Khap Leaders Say Caste Honour Is Bigger than Law
During a Mahapanchayat in Kurukshetra, Haryana’s khap (caste) leaders have said that caste honour is bigger than law, said media reports.
Heads of nearly 20 caste panchayats, who participated in Mahapanchayat, announced that they would continue to deliver Taliban-style justice to prevent people from marrying within the same sub caste, reports said.
In addition, khap leaders took a decision to challenge a court ruling in the honour killing case of Manoj and Babli sentencing five persons to death and one to life imprisonment, said reports.
They insisted that the state government should write to the Centre for an amendment in the Hindu Marriage Act to ban same sub caste marriage, said reports.
Moreover, the Mahapanchayat instructed the members to block the Delhi-Chandigarh highway until the state government doesn’t agree with their demands, reports said.
The Mahapanchayat was organized in the wake of a Karnal court verdict awarding capital punishment to five persons and life term to one for killing Manoj and Babli who defied the caste dynamics and got married.
“A girl and a boy from two different villages but from same sub caste cannot get married. It is against our culture. We will not tolerate this,” a khap leader was quoted as saying. “We don’t agree to the judgement passed by law.”
“Such an incident is not permissible by our Vedic Culture. We have never accepted it in the past, nor will we accept it in future too. The culture of our village should not be interfere with and I hope it sets an example for the next generation,” other leaders were quoted as saying.
(Based on internet reports)
