Uneay calm prevails in Sehjra village,situated some 5 km from Mehal Kalan,in Barnala district. In the last nine months,Sehjra has witnessed four marriages where the bride and the groom hail from the same village. While there has been no official Khap and its dictates announced,yet these four families are now facing a social boycott. The situation is such that these families are finding it difficult to even sell their paddy the artiyas in nearby villages are also not ready to buy the produce. A 51-member committee has been formed in the village to ensure that the boycott is implemented. The village gurdwara has also announced that every one should delete the phone numbers of these households. Manjit Singh,who heads the boycott committee,said: We have given a call. The community does not agree to such marriages. This is a self-called boycott. We all have taken this decision at a personal level,no one has been forced to agree to this kind of boycott. We had requested them to leave the village. To maintain peace,we had to call this boycott. Village Sarpanch Dr Ram Gopal,however,had a different story to tell. Gopal,a SAD- BJP sarpanch,said: There are some 10-12 people behind this boycott thing. This village has a population of about 4,000 people but the dynamics of the village is such that even a small act gets amplified. We are trying our best that normalcy returns to our village as soon as possible. But the families,whose daughters had eloped and have now returned to stay in the same village,say that they are finding it difficult to survive here. The district police claimed that it was keeping a tight vigil on the situation. While two couples have returned and are leading a normal life,the others,we have been told,are living in nearby towns. We had called the four couples and the village panchayat. Though the couples refused security cover,we have given them our numbers,including mine,where we can be reached immediately, said Barnala SSP Gupreet Singh Toor. He added: There has been no mass call for a boycott. Those who do such a thing are called by us from time to time and told that such calls are illegal and that even Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has issued strict instructions that such couples have to be given protection as per law. Interestingly,Meha Kalan is the same town that had fought a decade-long battle to ensure justice to girl student Kiranjit Kaur,who was raped and murdered in 1997 by youth belonging to the areas rich and influential families.
