Opinion Framed by Mirchpur
Haryana is one of the fastest growing states of the country at 9 per cent,compared to the national average of 7.2 per cent and way ahead of Punjab...
Haryana is one of the fastest growing states of the country at 9 per cent,compared to the national average of 7.2 per cent and way ahead of Punjab (of which it was a part till 1966),stagnating at 6.7 per cent. It ranks among the top in agriculture production and has a sound industrial and infrastructure base. The state has to its credit several path-breaking initiatives relating to the welfare of women and girl-children,from free education for girls up to the college level and 33 per cent reservation for women in teachers jobs. Its innovative steps for pensioners and other welfare measures have been adopted by other states.
However,it has an unenviable track record as far as law and order is concerned,increasingly associated with reports of honour killings,diktats by khap panchayats (geographical or gotra-based self-elected bodies),inter-caste clashes,industrial unrest,highway robberies,rapes and gang wars. Of late,the credibility of the state police has also taken a beating. Apart from convicted former DGP S.P.S. Rathore and former IGP R.K. Sharma,several police officers have been facing serious charges. A rape victim committed suicide outside the office of the DGP because she was not heard despite repeated efforts. Another such victim took her life outside the office of an IGP who had also refused to provide her justice. Its Special Task Force (STF),comprising handpicked police personnel,was recently disbanded as it was caught running an extortion racket.
That its intelligence wing is either dysfunctional or inefficient is evident from the recent Jat-Dalit clash in Mirchpur village in Hisar district. There was a stand-off between the communities for two days but no step was taken to defuse the situation. The decision to suspend the SHO concerned after the violence claimed the life of a polio-stricken girl and her father was too late,and it will,most likely,not be long before he is reinstated.
Recently,there has been a spurt in incidents that reassert the khaps clout. This is partly due to the fact that panchayat elections are on the anvil next month and none of the political parties wants to take on the mini-khaps and lose their votebanks in the villages. Congress Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda,who survived a scare in the assembly elections last year,is grappling with the question of his governments survival. Confining himself to the line that law would take its own course,Hooda has shown no political will to take on those who play havoc with the rule of law. His rival,Om Prakash Chautala,is no better. He has,in fact,demanded an amendment to the Hindu Marriage Act to ban intra-gotra marriages with a clear eye on placating the khaps.
Khap panchayat leaders,meanwhile,assert that there is not one instance where khaps have ordered the killing of a couple. The chief of the powerful Meham khap,Randhir Singh,says that they stand for brotherhood and age-old tradition. The khaps do not favour violence but it is the family members of the affected parties who indulge in it for their izzat,he asserts. But it is evident that the khaps provide tacit support to such acts. In a recent incident,a court official was lynched to death by a mob when he had gone to execute court orders. All that the police had been doing is registering cases against unidentified persons who remain unidentified and subsequently the cases fall flat.
Shockingly,despite such a poor track record and lack of political will to take on those making a mockery of law and human rights,the state does not have a human rights commission. Even neighbouring Punjab has a vibrant commission which takes suo motu notice of such violations and directs the government to take action. The victims can,at best,approach the National Human Rights Commission but few have the knowledge or means to knock on its door. Haryana politicians do not seem to realise that all the gains made by the state in other fields can come to nought if they do not control the downward slide of the law and order situation in the state.
vipin.pubby@expressindia.com
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