Khap bans jeans for girls

Yadav panchayat also frowns upon DJs at weddings

A khap panchayat of Yadav community has banned girls from wearing jeans and has warned of serious consequences if the diktat is violated by anyone in the community.

The panchayat at Rahera village in Mathura district on Monday was reportedly attended by hundreds of community members drawn from UP, Haryana and Rajasthan. 

Reports said the panchayat had representatives from as many as 52 villages from the three states. The panchayat members also imposed a ban on DJs (disc jockeys) at wedding functions in a bid to check huge spending on marriages. It also banned child marriages and drinking liquor.

The decisions were taken in the presence of the well-known saint Ramesh Baba. “Yaduvanshis (Yadav community members) are the descendants of Lord Krishna. A lot of evils have crept into the community which need to be abolished,” he said.

The panchayat ruled that a penalty of Rs 11,000 would be imposed on the members if they were found to have violated the directives. The panchayat comes close on the heels of another such meeting in Saharanpur district in UP that had imposed severe restrictions on the movement of women.

The panchayat at Jharawan village had directed the women of the village not to go to fields and the neighbouring Kalsi village. It said the decision was taken to safeguard the women who were allegedly subjected to molestation by the youth of Kalsi village.Khap panchayats had in the past also imposed a ban on wearing of jeans by girls and also use of cellphones by them. 

The diktats had come under sharp criticism from the women’s activists, who had demanded police intervention and enactment of laws to deal with such panchayats.