In a powerful display of solidarity, nearly 2,000 farmers from diverse backgrounds convened at a Mahapanchayat organised by the Bhartiya Kisan Mazdoor Union in Baas village, Hisar, according to a report by Scroll.in. The gathering was attended by members of the Hindu, Muslim, and Sikh communities and carried a clear message: division along caste and religious lines has no place in Haryana.

Prominent farmer leader Suresh Koth spoke at the event of the importance of unity and peace, declaring, “Here are Muslims, I dare you to touch them.” He urged all khaps, the traditional social councils, to take responsibility for safeguarding the minority residents and fostering harmony, reported Scroll.in.

Koth’s stance echoed throughout the event, resonating with his sentiment that Haryana’s soil must remain untainted by divisions. He criticised certain panchayat leaders from Mahendergarh, Rewari, and Jhajjar districts for reportedly drafting letters that restricted the entry of Muslim traders into villages. Such actions, he stated, have no place in the spirit of coexistence and tolerance.

One of the assembly’s main objectives was a commitment by the farmers to shun any form of caste-based or communal violence. The gathering united in demanding accountability for those responsible for uploading incendiary videos on social media platforms, which provoked tensions.

In a video on Twitter, Koth reaffirmed the message of unity, “Yeh Desh Sabka tha, Yeh Desh Sabka hai, yeh Desh Sabka rahega” (This country belonged to everyone, belongs to everyone, and will continue to belong to everyone). The call resonated widely in the wake of harrowing violence in Haryana, spreading through a video that emerged on Twitter on August 9th.

किसान नेता सुरेश कौथ की RSS और बजरंग दल को चेतावनी, कहा “हम मेवातियों के साथ हैं हिम्मत है तो आओ”#NuhViolence #uchana #jind #sureshkouth pic.twitter.com/p4pJJUi7Gs

— Gaon Savera (@GaonSavera) August 9, 2023

The Mahapanchayat’s resolute stand serves as a powerful reminder that unity transcends boundaries and that the people of Haryana stand united against division.

Related:

Azizia Madrasa: Burning of just a Madrasa or Cultural Genocide?

Haryana: Resolutions banning entry of Muslims traders withdrawn after authorities send show-cause notice

Nuh Haryana: Who cast the first stone?

Communal violence erupts in Nuh, Mewat, five killed, provocations by VHP-Bajrang Dal continue

The post Haryana’s farmers’ Mahapanchayat: Fostering unity across communities, vowing for communal harmony appeared first on SabrangIndia.

On Saturday, September 2, a 24-year-old woman from Bhilwara filed charges against her husband and in-laws for harassing her family for money. The woman, a rape survivor, had been directed by the local khap to pay them Rs 10 lakhs to conduct a “purification ritual” after she “failed” a virginity test.

Such virginity tests, locally called kukadi pratha, are an age-old practice based on archaic ideas of chastity. They are also illegal. However, as this instance shows, this practice is still prevalent in the area.

The woman was humiliated thrice. First, a neighbour allegedly raped her a few months before she got married. Then, on May 11, on her first night in her new home, she was forced to undergo the kukadi pratha. She told her in-laws about the rape, and even lodged a rape complaint with the local police station on May 18. Finally, on May 30, the local khap ruled that as she had “failed” the virginity test, she would be required to pay her in-laws Rs 10 lakhs so that they may conduct a “purification ritual”.

In the four months since then, the woman’s family has allegedly been pressured and harassed to pay up. Unable to bear any further harassment, the woman filed a complaint with the police.

DSP Surendra Kumar told the Times of India, “We have registered a case under 498A (coercing a woman to meet any unlawful demand), 384 (extortion), 509 (insulting the modesty of woman) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC.” He added, “The fact that the identity of the victim has been revealed by the khap panchayat in is also a crime.”

In fact, the FIR says that the woman’s in-laws had assaulted her before the khap panchayat was convened at a local temple. Police also told the publication that a daughter of the in-laws’ family had died by suicide a year ago after she faced similar circumstances.  

Such virginity tests are often demanded by families, who know that they will have the full backing of khaps, that are local organisations of community leaders who enforce traditional laws and practices. Previously khap panchayats have been accused of supporting killing of couples in inter-faith or inter-caste relationships. The dishonourable practice has unfortunately been dubbed “honour killing”.

Related:

TN Dalit couple fined, barred temple entry for inter-sect marriage

Junagadh couple allegedly killed in caste-based murder amid national lockdown

The post Rajasthan: Khap fines rape survivor for failing virginity test appeared first on SabrangIndia.

 

Newsclick Image by Nitesh Kumar

Two days after the Supreme Court lambasted Khaps for acting like “conscience keeper (of the society)” and punishing interfaith and inter-caste couples, leaders of unofficial community organisation representing a clan or a group of related clans have said the top court has no right to interfere in their business. Terming the apex court’s observation as “ghinauna” (despicable), they threatened them “will not let girl children to be born if the judiciary continues to make such judgments that are against their traditions”.

Hearing a petition seeking a ban on ‘khap panchayats’ (self-appointed village courts in parts of north India), which believe it is their duty to protect “thousands-year-old traditions” and pass order to punish couples who marry against their families’ wishes, Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra on February 5 said when two adults marry, no one has the right to interfere.

“Whether it is parents, society or anyone, they are out of it. No one, either individual or collective, or group, has the right to interfere with the marriage,” said the CJI directing the Centre to come up with effective suggestions to protect such couples.

The petitioner Shakti Vahini, a non-profit organisation (NGO), has asked for a ban on ‘honour killings’ – the killing of a relative, especially a girl or a woman, who is perceived to have brought dishonour on the family by marrying without their parents’ consent.

Following the SC’s observation, khap leaders clearly said the apex court has no right to interfere in their traditions and that they will never let their daughters marry with a person of her choice.

“We respect the honourable Supreme Court, we also respect some of their observations but the judge must think before passing any judgement and making observations. Why are they taking such a ghinauna (despicable) decision? Why are they hell-bent to end our thousands of year-old culture and tradition? Who has given them the right to interfere in our traditions? We will not tolerate it at all,” Naresh Tikait of the Balyan Khap told Newsclick.

He threatened, “We will not let girls be born or let them study if these kinds of orders are passed by the Supreme Court. What will happen then? To what extent will the SC go?”

“We let our girls study and spend lakhs of rupees on their education. Why will we allow them to marry whoever they want? We won’t let them do this at any cost,” he said.

Malik Khap chief Rajbir Singh Malik said the Supreme Court’s might be influenced by the ‘vulgar exhibition of modernity in cosmopolitan cities’. “They (the judges) must understand that village life is different, and we are bound by our traditions,” he added.

Spokesperson of the petitioner – Shakti Vahini – declined to comment adding that “it’s not fair to give any statement at this juncture when the matter is subjudice”.

Killings in the name of ‘honour’ are still common enough among Hindus and Muslims to regularly make newspaper headlines in a country where most marriages are arranged by families. Men and women are murdered in India every year by their family members for bringing “shame” to the family by eloping,
fraternising with men or any other infraction against conservative social values. These incidents are termed as honour killings, which have witnessed a sharp rise of around 800 percent in 2016 in India – according to figures presented in the previous session of Parliament.

As per a statement made by Minister of State for Home Hansraj Ahir in the Lok Sabha (lower house of Parliament) on December 5 last year, a total of 251 cases of honour killings were registered in 2015 as against 28 cases lodged in 2014 when the government began counting them separately from murder. The number given by him was based on the data released by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) on November 30.

The surge could partly reflect more willingness by people to report such crimes, which many still consider just punishment for women and men who defy communal customs by marrying outside of their religion, clan, or caste.

Women’s rights activists say the government must pass legislation to recognise the crime as “unique” so that perpetrators can be prosecuted.

“The government should take it as a priority. Though the police now count these killings separately, some police officers still record such cases in the larger murder category and do not probe into it in absence of a separate law defining such crimes,” said All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA) Vice President Sudha Sundararaman.

The separate category to record cases of honour killing was created after ‘sustained campaign by women’s groups’, said senior Supreme Court lawyer Kirti Singh, so that a real picture of the heinous crime can be ascertained. “But there are still many cases that go unreported,” she said.

Most of the cases are reported from northern Indian states like Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, where caste councils wield enormous power in village life.

The highest number of such killings recorded in 2016 was in Uttar Pradesh, where 131 cases were recorded compared with just two cases in 2014, Ahir said, citing the NCRB data.

Activists question the figures terming it an “underestimation”. They claim – on the basis of a study they had conducted in 2011 – on an average, 900 people are killed every year in India in the name of ‘honour’.

Annie Raja of the National Federation of Indian Women explains the reason why the NCRB data is an “underestimation”. “Such cases are not generally reported because families feel ashamed to bring them on record,” she said.

The situation, said Raja, has worsened in the past few years. “There is an increasing trend that village elders promoting conservative, anti-women values in the name of preserving Indian culture and tradition. The society is unwilling to accept the choices made by young women when it comes to their marriage,” she added.

The Supreme Court, also in January last year, had termed attacks by khap panchayats on adult man and woman opting for inter-caste marriage as “absolutely illegal”.

Courtesy: Newsclick.in
 

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With Savitri’s Sisters, filmmaker Nakul Singh Sawhney takes the camera back to women. His camera follows two women from the Rashtriya Dalit Adhikaar Manch – Laxmiben and Madhuben. He shoots the film during the Azaadi Kooch yatra, a journey that began to mark the one-year anniversary of the Una protests. 

In its intent, the film is reminiscent of Sawhney’s second documentary on the khap panchayats in Haryana, Izzatnagari ki Asabhya Betiyan, probably his best film so far. Sawhney’s ability to make the camera a trustworthy object for his subjects is commendable. Like the women of Izzatnagari, his subjects react to the camera as an object that is deserving of their trust. The most endearing moments of Savitri’s Sisters are those in which Laxmiben reacts to the camera directly. When she is traveling in a bus, singing along the way, she suddenly stops, looks at the camera, and asks, “Why are you recording my singing? I’m not a singer”. The question makes us think, what are those moments in political movements which are considered important – is it the singing, the speeches, or arrests? 

Apart from following and recording the two women, the short documentary asks this question as a kind of sub-plot. The shots of the protests, for instance, do not have any of Jignesh Mevani’s speeches, or his arrest and detention – events which received the media’s attention. Instead, a montage of motorcycles, Ambedkar’s portraits, is accompanied by Mevani’s voice, “Please settle down or we won’t be able to start our protest in time”. Laxmiben, too, is shown to make a speech, but the speech is barely shown. Instead, we see her leaving the protest site and boarding a bus, clicking a selfie in between. Several shots also focus on men and women dancing during the Azaadi Kooch. Sawhney seriously asks how a protest can be recorded and represented, but does not have the time to explore it enough, given the short length of the film.

We see Madhuben’s initial speeches, where she is not confident to speak on stage, but, later, comes across as a very articulate speaker in front of the camera. In her interviews through the film, she keeps using a word, jagruti – consciousness. In the latter half of the film, Sawhney asks her if their movement will stop if dalits get the land that has been promised to them. The Una movement began as a movement that aimed to distribute land forcibly occupied by upper castes among dalits. Madhuben smiles a wry smile and responds, “No, the movement won’t stop if we get the land… The consciousness is yet to come in several sections among dalits”. Laxmiben, sitting next to her, quips: “Yeh toh bas aangrayi hai, aage aur ladai hai” (This was but a little stretching, many more battles remain ahead). 

Laxmiben and Madhuben also single themselves out. They are different from other dalit women. They are quick to point out that other women have not left behind their restricted ways of life. The consciousness is yet to spread. At several moments, Laxmiben gently admonishes a boy who says that the rules of his village do not permit women to move out of their homes. At another moment, she refuses to be garlanded by women who are veiled, and asks the gathering, “Will you have a problem if they remove their veils?” These are complexities that are only shown, but not quite unraveled in the film.  

The film is a testament to the fact that social movements may start on one premise, but that one premise gives rise to many more questions and aspirations which crop  like branches of a tree. The question of land is only the trunk that is at the centre of the Rashtriya Dalit Adhikaar Manch. There are, however, branches and leaves that crop out beyond the initial premise. The film is more like a news feature (but a very different and refreshing news feature) but does not have the depth of Sawhney’s earlier films. It would be nice if Sawhney continues with this project even though the Azaadi Kooch journey is now over.

This article was first published on Indianculturalforum.in.
 

The post They Sang through the Dark Times: Nakul Singh Sawhney’s Latest Documentary Savitri’s Sisters appeared first on SabrangIndia.

साक्षी ने सर्व खाप पंचायत की ओर से दिए जाने वाले सम्मान को लेने से इन्कार कर दिया है। रियो ओलंपिक में कांस्य पदक जीतने पर हरियाणा में मेहम चौबीसी की तरफ से 13 सितंबर को सर्व खाप पंचायत साक्षी का सम्मान करना चाहती थी, लेकिन साक्षी ने पंचायत में शामिल होने से मना कर दिया।

ये खाप पंचायत लड़कियों पर तरह-तरह की पाबंदियाँ लगाने के लिए अक्सर आलोचनाओं का शिकार होती रही हैं। कभी ये लड़कियों के जीन्स पहनने पर रोक लगाती हैं, तो कभी उनके मोबाइल रखने पर प्रतिबंध लगाती हैं। साक्षी ऐसी रूढ़ियों के हमेशा खिलाफ रही हैं। यहाँ तक कि राज्य सरकार की ओर से आयोजित सम्मान समारोह में भी वे जीन्स पहनकर ही शामिल हुई थीं, जबकि खुद मुख्यमंत्री मनोहरलाल खट्टर लड़कियों के जीन्स पहनने को लेकर आपत्ति जताते रहे हैं।

सर्व खाप पंचायत में ओलंपिक में हिस्सा लेने वाले सभी खिलाड़ियों को सम्मानित करने का कार्यक्रम था। साथ ही उन लोगों का भी सम्मान किया जाना था जिन्होंने जाट आरक्षण आंदोलन के दौरान अपनी जान गँवाई या जेल में गए।

साक्षी के पिता सुखबीर मलिक ने बताया कि मंगलवार को रोहतक में होने वाली इस महापंचायत में साक्षी नहीं जाएगी। उन्होंने कहा कि साक्षी अभी अपने खेल पर ही ध्यान केंद्रित कर रही है।

साक्षी के पिता ने टाइम्स ऑफ इंडिया को बताया कि साक्षी को खाप पंचायत का निमंत्रण मिला है, लेकिन उन्होंने इसे अस्वीकार कर दिया है। उन्होंने कहा कि साक्षी की हर गतिविधि और भागीदारी केवल पहलवानी तक सीमित है। हम किसी भी तरह की राजनीति के ख़िलाफ़ हैं और साक्षी ऐसे किसी भी आयोजन में नहीं जाएगी। हम समाज का सम्मान करते हैं लेकिन, साक्षी अब राष्ट्रीय सम्पत्ति है।
 
 

The post खाप का सम्मान लेने से साक्षी मलिक ने किया इन्कार appeared first on SabrangIndia.

 
Jagmati Sangwan, a fiery activist and academic from Haryana who has initiated and led the campaign and struggles against honour crimes and the role of khap panchayats has declined to be honoured by the Modi government
 
In a polite but strong letter to the union minister for Women and Child Welfare, Maneka Gandhi, Jagmati Sangwan has turned down a potential honour from the Modi government. Around December 10, 2014, International Human Rights Day, the central government had, through a letter informed her that she had been shortlisted  as part of 100 Women Achievers to be honoured in the category of 'Women in Public Life'.

Four days later, on December 14, 2015 she has, in a letter to Maneka Gandhi politely but firmly declined the honour. Her letter available with Communalism Combatonline states,

“I would like to very humbly request you to take my nomination out of this award process. I am writing it to you with a heavy heart in the background of Haryana governments decision to put conditions on contesting panchayat elections which in effect have meant that 83% of Scheduled Caste women, 72% of the General category women, 71% of Scheduled Caste Men and 56% of general category men  and overall 67% of general citizens in the state cannot contest the local elections.

As you may be aware, it was after long fought struggle and assertion by women that their participation in the local bodies was ensured. However, such a decision taken by the state government would only be detrimental to what we have achieved so far.  
You are also aware about the massive fund cuts that the central government has undertaken in women friendly acts in the 2015 budget.

The day to day survival of women has only become more difficult in recent years as we feel that the central government has pulled itself (away) from its responsibility to safeguard the interests of women and other vulnerable sections including children.   
In this present scenario, I do feel that my work along with millions of other workers of my organisation is in complete contradiction to what your government is aiming to achieve.  Therefore, I would like to keep myself away from any award conferred by the government at the present juncture.”
This missive from a woman from the grassroots representing India’s largest woman’s organisation, is a blow to the Modi regime, keenly seeking respectability and considered, otherwise to be a master of symbolism.
 

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