Flag of unreason

In the middle of modernity,we are in the dark ages. Naveen Jindal,the promising young MP from Kurukshetra,has now declared his intention to mediate between Haryanas dreaded khap panchayats and the Centre. There has been widespread public recoil after a sessions court convicted a khap panchayat for their vigilante violence and the murder of a young couple for the sin of intra-gotra marriage. But khap panchayats are undeterred,and demand that the Hindu Marriage Act amended to make same-gotra marriages illegal.

Any original roles in dispute resolution and social order having long been rendered redundant,khap panchayats are now a dark and atavistic force in Haryana,responsible for maintaining frozen caste purities. Those who transgress,or undermine the khaps authority by simply falling in love with someone unsuitable that is,someone whose family tree claims connection to the same clan are punished through extreme social intimidation,even murder. Given the feebleness of legitimate panchayati raj institutions,the distinctions that khap panchayats foster have fed into political mobilisations. Despite the recent indictment,khap leaders have been obdurate in their insistence that caste honour transcends the Indian law,and they have been shamefully enabled by Haryanas political class,which exploits these divisions for electoral advantage. The administration is also complicit in perpetrating these practices,making it next to impossible for people to defy the khaps writ. The Haryana government has even defended the khap panchayats claiming that their being prosecuted under the Prevention of Unlawful Activities Act 1967 would be a rash step,and would upset the states law and order.

By acceding to the khaps logic and agreeing to articulate their demands to the Centre,Jindal has clearly chosen sides and belied the hopes of those who considered him an enlightened voice for change,or even minimally progressive.