chief
Prime VIP
New Delhi, July 5
At a time when youngsters are being butchered in the name of honour, with fingers being pointed at caste panchayats, there are some top-ranking officials in Haryana who feel the khaps are being unfairly targeted and they, in fact, are purging the society of evil.
In the Capital today, to attend a two-day consultation convened by the National Commission for Women on varied subjects, including a law on honour killings, chairperson of Haryana State Commission for Women Sushila Sharma blamed youngsters for honour-related crimes.
“No honour killing will happen if youngsters remain grounded to their roots. India can’t enter the 21st century by sacrificing the values it was built on. These days, young girls and boys pride in breaking the social norms and emerging as some kind of heroes. They revel in rebellion which is not good for them. They can’t be allowed to enter into relationships they develop as adolescents. They must wait for their minds to mature,” Sushila told The Tribune on the sidelines of the consultation. She openly defended khap panchayats, saying they were only showing the youngsters, who were blinded by physical attraction, the right path.
And to explain her point, the women panel chief had an example -- “When your toilet stinks, you clean it. That’s what khaps are doing - purging the society of dirt, else there will be chaos.” She said same-gotra marriages were disastrous and she was opposed to them.
Asked if she approved of the murderous diktats (Karnal’s Majoj and Babli case) the khaps have been issuing in the name of honour, Sushila said she didn’t approve of murders but added that it was wrong to blame the entire Mahapanchayat for such diktats. “There are some elements within the khap panchayats who are doing all this to take mileage of the situation.”
However, she had no answer when asked why the Mahapanchayats don’t name such elements and why are they collecting money to defend Manoj and Babli’s killers.
Vice-chairperson of Haryana women’s commission Chander Prabha backed her chief to the hilt and said khaps can never be wrong.
“We achieved freedom because of khaps who have always played a reformist role. We are what we are because of khaps,” she told The Tribune, referring to the 1911 Mahapanchayat in Haryana, which framed 27 rules of conduct, one of them being driving the British away.
As for Sushila Sharma, she blamed the youngsters for crimes, saying they wanted the rights without realising the responsibilities. “Movies are adding fuel to the fire. The Censor Board must delete objectionable stuff which deflects our youth from the path of culture. We need value education at schools to stem this rot,” she said. The commission representative from Tamil Nadu also wanted the Censor Board to stop glorifying caste issues in films.
At a time when youngsters are being butchered in the name of honour, with fingers being pointed at caste panchayats, there are some top-ranking officials in Haryana who feel the khaps are being unfairly targeted and they, in fact, are purging the society of evil.
In the Capital today, to attend a two-day consultation convened by the National Commission for Women on varied subjects, including a law on honour killings, chairperson of Haryana State Commission for Women Sushila Sharma blamed youngsters for honour-related crimes.
“No honour killing will happen if youngsters remain grounded to their roots. India can’t enter the 21st century by sacrificing the values it was built on. These days, young girls and boys pride in breaking the social norms and emerging as some kind of heroes. They revel in rebellion which is not good for them. They can’t be allowed to enter into relationships they develop as adolescents. They must wait for their minds to mature,” Sushila told The Tribune on the sidelines of the consultation. She openly defended khap panchayats, saying they were only showing the youngsters, who were blinded by physical attraction, the right path.
And to explain her point, the women panel chief had an example -- “When your toilet stinks, you clean it. That’s what khaps are doing - purging the society of dirt, else there will be chaos.” She said same-gotra marriages were disastrous and she was opposed to them.
Asked if she approved of the murderous diktats (Karnal’s Majoj and Babli case) the khaps have been issuing in the name of honour, Sushila said she didn’t approve of murders but added that it was wrong to blame the entire Mahapanchayat for such diktats. “There are some elements within the khap panchayats who are doing all this to take mileage of the situation.”
However, she had no answer when asked why the Mahapanchayats don’t name such elements and why are they collecting money to defend Manoj and Babli’s killers.
Vice-chairperson of Haryana women’s commission Chander Prabha backed her chief to the hilt and said khaps can never be wrong.
“We achieved freedom because of khaps who have always played a reformist role. We are what we are because of khaps,” she told The Tribune, referring to the 1911 Mahapanchayat in Haryana, which framed 27 rules of conduct, one of them being driving the British away.
As for Sushila Sharma, she blamed the youngsters for crimes, saying they wanted the rights without realising the responsibilities. “Movies are adding fuel to the fire. The Censor Board must delete objectionable stuff which deflects our youth from the path of culture. We need value education at schools to stem this rot,” she said. The commission representative from Tamil Nadu also wanted the Censor Board to stop glorifying caste issues in films.
