They hate love

Barbarism of the banana republics of khaps has led to a spate of killings of young couples. Will the epidemic stop, or will it spread its vicious wings?
Shaweta Anand Delhi

Dishonour crimes is a phrase made popular by Shakti Vahini, a women and child rights group, to describe the phenomena of 'honour killings' associated with a sense of violation of community honour. The phenomenon acquires a vicious and barbaric form when youngsters breach the traditionally prescribed social norms of marriage and select a partner of their own choice, mostly across castes, within their gotra (sub-caste) or across religions.

Traditional belief in many villages of the rural northern belt, especially in Haryana, UP and Rajasthan, is that youngsters from the same gotra or even different gotras but living within or adjoining villages are considered to be siblings. Marrying each other is therefore considered incestuous by some and unhealthy for the offspring by others, 'bringing dishonour to the family and community', according to the self-appointed guardians of orthodox culture and tradition. 

A handful of men among them, who constitute the khap panchayats, have taken it upon themselves to decide upon 'appropriate punishment for offenders', including unconstitutional torture or death sentences to be executed by villagers themselves. This comes as a punishment for exercising the right to choice of a partner (albeit without social approval), which is well within the purview of law under the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955.

It is a misnomer that only young people choose socially unacceptable partners because many parents are doing the same for their children due to lack of options. "Earlier, smaller villages had two-three gotras so you could avoid them, but now, villages have 20-25 gotras that must be avoided, alongside parents' gotras and gotras of neighbouring villages. This, coupled with low sex ratio (as low as 550 women per 1000 men in some districts) and high unemployment, makes it a very challenging situation," says sociologist Dr Prem Chowdhry. 

The informal institution of khap goes by the names of a particular gotra (Dahiya khap, Hooda khap, Gathwala khap etc) or of the geographical area they represent (Meham chaubisi representing 24 villages in Rohtak, Bawal chaurasi representing 84 villages in Rewari etc). Such khaps are still functioning in states of northern India and cases of dishonour crimes have also been reported from as far as Tamil Nadu down south.

Members of this unconstitutional, parallel system of 'justice' often convene an all-male gathering that squats on or around a chabutara (a raised platform) in the village, smoking hookah sometimes to denote bhaichara (brotherhood), with an aim of taking quick, unilateral decisions on multiple issues like social transgressions, property rights, inheritance, or regarding situations threatening peace in the village. 

Most cases heard at such gatherings concern women but they are never made part of the proceedings. This reveals the patriarchal and authoritative nature of this grouping compared to the constitutional gram panchayats that also have women representatives, especially after the 73rd Amendment, says Chowdhry in her acclaimed book Contentious Marriages, Eloping Couples. 

Interestingly, the concept of bhaichara (brotherhood) as elaborated upon by Chowdhry, whether caste or village-based, covers sisters and daughters, not wives. For instance, a married woman running away is not made to be such a big deal by people of the community. But an unmarried woman eloping with her partner is met with an iron hand and it evokes a range of violent reactions, especially from male members of the community for breaching and threatening traditional social norms and culture.