[Reader-list] Please endorse>> Statement on the Khap Maha Panchayat

[Saheli Women]

Dear all,


Please see below statement about the recent Khap Maha Panchayat.  If you
would like to endorse this statement, please send us a mail by Sunday 25th
April 2010. We are planning to send it to the Chief Ministers of Delhi,
Haryana, UP and Rajasthan.

In Solidarity,
Janaki and Deepti
for Saheli

saheliwomen at gmail.com



* *

*Love, Honour and Killer Khaps*



We read with shock and outrage about the Khap Maha Panchayat held in
Kurukshetra on the 13th of April 2010 at which over 4000 khap panchayat
members from Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Delhi vowed to fight for
the seven people convicted recently in a “honour-killing” case. They
valorised those who killed Babli (19) and Manoj (23) and argued that those
who murdered them “honoured traditional values” which must be upheld. The
khaps decided to collect money from all Khap members to provide support to
the convicted and vowed to mobilise public opinion against the court order.
They also decided to give 1 lakh Rupees to the families of those convicted.



Such barbaric acts and support of these acts must be condemned. No caste or
community has the license to kill under any pretext, nor to glorify such
murders.



In June 2007, Babli and Manoj from Karoran village near Kaithal in Haryana
were killed. The ‘sin’ for which they were fatally punished was that they
married each other against the wishes of Babli’s family.  Babli’s family’s
disapproval was linked to both of them belonging to the same ‘gotra’
(lineage). This led the panchayat to declare the marriage as ‘void’ and a
witch-hunt for the two was ordered. Within a month of their marriage, they
were tracked down and brutally murdered by Babli’s family members to uphold
the verdict of the khap panchayat. Babli was poisoned and Manoj was
strangled.  Their bodies were thrown into a canal. As in most cases of so
called ‘honour’ killings, in this case too the killers were family members;
Babli’s brother, two of her cousins, two uncles and a distant relative.



The couple had clearly feared the violent reaction from the community,
because when they eloped and got married they had sought protection from the
High Court in Chandigarh which in turn had directed the Haryana Police to
provide them with security. The policeman who was deployed to provide them
security is suspected of revealing their whereabouts to Babli's family! He
is currently facing departmental action.



Manoj’s mother, Chanderpati, refused to take this lying down and decided to
fight to get justice. She filed a complaint with the police and also
approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court for justice. Chanderpati lives
a very difficult life because she has been ostracised by the villagers. They
do not speak to her, do not sell her any groceries and blame her for wanting
to seek justice. This is believed to be one of the first instance in Haryana
where an affected family has gone to court against such a killing.



As a result of this case, a court in Karnal (Haryana) held 7 people guilty
and pronounced its Judgement in April 2010. Those sentenced to death were
all family members of Babli. The head of the panchayat in Haryana's Kaithal
district, which ruled against the couple's marriage, has been given life
imprisonment and a driver found to have helped abduct the couple was given a
seven-year prison term. This verdict was pronounced by Additional District
and Sessions Judge Vani Gopal Sharma, who herself unfortunately is facing
threats for this judgement and has been provided a security cover by the
Karnal Police. She continues to face the Khaps’ ire and has recently
requested a transfer.



This was not the first time that Haryana's Khap panchayats have come in the
way of lovers. In many cases diktats have been made against young couples
who are believed to have crossed community and caste rules and familial
authority. In many cases the real threat appears to have been ‘choice’
marriage itself. (Although, in some cases marriages arranged by the parents
of a couple have similarly faced Khap-terror because it was found out later
that the couple were of the same *gotra*).



These pronouncements have often led to many young lives being brutally
snuffed out. While we hail the judgement made in the District and Sessions
Court as a step in the right direction to bring not only the killers but
also the khap panchayats to task, we do not support the death penalty. It is
important that steps are taken to curtail the powers of these self-styled
panchayats which function contrary to rights laid down in the Constitution
and act as a law unto themselves. It is also extremely important to
strengthen people’s faith in the police and judiciary so they can complain
against such diktats that deny the right to life and liberty and the right
to choice marriages.



There are no official statistics on the number of ‘honour’ killings in
India, but media reports are full of such cases where young couples are
driven to suicide or killed by family members for marrying outside caste,
community, or within the village and *gotra*. It is extremely important to
recognise these so–called ‘honour’ killings as a crime and find ways to
prevent these killings.



Not only has the Khap mahapanchayat held on the 13th of April, 2010
glorified the killers, but they have also given a loud and clear message to
the government that caste and family ‘honour’ is above the law.  They also
demanded that the Hindu Marriage Act be amended to ban marriages within the
same *gotra* for the sake of ‘restoring social norms’.



*We demand:*



- That further action is taken against the Khap leaders who made statements
at the Khap Mahapanchayat that amount to the glorification of murder and the
valourisation of the killers.



- That the State Governments and Courts take *suo motu* cognizance of
various media reports and institute an enquiry into incidents of ‘honour’
killings in Northern India.



- That state governments take strict action to protect the rights of
citizens to choose their own partners.



- Strong action be taken against all those who have threatened Sessions
Judge Vani Gopal Sharma to ensure that the members of the judiciary are not
intimidated in this manner.



- That action is taken against all those policemen who did not perform their
duty, leading to the killing of Babli and Manoj. The ugly nexus between Khap
leaders, the police, and local politicians should be exposed to ensure that
fundamental rights laid down in our Constitution are upheld.



Signatures:



1. Saheli, New Delhi

2.




-- 
Saheli Women's Resource Centre
Above Unit 105-108
Defence Colony Flyover Market
New Delhi 100 024