Honor Killing
Casteism is one of the most prevalent problems plaguing India. Its prevalence, the severity with which it is ingrained in people and the crimes and heinous deeds it engenders are really baffling to say the least.Honor killing is once such act. An honor killing, or honor killing is the homicide of a member of a family or social group by other members, due to the belief of the perpetrators that the victim has brought dishonor upon the family or community. Women are generally the victims of honor killing, with the number of male killings also fast catching up.
Honor killing is done to a woman of a family for marrying against the parents wishes, having extra-marital and pre-marital relationships, or marrying within the same gotra(or caste) as in the case of Khaps. This tradition was first viewed in its most horrible form during the Partition of the country in between the years 1947 and 1950 when many women were forcefully killed so that family honour could be preserved. During the Partition, there were a lot of forced marriages which were causing women from India to marry men from Pakistan and vice-versa. There was then a search to hunt down these women who were forced to marry a person from another country and another religion and when they returned ‘home’ they were killed so that the family honor could be preserved.
One of the major reasons as to why honor killings have been very difficult to control, is because of the strong presence of a panchayat or informal court that consists of members of the same caste and decides all matters relating to their community. This informal 'court' passes judgement on issues of marital discord and land disputes, water disputes and so on. Many times, villagers give more importance to judgements passed by this self-appointed court than the judgements passed by the local legalcourt, often referred to as 'legal panchayat'. A perfect example being the khap panchayats.
Khap is basically a cluster of villages united by caste and geography wherein all boys and girls within a khap are considered siblings. Khap panchayat governs the khap formed by same gotra ( clan) families from several neighboring villages. Khap panchayats are prevalent in Haryana,western Uttar Pradesh and Parts of Rajasthan. Love marriages are considered taboo in areas governed by Khap panchayats. Those living in a Khap are not allowed to marry in the same gotra or even in any gotra from the same village.Many young couples have been killed in the past defying khap rules.
Khap panchyat imposes its writ through social boycotts and fines and in most cases end up either killing or forcing the victims to commit suicide.All this is done in the name of brotherhood and its honour. It is due to the inherent weakness of democratically elected Panchayati Raj institutions,Khap panchayats have been powerful. Even the government has not done much to control their power. In keeping with the khap rules ,older villages try to keep the young apart.Some schools are also forced to have separate timings for the boys and girls.Fearing their daughters would go astray,many parents marry them off at an early age.People have unquestionable faith in the justice of khap. The question of rights for women does not exist any where in the territories ruled by Khap panchayats.
There are various misconceptions regarding the practice of honor killing. The first misconception about honor killing is that this is a practice that is limited to the rural areas. The truth is that it is spread over such a large geographical area that we cannot isolate honor killings to rural areas only, though one has to admit that majority of the killings take place in the rural areas.But it has also been seen recently that even the metropolitan cities like Delhi and Tamil Nadu are not devoid of this crime.
The problem of casteism is too deep-rooted to be eliminated in a day or even a year. What is required is a gradual change in the ideology and perspective of people. There is a need for government intervention, for the complete obliteration of khap panchayats and legal panchayats. But the government with the selfish intention of securing its vote-bank, does not take the audacious step to crack down on these illegal courts.
References
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honor_killing
http://www.azadindia.org/social-issues/khap-panchayat-in-india.html
http://www.opendemocracy.net/openindia/spriha-srivastava/honour-killing-indias-continuing-shame
http://www.youthkiawaaz.com/2010/07/honour-killing-in-india-an-in-depth-study/
Honor killing is done to a woman of a family for marrying against the parents wishes, having extra-marital and pre-marital relationships, or marrying within the same gotra(or caste) as in the case of Khaps. This tradition was first viewed in its most horrible form during the Partition of the country in between the years 1947 and 1950 when many women were forcefully killed so that family honour could be preserved. During the Partition, there were a lot of forced marriages which were causing women from India to marry men from Pakistan and vice-versa. There was then a search to hunt down these women who were forced to marry a person from another country and another religion and when they returned ‘home’ they were killed so that the family honor could be preserved.
One of the major reasons as to why honor killings have been very difficult to control, is because of the strong presence of a panchayat or informal court that consists of members of the same caste and decides all matters relating to their community. This informal 'court' passes judgement on issues of marital discord and land disputes, water disputes and so on. Many times, villagers give more importance to judgements passed by this self-appointed court than the judgements passed by the local legalcourt, often referred to as 'legal panchayat'. A perfect example being the khap panchayats.
Khap is basically a cluster of villages united by caste and geography wherein all boys and girls within a khap are considered siblings. Khap panchayat governs the khap formed by same gotra ( clan) families from several neighboring villages. Khap panchayats are prevalent in Haryana,western Uttar Pradesh and Parts of Rajasthan. Love marriages are considered taboo in areas governed by Khap panchayats. Those living in a Khap are not allowed to marry in the same gotra or even in any gotra from the same village.Many young couples have been killed in the past defying khap rules.
Khap panchyat imposes its writ through social boycotts and fines and in most cases end up either killing or forcing the victims to commit suicide.All this is done in the name of brotherhood and its honour. It is due to the inherent weakness of democratically elected Panchayati Raj institutions,Khap panchayats have been powerful. Even the government has not done much to control their power. In keeping with the khap rules ,older villages try to keep the young apart.Some schools are also forced to have separate timings for the boys and girls.Fearing their daughters would go astray,many parents marry them off at an early age.People have unquestionable faith in the justice of khap. The question of rights for women does not exist any where in the territories ruled by Khap panchayats.
There are various misconceptions regarding the practice of honor killing. The first misconception about honor killing is that this is a practice that is limited to the rural areas. The truth is that it is spread over such a large geographical area that we cannot isolate honor killings to rural areas only, though one has to admit that majority of the killings take place in the rural areas.But it has also been seen recently that even the metropolitan cities like Delhi and Tamil Nadu are not devoid of this crime.
The problem of casteism is too deep-rooted to be eliminated in a day or even a year. What is required is a gradual change in the ideology and perspective of people. There is a need for government intervention, for the complete obliteration of khap panchayats and legal panchayats. But the government with the selfish intention of securing its vote-bank, does not take the audacious step to crack down on these illegal courts.
References
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honor_killing
http://www.azadindia.org/social-issues/khap-panchayat-in-india.html
http://www.opendemocracy.net/openindia/spriha-srivastava/honour-killing-indias-continuing-shame
http://www.youthkiawaaz.com/2010/07/honour-killing-in-india-an-in-depth-study/
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