Any country that allows its laws and social customs to be dictated (or defied) by peasants and half-literate priests deserves to be called primitive. This is what we should remember when we discuss the amendments to the law that the khap panchayats are seeking and the restrictions on women that the Deoband seminary sought to impose last week. When the reaction from Muslims was general outrage,the Dar-ul-Uloom hastily denied its fatwa,ordering women to avoid contact with strange men in the workplace but the khap peasants have been emboldened by political support.
Among their political supporters are some peasant politicians from whom no better can be expected. But,when educated,supposedly urbane political leaders lend their voice to primeval practices they need to be publicly reviled. They deserve social boycott and disgrace. It is not enough to say,as Naveen Jindal did last week,that he was only reflecting the opinion of his constituents. His constituents are peasants who do not seek to be members of polite Delhi society by living in Aurangzeb Road and joining the Polo Club. Ninety-nine point nine per cent of khap panchayat members would be unable to read a short story or speak a single sentence in educated Hindi. How do I know? For the simple reason that it has been my lot as a reporter to cover many honour killings. Inevitably I have arrived in villages in Punjab,Haryana or Uttar Pradesh after the deed is done and inevitably I have found that those who supported the horror were barbaric fanatics. They cannot be allowed to dictate changes in our marriage laws or laws of any other kind. If the Haryana Police had the courage to arrest a few of them and throw them into some dark cell for a longish period they would be easily controlled.
As they did not,it is left to us to speak out openly against any fatwa that attempts to restrict the fundamental rights of any Indian women. In Islamic countries it is the practice to force women to hide themselves behind veils of different kind. It is not the Indian way. In Islamic countries of more extreme persuasion like Saudi Arabia women cannot leave their houses to buy groceries unless they are accompanied by a male relative. It is not the Indian way and laws of this kind if imposed from social or religious pressure can only take us back to primitive times.
Anyone reading this who has concluded that it is only half literate Mullahs who try to impose religious restrictions on secular laws should keep in mind what Hindu priests get up to when given half a chance. If they had their way,Hindu women would still be persuaded to commit sati and widows would go back to being confined to sub-human lives.
In a region seething with jihad and religious lunacy,India needs to be proud of her secular,modern traditions. We need to defend them with all our might against priests and peasants who really need to be confined to the cloistered world they inhabit. No sooner do they take a step into the world outside than they create nothing but trouble for everyone else. We know that our Prime Minister is the strong and silent type who rarely intervenes in public discourse. But,surely when the principles on which the Indian Constitution come under attack in the most repugnant,dangerous way he needs to speak up so that nobody is left in any doubt about the position he would take on such abominations as khap panchayats and religious edicts. That is what Leaders do. And,Soniaji where is your voice now? You who were so very happy to risk damaging Indias parliamentary traditions to give women reserved seats in the Lok Sabha? What use reserved seats to those who do not have the right to marry who they like or work outside the four walls of their home?
Follow Tavleen Singh on Twitter@tavleen_singh
