Khap panchayat annuls yet another marriage

[Dudee]

Khap panchayat annuls yet another marriage
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2010/20100201/haryana.htm


Rohtak, January 31
The Beniwal Gotra khap panchayat yesterday ordered that a marriage solemnised in violation of gotra (surname) norms be annulled.

The panchayat declared the marriage of Satish of Kheri Meham with Kavita of Bhagi-Behror in Bhiwani district invalid. It asked the parents of the couple to abide by the order within 28 days or face “exile”.

The panchayat, describing the man and woman as siblings, ordered that they severed their matrimonial ties forthwith. It declared that the couple’s son, Raunak, would remain with his mother while the groom’s family would pay Rs 3 lakh to his mother for his upbringing.

The father of the groom has appealed to the panchayat to reconsider the decision. Sources said the panchayat had accepted the appeal and another meeting was likely within a couple of days. As punishment, a shoe was placed in the mouth of Azad Singh, Satish’s father, claimed a kin pleading anonymity. “The panchayat announced that the couple were now brother and sister and the girl be taken back by her parents,” he said.

The panchayat was reportedly presided over by Hawa Singh Beniwal. Hundreds of villagers were present. The panchayat said that since members of both Beniwal and Berwal gotras resided in the village (Kheri), there existed brotherhood between them and, hence, matrimonial ties could not be allowed. Kavita’s father, Rajvir Singh who was present at the meeting, told mediapersons that Hawa Singh pronounced the diktat while another panchayat member, Virender Singh, forced a shoe into Azad Singh’s mouth.

This is second such incident in the district in the past three months. A panchayat had ordered the “exile” of a couple at Garhi Ballam village in the district on November 1 last.

A joint panchayat of the Garhi Ballam and Sundana villages had directed a couple to leave the village for violating the gotra norms. The boy hailed from Sundana while the girl to Garhi Ballam, 2 km away, in Kalanaur subdivision.

The couple had to leave the village under pressure. No formal complaint was lodged with the police or the district administration.



Tribune News Service

Sirsa, January 31
The All-India Students Federation (AISF) today condemned the diktat of Khap Panchayat, declaring a couple as brother and sister in Meham Kheri, Rohtak district. It demanded action against those responsible for it. A meeting of the state council of the AISF held here today urged the state government to initiate action against members of the Khap Panchayat. Roshan Lal Suchan, state convener, who presided over the meeting, alleged that the state government had been encouraging Khap Panchayats by not taking any action against them.

“It’s sheer vote bank politics that stops the government from proceeding against these panchayats,” he alleged.

The members decried the increasing trend of privatisation of education and alleged that the government was hand in glove with private institutes in fleecing students. “On the one hand, education is getting increasingly out of bounds for the common people and on the other, no fresh recruitments are being made,” the AISF leader alleged.

He claimed that there were that 25 lakh unemployed youths in Haryana, but the state government was doing precious little to fill 2.5 lakh vacancies in various departments. Suchan said the 27th annual convention of the AISF would be held at Puducherry from February 13 to 15, in which over 1,000 delegates would participate.

[Dudee]

Gotra Trouble
Another couple approaches cops for security
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2010/20100202/haryana.htm

Hisar, February 1
A marriage solemnised last night has run into a gotra row with residents of the groom’s village raising a ruckus.

Ravi Khanagwal of Khanda village was scheduled to be

married to Kavita of Nangthala yesterday. As the marriage party reached the bride’s place, a few residents from the groom’s village approached the Agroha police, asking it to stop the ceremony. They alleged that the girl was a minor.

The police verified the complaint and declared the girl an adult on the basis of the age mentioned in the ration card.

The complainants then went to the bride’s village and asked the two families not to go ahead with the marriage as the girl was from the Nagar gotra and the groom’s village housed several Nagar families.

The families refused to do so. The complainants then left the village threatening to oppose the marriage when the baraat returned to Khanda.

The Agroha police informed the SP who directed the SHO of Narnaund to ensure that no untoward incident occurred. Police pickets were set up in the village.

The newly married couple and the baraat went to the Narnaund police station in the evening, demanding security. From there, the couple was sent to Baroda village in Sonepat where the groom’s sister lives. The police has registered a case under Sections 49, 323, 506, 147 and 148 of the IPC on the complaint of the bride’s mother.

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Chaubisi panchayat urged to intervene in marriage annulment by Beniwal khap
Bijendra Ahlawat
Tribune News Service

Rohtak, February 1
The Meham Chaubisi panchayat has been urged to intervene following directions of the Beniwal khap to dissolve the marriage of a youth from Kheri Meham village with a girl of Baghi village in Bhiwani on grounds of violation of gotra norms. The appeal has been made by the Sarva Jatiya Khap Yuva Panchayat whose delegation met the head of the Chaubisi Panchayat today.

The latter has reportedly assured to help resolve the dispute. A spokesperson of the Sarv Jatia Sarv Khap Yuva Panchayat said the incident was condemnable, especially as the couple had a 10-month-old son.

“The pradhan of the Chaubisi has assured us that the issue would be resolved at a meeting of the panchayat likely to be called on Sunday,” he said.

The Beniwal khap panchayat in Kheri village had issued a diktat, annulling the three-year-old marriage between Satish Berwal and Kavita.

The panchayat directed Kavita's father to take his daughter and her infant son back to Bhagi. The woman has moved to her parental village since. Azad Singh , husband of Satish, was allegedly insulted by the gathering, forcing a shoe in his mouth and ordering him to disown his son.Satish, too, has again appealed to the khap panchayat to revoke the decision. The police said it had contacted the affected family and offered security to both families. Meanwhile, the Punjab and Haryana High Court today took cognizance of the report on the annullment of marriage, directed issuance of notice for February 11.

Sirsa: A waiter was killed when a member of a marriage party fired shots from his licenced gun during celebration at Maujukhera village on Monday night.

The police has booked Sukhwinder Singh of Bighar village, who fled after the incident, for culpable homicide and under the Arms Act. The waiter, Dharma Singh, a resident of Mehmada near Ratia, was serving drinks when Sukhwinder fired several shots while on the dance floor.

[Dudee]

Khap terror again
Why is state government silent?

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2010/20100202/edit.htm

Unmindful of the directions of the courts and oblivious of the revulsion that they generate all over the world, khap panchayats of Haryana continue to play their old cruel tricks. In another shocking incident, one such panchayat of the Beniwal gotra in Kheri Meham village of Rohtak district issued a Taliban-like fatwa was issued on Saturday annulling the three-year-old marriage of a couple and instructed them to live like brother and sister. The holding of such a meeting was no secret and yet the government did nothing to stop it. That gives credence to the apprehension that there are many politicians and officials who are willing to go along with the diktats of these self-styled leaders of society who think they are above the law. Every time they are allowed to get away with such deeds, they are encouraged to repeat themselves. Just for the sake of a few votes, political parties fight shy of taking on them.

What they have done is not only an insult to the image of the country and the state but also a crime against humanity. They have spared no thought for the 10-month child, Raunak, of the harried couple. They have sent him along with her mother, Kavita Berwal of Bagi village in Jhajjar district, to her parents’ house, unmindful of the fact that life for him would be a nightmare in the absence of his father. They have no reply to the entreaties of Kavita that more than a hundred villagers had accompanied the barat of her husband, Satish Beniwal. Why were they silent all this while?

While the authorities look the other way, individual sufferers do raise their voice. But their protest is brutally nipped in the bud. A similar panchayat had ordered the “exile” of a couple at Garhi Ballam village in Rohtak district on November 1 last. One Ved Pal was lynched by a mob in another Haryana village for marrying within the same gotra. It is high time members of the khap panchayats were prosecuted under the Prevention of Unlawful Activities Act, under which a maximum of seven years’ imprisonment can be awarded to an individual.

[Dudee]

Gotra row resolved; couple directed to leave village

Notice to Haryana on khap row

The HC has taken cognisance of a report, “Khap panchayat annuls yet another marriage”, carried in these columns on January 1. The report on Beniwal Gotra khap panchayat directing the annulment of a marriage solemnised in violation of the gotra norms was placed before Chief Justice Mukul Mudgal by Punjab and Haryana High Court advocate Navkiran Singh. Acting on the report, the Chief Justice directed the issuance of notice for February 11 to the state of Haryana and others.
Hisar, February 2
The gotra row which rocked Khanda Kheri village yesterday over the marriage of Ravi Khanagwal to Kavita Nagar of Nangthala village was resolved today with both sides reaching an agreement.

The two sides agreed not to force dissolution of the marriage. Instead, the couple would have to leave the village for now.

No timeframe for their expulsion has been worked out.

It was decided that no girl belonging to Nagar and Khanagwal gotra would be allowed to marry a boy from the village.

The status of the criminal case registered against several villagers in this connection was not immediately known but sources said these would be withdrawn later.

An uneasy lull prevailed in the village following the decision.

A police picke was posted outside the groom’s house as a precautionary measure.

The couple who were sent to the groom’s sister’s house in Baroda village in Sonepat district last is reported to have left the village early this morning for an undisclosed destination.

Reports said that the bride and the groom would be taken go the girl’s village, Nangthala, accampanied by the SHO, Baroda police station.

[Dudee]

Gotra Trouble
Book khap panchayat, demands wife
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2010/20100204/haryana.htm


The banished couple, Ravi and Kavita, in Nangthala village near Hisar on Wednesday. Photo: Subhash Kumar

Rohtak, February 3
Kavita and Satish involved in a gotra row today approached the district police chief, seeking adequate security to her family and action against the 21-member Beniwal khap panchayat which had pronounced annulment of her three-year-old marriage, citing violation of gotra norms.

She submitted an application to the SSP, demanding immediate action. Though the police authorities have posted a team of five policemen led by an ASI at the house of Azad Singh (Kavita's father-in-law) at Kheri Meham village in the district, it is the first time that a member of the affected family has sought action against the panchayat.

The couple has an infant son. The panchayat had insulted Kavita’s father-in-law publicly, putting a shoe into his mouth and directed the family to send the woman back to her parental village Bhagi in Bhiwani district along with her child.

It had asked Satish to deposit a certain amount for the upbringing of the child.

The khap body had maintained that since the couple hailed from Berwal and Beniwal gotra, they could not marry as the two shared “bhaichara” and the marriage was unaccepatable.

The Chaubisi panchayat of Meham (a larger body of elders of 24 villages) has announced to intervene on the issue and reportedly convened a meeting on February 9 even as Kavita has shifted to her parental house.

She met the SSP today for police cover, action against the khap members and help in getting the family together.

Kavita reportedly told the SSP that she would not hesitate appraoching the Punjab and Haryana High Court if the police did not book the culprits.

The SSP, AK Rao, said while protection had already been provided to the family, the application regarding the demand for registration of a case against the khap panchayat was being examined.

On the alleged humiliation of the family at the panchayat meeting, he said the family could seek legal help.




Now, Dhanaks take to Jat ways


Hisar, February 3
The gotra virus in the state is spreading among castes other than the Jats. It has now emerged that Ravi Khanagwal and Kavita Nagar whose marriage on Sunday led to a gotra row belong to the Dhanak community. Banished to the bride’s village Nangthala, near here, after objections raised by a section of residents of Ravi’s village Khanda Kheri, the distressed couple claimed today that this was the first time that the Dhanaks had raised the issue of gotra.

“The gotra virus was confined to the Jat community so far. We Dhanaks never had any such problem in the past. We are simply baffled,” said Ravi at his bride’s home.

Ravi’s father died sometime ago comes. He earns a living working in the farms. His bride Kavita is daughter of a poor farm labourer.

Ravi said his family was not a party to the decision to banish them from his village. “I don’t accept the decision and will only abide by my mother’s decision. She is determined to have Kavita in Khanda Kheri, come what may, and I agree,” he added with a sense of determination. Kavita’s father Karamvir is distraught too. “I’m a poor man with three more daughters to marry. What have I done to merit this fate? I have married Kavita to Ravi. Now it is up to him to take her to his village,” he said.

He said Kavita and Ravi were engaged in March last. Till a week back, no one had raised any objection. “Now, suddenly some members of the Dhanak community are raising objections which have no basis whatsoever.

“They came to me with my village sarpanch. I told them I had promised Ravi my daughter’s hand in marriage and I would keep my word. If Ravi’s family could be convinced to call off the marriage, I had no objection.

“Now that they are married, only death will do them part,” he added. Ravi and Kavita, who face an uncertain future, are illiterate. Some residents of Ravi’s village have objected to the marriage, saying that since Nagar families reside in the village and Kavita is a Nagar, she could not be allowed into the village as a “bahu”. The Jat community has such a tradition. Now, for the first time, members of a SC have also adopted it.

[Dudee]

Gotra Row
Khap members booked


Rohtak, February 4
The police has booked members of the khap panchayat of Kheri Meham village who had handed out the order on annulment of the marriage between Satish and Kavita on January 30. The couple has an infant son.

The action follows a police complaint by Kavita yesterday day. She had threatened to approach the High Court in case no action was taken.

The SSP, AK Rao, said the accused booked under Sections 499, 153,504 and 505, IPC were yet to be identified.

He said at least one policeman and a government employee could be part of that panchayat. He said he would write to the Deputy Commissioner for issuance of notice to such employees after verification.

The khap had declared that since the couple hailed from Berwal and Beniwal gotra they could not marry as they shared bhaichara.

[Dudee]

Couple banished from village
Withdraw case, says Khap


Meham, February 5
The gotra row at Kheri Meham village has turned worse with the khap panchayat of Berwals and Beniwals, which met here today, ordering the expulsion of Kavita, wife of Satish Berwal, from the village.

It announced that the couple was free to live together anywhere except Kheri Meham.

“The family may live in the village but without Kavita,” the panchayat announced. Satish said he would live with wife and their infant son outside the village till the issue was resolved.

The congregation demanded withdrawal of cases against several residents of the village on a complaint by Kavita.

At least 250 persons from Berwal and Beniwal gotra from various parts of the state assembled at a private banquet hall here this noon to discuss the issue.

It was headed by one Pratap Singh. The congregation formed two committees to discuss the matter in detail.

A member of the panchayat later addressed mediapersons and informed them of the decisions.

None from the families of Satish and Kavita was present at the panchayat deliberations. The panchayat later visited the house of Satish and told his family about the decisions.

The panchayat made clear that if the couple returned to the village, the khap would be forced to take further measures.

It apologised to the family for insulting Azad Singh, father of Satish, at an earlier meeting, forcing a shoe into his mouth. The khap had declared that since the couple hailed from Berwal and Beniwal gotra they could not marry as they shared bhaichara.

Kavita, on whose application the police had registered a case against the members of the Beniwal khap for annuling her marriage, could not be contacted for comment.

Meanwhile, the police security at Satish’s house remains.

[Dudee]

Couple ties knot outside village


Rohtak, February 6
Neelam of Saharan gotra and Navin Boora of Buddhakhera village of Jind district, whose marriage had come under a cloud when a panchayat of Boora gotra had opposed to the marriage on the grounds that Saharans and Booras shared brotherly relations, got married outside the village under the police cover.

Earlier, the panchayat had demanded calling off the proposed matrimonial alliance and announced not to let the marriage take place in the village.

When both the girl and the boy’s side stuck to its decision of going ahead with the marriage on February 6, a delegation of the panchayat went to Boddhkhera village on Thursday and announced to reverse its earlier stand and gave a green signal.

However, in view of the undercurrent protest and opposition from other villagers, parents from both the sides decided to hold the marriage outside the village.

A team of cops was deputed at the bride’s house in Farmana and at the marriage venue in Jind. The marriage concluded in a peaceful manner.

[Dudee]

Surjewala takes on khap panchayats
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2010/20100210/haryana.htm

Kaithal, February 9
All-India Kisan Khet Majdoor Congress president and veteran Congress leader Shamsher Singh Surjewala today warned that the diktats and fatwas issued by the so-called gotra khaps on marriages and other such issues would lead to Talibanisation of society and such decisions were illegal and against the Constitution.

Addressing a press meet, he gave a call to political leaders, the youth and various social organisations to raise their voice against such decisions by khaps, as such institutions had no legal authority were creating unrest in society. These khaps posed a serious challenge to the rule of law.

He said the self-styled heads of such khaps were issuing diktats annuling marriages. This was illegal. He regretted that due to vote bank politics, leaders were hesitatant to raise their voice against them.

This had resulted in unrest among the youth and all right thinking persons. He said it was a known fact that due to female foeticide, there was a fall in the number of marriageable girls in various communities and inter-caste marriage were taking place on a large scale.

Due to the imbalance in the male female ration, some youths were forced to get brides from other states. In such a situation, the khap decisions were unreasonable and had brought a bad name to the state. These khaps had no respect the human rights of people who suffered harassment and mental agony at their hands.

Surjewala advised gotra khaps to play a positive role in bringing about a social revolution by issuing diktats against foeticide, dowry and child marriage.

He said that such khaps should also come forward to check canal water and power theft, punish rapists and those indulging in corruption and also help in setting up hospitals and educational institutions. Dilbagh Mor, secretary, HPCC, and Surendra Ranjha, vice- president of the local municipal council, were among those present at the press meet.

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‘Banished’ couple shifts to Meham town
Bijendra Ahlawat
Tribune News Service

Rohtak, February 9
The couple from Kheri Maham ‘banished’ by the khap panchayat has decided to shift to nearby Meham town. The panchayat in its orders on February 5, while taking back its earlier decision on annulment of their marriage, had allowed Satish and Kavita to live together outside the village.

It had banned the entry of Kavita into the village on grounds of violation of gotra norms. The couple married about three years ago has an infant son. Satish’s family has accepted the verdict of the khap. Kavita had been staying at her native village of Bhagi in Bhiwani district since the verdict. She had met the SSP here and submitted an application, demanding action against the 21-member panchayat which had annulled her marriage.

A mellowed Satish today claimed that he nursed neither anger nor ill-will against anyone.

He said the security provided by the police to the family in Kheri Meham was likely to the withdrawn as he saw no threat from anyone. On the police scheme to provide shelter to couples faced with threats on grounds of caste, he said he was not interested in any such scheme, if there was one.

Meanwhile, the police is yet to initiate any action against the persons booked under various Sections in response to Kavita’s complaint.

[Dudee]

‘The youth must join hands against khap tyranny’
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2010/20100212/haryana.htm

Chandigarh, February 11
Senior Congress leader and one of Haryana’s most seasoned politicians, Shamsher Singh Surjewala, is unlike most around him. He is known to call a spade a spade. That’s probably why he did not think twice before taking on the all-powerful khaps.

“Their pronouncements are illogical. Who are they to order a killing or ostracise anybody, to redefine relationships or impose social boycott,” he asks. This Jat leader has resolved to raise his voice against the khap tyranny. And this is not the first time he has done so.

“I am a Jat, not a casteist. Let these khaps explain from where they acquired the right to decide how people should live. Were there any electoral rolls or ballot papers to elect them? It boils down to a couple of hundred men, who have no authority, calling the shots,” he says.

Surjewala says the khaps have created such terror that families are being pressurised into killing their children for fear of being ostracised.

He is perturbed that the khaps are bringing a bad name to the Jat community and a progressive Haryana that has made giant strides in recent years. “Let all these so-called guardians of gotra rules put their hand on their heart and proclaim that female foeticide, dowry deaths, child marriages and all such evils against women have never taken place in their families.

“Why do we never hear them taking up cudgels for the girlchild, women empowerment or any such cause? Why don’t they go and check the gotra of women being bought as brides from other states because there are not enough girls in Haryana? Their actions are shameful,” says Surjewala, who is

equally critical of society at large.

“Where are the youth, the intellegentsia, doctors, advocates and political leaders when it comes to the khaps. I don’t comprehend this fear of standing up to a wrong.”

He holds the system guilty of purporting a crime by failing to check those on the wrong side of the law. Surjewala has been always known to speak his mind without beating about the bush. He is straight and simple, even if it means being on the other side of the fence and earning the ire of his own people.

Aggressively championing the cause of the farmers, he brought suicides by farmers’ in Haryana into focus and had UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi visiting the state for a meeting with the affected families. “People and partymen at that time said I was lying and it was a ploy to get Soniaji to Haryana. I held my ground and was proved right,” he claims.

He has as legislator in the Haryana assembly and a member of the Rajya Sabha spoken of on various issues, including anaemia among women, skewed sex ratio and the bureaucracy overshadowing the political leadership. Now khaps are topmost on his mind.

“I think the youth must join hands and fight the khaps. Raising voice against this injustice is the only way to weed them out,” he says.

[Dudee]

शामली : प्रेम विवाह और सगोत्रीय विवाह के मामलों में वेस्ट यूपी और हरियाणा में पंचायतों के फरमान के तहत प्रेमी युगलों की आए दिन हत्या (आनर कीलिंग) पर लगाम कसने के लिए केंद्र सरकार की पहल का भारतीय किसान यूनियन के अध्यक्ष महेंद्र सिंह टिकैत ने कड़ा विरोध किया है? उन्होंने कहा कि इससे सामाजिक मान्यता टूटेंगी। उधर, सर्वखाप आयोजन समिति ने भी प्रस्तावित कानून के विरोध का ऐलान किया है।

दरअसल, केंद्रीय गृह मंत्रालय ने वेस्ट यूपी, दिल्ली व हरियाणा में प्रेम विवाह या सगोत्रीय विवाह होने पर पंचायतों द्वारा सुनाए जाने वाले मौत के फरमान को गंभीरता से लिया है। ऐसे मामलों में हत्या के साथ-साथ अलग से मामला चलाने का प्रस्ताव तैयार किया गया है। कानून में संशोधन का मसौदा तैयार है। गृह मंत्रालय के इस प्रस्ताव को विधि मंत्रालय ने भी स्वीकृति दे दी है। इसलिए अब आईपीसी में अलग से सेक्शन डाला जाएगा। इस संबंध में विधि मंत्रालय को अटार्नी जनरल जीई वाहनवटी ने राय दी थी कि ऐसी घटना को हत्या की श्रेणी में रखने के लिए आईपीसी में संशोधन कर अलग से सेक्शन डालना जरूरी होगा।

इस संदर्भ में चौ. टिकैत ने कहा कि जब से सृष्टि रची गई तब से सगोत्रीय विवाह का विरोध एक सामाजिक परंपरा है। जब कुछ लोग सामाजिक नियम-कानून तोड़ कर उनके साथ खिलवाड़ करते हैं तो उनका विरोध होता है। समाज में अश्लीलता फैलाने वाले नए कानून का जमकर विरोध होगा। ब्रिटिश काल से ही पंचायतें प्रेम विवाह व सगोत्रीय विवाह का विरोध करती रही हैं। पंचायतों के इस निर्णयों का विरोध ब्रिटिश शासन में भी नहीं था। अगर अब सरकार ऐसा कोई कानून लाई तो उसका डटकर विरोध होगा।

उधर, सर्वखाप आयोजन समिति के अध्यक्ष ओमप्रकाश मलिक ने कहा कि हिंदू विवाह अधिनियम 1955 में प्रावधान है कि रूढि़ व प्रथाओं के विरुद्ध शादियां नहीं होती। दूसरे शब्दों में आप सगोत्रीय विवाह नहीं कर सकते। यह बात अब एक प्रथा बन चुकी है। वैसे पंचायतें प्रेम विवाह व सगोत्रीय विवाह पर मौत का ऐसा कोई फरमान जारी नहीं करती। साल में दो-चार मामले हो जाएं, वह अलग बात है। सगोत्रीय युवक-युवती आपस में भाई-बहन माने जाते हैं। इसलिए जब सगोत्रीय युवक-युवती प्रेम विवाह कर लेते हैं तो सम्मान बचाने के लिए परिजन या समाज आवेश में आकर हत्या जैसे कृत्य को अंजाम दे देते हैं।

[Dudee]

Activists seek action against khaps


Meham (Rohtak), February 14
Activists and members of some of the left front organisations have demanded rehabilitation of the couple Satish and Kavita of Kheri village in their native village and an action against all those who had been responsible for their ‘expulsion’ from the village.

At a meeting held at the Chabutra of Meham Chaubisi here yesterday, these organisations, including the Janwadi Mahila Samiti, the Sarva Karamchari Sangh, Students Federation of India (SFI), Akhil Bhartiya Kisan Sabha and the Democratic Youth Federation of India described the recent development of Gotra Row at Kheri Meham of the district as unwarranted and unfortunate.

The couple were “banished” by the khap panchayat from their village on alleged violation of the gotra norms on February 5.

Veteran leader SS Surjewala had a few days ago appealed to the youth to join hands to tame the khap panchayats.

[Dudee]

Another family banished by khap

Bhiwani, February 28
Haryana’s unbending khap panchayats have done it again. This time a panchayat in Samaspur in Bhiwani district has targeted the family of a boy who eloped with a girl of the same gotra and told them to leave the village.

The khap panchayat has served an ultimatum on the family to leave the village by March 2.

Sribhagwan Megha, a resident of Samaspur village, had eloped with Anita Phougat, who lived in the nearby Makrani village, on February 21 against the wishes of his family members.

The khap panchayat has declared the marriage “illegal”.

“No man from Samaspur village can marry a girl from Phougat as people of the Phougat gotra have a ‘bhaichara’ (brotherly relation) with villagers of Samaspur. Therefore, this marriage is illegal and against our age-old customs,” said a senior member of the Samaspur khap panchayat here today.

“We have directed Randhir Singh Megha, the father of Shribhagwan, to leave the village by March 2. His whole family is guilty of violating the social norms of 'bhaichara' and if they do not comply with the directive, we will forcibly throw them out,” he added.

Shribhagwan, who is with the Rajasthan police, married Anita and the couple is living in a Rajasthan town.

However, his father maintained that his family was against the marriage and that they had already disowned Sribhagwan. But the khap panchayat has refused to budge from its stand and has socially boycotted Randhir’s family.

The khap has given orders that the house and land of Randhir would be taken over by the panchayat.

Meanwhile, Randhir has approached the police and the district administration for help, alleging that some khap members wanted to grab his property.

The administration has assured full help to Randhir's family.

“We have got a complaint in this regard. We are looking into it,” said Vikas Gupta, Deputy Commissioner, Bhiwani, here today.

Haryana panchayats are notorious for issuing controversial decisions related to inter-caste marriages. — IANS
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2010/20100301/haryana.htm

[Dudee]

Untie knot within week, couple told


Bhiwani, March 8
The gotra row in Samaspur village has taken a new turn with the joint panchayat of 19 villages ordering a divorce between Shri Bhagawan and Anita within a week. The decision on social bycott of the family of groom will remain in force till further orders. The panchayat has warned of stern action if the the divorce does not take place within the stipulated period.

Shri Bhagwan, son of Randhir Singh of the Legha gotra, is married to the daughter of Azad Singh of Makdani village of the Faugat gotra.

A panchayat of Kamod, Loharwada, Khatiwas, Samaspur and Makdani villages was held last Tuesday.

It decided that the two families be summoned and the couple told to opt for divorce.

In response to the panchayat’s decision, Randhir Singh called a panchayat of Faugat 19 khap at Swami Dayal Temple, Charkhi Dadri, under the chairmanship of a former CM Hukam Singh yesterday. Representatives from 19 villages including Samaspur, Khatiwas, Loharwara, Kamod, Ravaldhi, Dhani Faugat, Modi, Balkara, Ramnagar, Maharana and Patuwas participated.

The panchayat said it would be forced to convene a mahapanchayat of Faugat khap if the marriage was not dissolved within a week.Bhim Singh Mehrana, Sumer Khatiwas, Jai Singh Samaspur, Dharmbir Khatiwas, Bhim Singh Dhani Faugat, Yogender Bholu were among those who spoke.

[Dudee]

HC wants dist admn to rein in khaps


Chandigarh, March 10
The Punjab and Haryana High Court apparently wants the Deputy Commissioners and Superintendents of Police to made responsible for placing checks on the activities of the khap panchayats in Haryana.

Division Bench of Chief Justice Mukul Mudgal and Justice Jasbir Singh also wants the state to explore the feasibility of invoking the Prevention of Unlawful Activities Act, 1967, in the state.

The assertions came during the hearing on a bunch of petitions on the activities of the khap panchayats. As the cases came up today, the Bench made it clear that it wanted the state to take action to ensure prevalence of the law of the land. The Bench, in fact, asked the state Home Secretary to file an affidavit on the feasibility of making the DCs and SPs responsible, and invoking the Act.

The Chief Justice verbally asked the state to initiate stringent action against one or two erring panchayats, so it acted as a deterrent. Chief Justice Mudgal added the police officials, armed with the orders, would only find it handy to act. The CJ also clarified that court intervention was necessary in case of panchayats asking the couples to leave, or asking them not to get married.

The Bench also took cognisance of the news-reports on marriage between a boy and girl of the same clan being annulled by a panchayat held at Bhiwani. The reports had claimed Haryana’s former CM Hukam Singh was also present at the gathering. The Bench has already taken cognisance of a report, “Khap panchayat annuls yet another marriage”, carried in these columns on January 1.

The report on Beniwal Gotra khap panchayat directing the annulment of a marriage solemnised in violation of gotra norms was placed before Chief Justice Mudgal by advocate Navkiran Singh. Haryana has already asserted provisions of the Prevention of Unlawful Activities Act, 1967, are not applicable to khap panchayat orders.

Bail to HPSC former chief

The Punjab and Haryana High Court confirmed the bail to former chairman of Haryana Public Service Commission KC Bangar and six other former members in a cheating and corruption case registered by the state Vigilance Bureau at Rohtak.

The petitioners, Bangar, Jagdish Rai, Mohinder Singh Shastri, Suresh Kumar, Dayal Singh and Pradeep Chaudhary - now MLA from Kalka constituency of Haryana Vidhan Sabha - had earlier been granted interim anticipatory bail.The petitioners, through Punjab Advocate-General Hardev Singh Mattewal and advocate Inder Pal Goyat argued the petitioners had been implicated by the present regime due to political reasons since they had been appointed during the previous INLD regime.