutely no change in the patriarchal way of thinking.
The events that have taken place during the last 10 days have put a big question mark on the violence perpetrated on women across the country.These events expose the brutal truths of our society.It is thought that with modernism,backward feudal ideologies will become weaker,but as long as there are inequality and exploitation in society,patriarchy will keep on manifesting itself in new forms.
Some of the events that have taken place in areas around Delhi are as follows: In the first week of October,Dharmender and Nidhi ran away and got married in Rohtak.They were both adults,educated,belonged to the same caste,but they had to run away,otherwise they would have been killed because they were of the same village and same gotra and wanted to marry of their own accord.But even running away could not save their lives.Nidhi was murdered through repeated knife attacks by her family members and Dharmender's body was found lying near her house.Both the daughter and son of the village were sacrificed at the altar of 'village honour'.Everybody was silent,including the villagers,family members,people in the government and even leaders in Delhi.The village of Dharmender and Nidhi lies in the assembly constituency of Deepender Singh Hooda,son of the Haryana Chief Minister.He also kept mum.
In this area and in the adjoining areas of Rajsthan,western UP and Uttrakhand,love-marriages [even if in one's own caste] are met with death-sentence.Thousands of 'marriages' have taken place between local boys and girls brought from West Bengal,Tripura,Bihar,Jharkhand and even Kerala.Nobody knows how legal these marriages are because many of these girls are married to more than one brother in the family.These girls are also married to another person after the first one and the 'groom' may be above 70 !Nobody knows the caste of these girls.This strange marriage custom is not due to progressive caste-defiance,but is a result of intense patriarchy.There is extreme scarcity of girls in this area and female foeticide has almost become a norm here.
A few days after the murder of Nidhi and Dharmender,two local Khap panchayats had a meeting.Those participating in the meeting were worried because there were signs of increase in such incidents in future.The panchayats decided that on one hand,groups of men will be assigned the task of keeping an eye on the school and college going girls and on the other hand,Khap panchayat members will go to schools and warn the girls not to break the rules in their own interest.They will also ask the school administration to arrange separate buses for boys and girls.They also issued a diktat that the girls will wear only salwar-kameez and not keep mobile phones.
Meena comes towork in Gurgaon from a village in Haryana.She says she has to walk in an atmosphere of fear.Kamla drives her own car to the college where she teaches.She wears her dupatta on her face till she reaches the college.College girls studying in Rohtak say that many of their friends are gone because they have been married off after school only.Whenever any parents find that their daughter is going around with someone,they take her home.Either they get her married or they kill her.
Khap panchayats are illegal,but in a case of rape in Dwarka{Delhi}Justice Virender Bhatt of the fast-track court constituted for this purpose stated in his verdict on October 18 that entering into a physical relationship before marriage on the part of girls is a violation of ethics and social control.If they indulge in this,they will have to pay for it and then they should not complain that they have been raped.Saying this,he acquitted the person accused of rape.During the election season,who can fight patriarchy and the castes caught in its stranglehold ? Some brave persons have shown the guts to break this silence.Haryana unit of CPI{M} raised a protest against murder of Dharmender and Nidhi and demanded arrest of the killers,JMS challenged the dictatorship of the Khap panchayats,former Chief Justice of Supreme Court Mr.Khare condemned Justice Bhatt's comments.
It is not surprising in such an atmosphere that Gujrat police took Asaram Bapu [in police custody then] to second floor of its office in front of a window on the evening of October 18 so that his followers could have his 'darshan'.The police also allowed his followers to sing bhajans in his honour on loudspeaker,blocking the road.Nine days ago,the same Gujrat police had arrested the fathers of those two boys who were students in Asaram Bapu's gurukul and whose bodies were found near the Ashram in 2008.
Kudos to patriarchy ! There is no danger to you from modernity based on the inequality of the modern India !
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