Stern stance

The bull has finally been grabbed by the horns. The supreme court has issued directives to rein in what are called khap panchayats in the north and katta panchayats in south India. The apex court has not minced its words in describing them as illegal bodies that deserve to be “ruthlessly stamped out”. Several instances have come to light of khap/katta panchayats taking the law into their own hands and decreeing inter-caste marriages or intra-gotra marriages as illegal. They are known to have encouraged the killing or public shaming of young boys and girls who dared to marry outside their caste or without parental consent. The punishments they have meted out to those who have challenged their authority are illegal and barbaric. Despite this they have been allowed to function freely. That is now poised to change, thanks to the apex court’s intervention. The court has ordered suspension, departmental proceedings and criminal action against district magistrates and superintendents of police, if they fail to act against the illegal actions of khap/katta panchayats.

The stern stance of the supreme court is quite in contrast with the waffling on the issue by politicians. Especially in parts of Haryana, where action against the khap panchayats could cost political parties dearly among the Jat community, politicians have shown little inclination to crackdown on these illegal bodies. Congress MP Navin Jindal extended support to khap panchayats’ demand for amending the Hindu Marriage Act to make intra-gotra marriage illegal. Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda has repeatedly supported khap panchayats on the ground that they are embedded in local tradition and culture. Given the support that khaps get from the political establishment, officials have been reluctant to crackdown against them. These officials will now be forced to act.

That the khap panchayats will not be easily cowed down is evident from the fact that within a day of the supreme court order, a khap panchayat in Panipat declared a marriage as illegal and ordered the boy and girl to live as siblings. The administration must act quickly against the members of this khap. If officials do not do so, action must be initiated against them as prescribed by the court. That will send out a clear message to officials and khap panchayats that the judiciary means business.