KHAP PANCHAYAT
ARMY INSTITUTE OF LAW
MOHALI,PUNJAB
SUBMITTED TO : DR. AMITA SHARMA
(ASST. PROF. OF SOCIOLOGY)
SUBMITTED BY : BHARTI KUMARI
ROLL NO. : 1908
SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE
REQUIREMENT OF BA.LLB DEGREE 1st
YEAR(SOCIOLOGY)
AFFLIATED TO PUNJABI UNIVERSITY
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DECLARATION
It is certified that the project work presented
in this report entitled “ KHAP PANCHAYAT ”.
The result of collection of data from different
websites.
DATE : 25-08-2019
NAME : BHARTI KUMARI
ROLL NO. : 1908
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to thank my political science teacher for giving me opportunity to
submit the project work on this vast topic. I would like to thank my parents. I
would also like to thank principle ma’am because of whom I got this
opportunity.
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INDEX
SR. NO. Page no. Contents
1. 5. Introduction
2. 6.-7. Historical Background
3. 8. Supreme ccourt on khap panchayat
4. 9. Function
5. 10. Recent cases
6. 11. Govt. view
7 12-13. Reality of khaps
8. 14. Conclusion
9. 15. Bibliography
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INTRODUCTION
Caste system was previously based on ‘karma’ but after some time people made it
worst as it is now based on birth, which is truly not fair but it is blindly followed by
many Indian. This caste system develops lots of violence in society. Number of groups
formed to protect their so called culture. One of them is khap panchayats.
As the name shows panchayat it is not an elected panchayat. Khap panchayats are
community groups which at times act as quasi judicial bodies and pronounce harsh
punishment based on age old customs.
Several cases of women and men falling victim of khap panchayat over the years found,
particularly in states like Haryana, Uttarpradesh and Rajasthan.
Khap Panchayat not only give punishment of killing couples but also other punishment
like boycotting them from village they are not even allowed to meet their parents.
Actually it is not only like boycotting them from village they are not even allowed to
meet their parents.
Actually it is not only spread in these three state but in all over India. It is one of largest
malpractice in society.
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HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF KHAP PANCHAYAT
The exact origin of khap panchayat is till date not known but is believed to start back in 600
AD. In ancient times, during the time when man was living a nomadic life, villages were
being formed at a rapid rate and man was heading towards civilization and better standards
of living. Even after this rapid modernization and civilization, a lot many villages and tribes
continue to exist in all parts of India which have their own customs and traditions and
different activities to deliver justice to their people. Sometimes, there is a council of five
people of the elder classof the village for the matters of justice, which is called “Panchayat”.
Sabha or Samiti, i.e., gathering or assembly are the forms of governing society in the village.
The “Sabhapati” was elected, who is the president of sabha.
The term khap has been used in the geographical sense since it has covered areas and
organizations in the north western Indian states such as Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar
Pradesh since ancient times. This political and social unit has been believed to be a group of
84 villages.
The “Sarv Khap Panchayat” is a term used for all Khaps. Every individual khap elect their
leaders who choose delegates to be sent to the Sarv Khap level to be represented as khaps
there. Since it is a socio-political organization, it comprises of the clans [ sub-castes ], castes
and communities at the reginal level.
Corresponding to the present Thana area, a number of villages used to group themselves
known as “Gohand”. A number of Gohands lead to the formation of “Khap”, which covers an
area equal to from a “tehsil” to a district. And finally, a group of Khaps forms a “Sarva Khap”
that covers a full province or state. For instance, a Sarva Khap was set for the whole of the
State of Haryana. The decision that at which level the panchayat should gather depends on
the gravity and magnitude of the problem in case and the area it involves. The larger the
area or the enormous the problem, the higher is the level of panchayat gathering for the
issue concerned.
These provide the right to attend the meetings and express their views equally to every one,
whatever the level of the Panchayat. However, the members selected to be the
representatives of the villages had to attend Panchayats of the ‘Gohand’ and the higher
level. The leaders who were elected were appointed at ‘Khap’ and ‘Sarva Khap’ level. These
leaders had the responsibility to maintain records of the decisions taken in the proceedings
and possessed the authority to call an assembly.
Since, Khap is a bunch of consolidated villages which have been united by caste and
geography. These are as old as 14th century which sort to provide the rules, the prime rule
being that all boys and girls within the same khap or sub- caste are considered as siblings,
i.e. they are related to each other.
Khazan Singh, who is the Dean of Social Sciences at Maharishi Dayanand University, Rohtak,
Haryana, is of the view that Khaps are groups which were formed in ancient times by the
groups of people from different villages which consented them to take decisions for the
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village people and their welfare, but these have now regained some sort of influential
power which tends to exploit those very people. He says, “Khaps were socially relevant and
renowned for amicable resolution of disputes only till the judicial system was established.
Over time they lost their clout. But in the last decade, they have regained some sort of
legitimacy through issues such as a ban on same-gotra marriages. They have become less
transparent in functioning, oppressive and in conflict with the law of the land.”
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SUPREME COURT ON KHAP PANCHAYATS
The SC said that any assembly which is intended to scuttle a marriage of two consenting
adults is also illegal as it violates their fundamental right to choice and dignity . A bench of
Chief Justice Dipak Misra and justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud also laid down
guidelines to prevent such interferences and said the norms laid down by it would remain in
force till a suitable legislation is enacted by the Parlrliament.
The ruling came on a plea by NGO Shakti Vahini which had moved the apex court in 2010
seeking protection of couples from honour killings by such panchayats. It ordered
authorities to take steps to protect inter-caste and inter-religious couples from honour
crimes.
The police chief in each district should oversee the safety of such couples and take the
assistance of the court to make preventive arrests to save them from harassment, the court
said There should be dedicated courts to deal with honour crimes and 24-hour helplines for
couples to seek assistance, the court said, while directing all states to file compliance
reports within six weeks. The ruling will hold till a law is passed on dealing with honour
crimes.
At least 288 such cases were reported from Haryana, Punjab, Himachal, Delhi, UP and Bihar
and other states between 2014 and 2016, the NGO said.
To highlight the terror inflicted on women, the Supreme Court gave a list of actions which
trigger honour based crimes.:
I. Loss of virginity outside marriage
II. Unapproved relationships
III. Refusing an arranged marriage
IV. Asking for divorce
V. Demanding custody of children after divorce
VI. Causing scandal or gossip in the community
VII. Even falling victim of rape
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How do they function?
There are ten to fifteen people constituting Khap panchayat, who control and make the
decision of the lives of the young people. Many people from the village also support these
Khaps because of their efficiency in delivering the verdict in a single sitting as against court
cases which linger on for years. These people possess undeniable faith in the decisions of
khap, since everything is cross-checked to ensure there is neutrality in decisions, and so they
can survive from courts where innocent people become subject to harassment of the police
sometimes.
Khap Panchayat enforces its summons through socials prohibitions and sanctions, imposes
heavy fines or even kills the victims or makes them commit suicide. A lot of young couples
are being killed because of flouting the khap rules.
In a few villages of Haryana, young girls are made subject to jeopardy, threatened, killed and
even forced to commit suicide as under the khap verdicts. Families even feed their teenage
girls with pesticides and the burn their bodies to get rid of them without even a hint to the
police. There is no question of rights as far as women are concerned in these khap ruled
areas. The entire obligation for keeping such village honor lies on the girls’ shoulders. If a girl
alters any of the rules, she is made to be the victim of the khap rules. These rules, however,
are bent for boys sometimes. If a couple runs away trying to escape all this, their family has
to suffer boycott and pay extensive amounts of fines. The other women of the same family
are made subject to abuses and threats.
Because of these ruthless rules, the villagers keep the young boys and girls apart
beforehand as a precaution, by having separate school timings for them. The girls are
married at an early age so that they won’t go off track later on.
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SOME RECENT CASES RELATED TO KHAP PANCHAYAT
1. THE CASE OF MONICA AND RINKU, HARYANA :
In the Nimriwali village of Haryana, Monica (18) and her lover Rinku, who belonged to the
same Jat community were brutally killed by the girl’s father, brother, uncle and cousins, and
were hanged as exhibits in front of their house. The family members of the girl gave a shape
to this crime under the directions and guidance of the Khap Panchayat. After the murder of
Monica and Rinku, the Supreme Court, on June 21, 2010 gave notices, to take action against
these rapidly increasing killings, to the Centre, Haryana and six other State governments.
But even this had no effect on the situation.
2. THE CASE OF HONOUR KILLING OF A JOURNALIST, JHARKHAND :
In April 2010, in Jharkhand, even a woman journalist was made subject to a ruthless murder
in the name of honour. Nirupama, a 22-year old journalist, who comes from a Brahmin
family, was in love with a boy from another caste and thus, was brutally murdered in the
name of honour.
Even a journalist could not escape from this game of crime, then imagine what the girls in
villages have to go through everyday?!
3. SPREADING ITS TENCTACLES IN SOUTH INDIA – THE CASE OF SIVAKUMAR
AND MEGALA, TAMIL NADU :
The menace of honour killings under the pressure of these khap has undoubtedly spread its
tentacles all over India. Yet another story, shockingly from a South Indian State, and not
north India this time, in Tamil Nadu, goes where in Shivganga, a 20-year old girl, Megala was
told that she could not marry her lover, 24-year old Sivakumar as they were related and so
her family got their daughter married somewhere else in June, 2010 from where she eloped
with her lover, ten days after the wedding. The couple was finally traced by the family and
Sivakumar was cruelly killed with sickles. The family justified the killing of her lover on the
grounds that she brought disgrace to their caste and family.
4. THE CASE OF RAVINDER, JHAJJAR DISTRICT :
In the Dhrana village of Jhajjar district, Ravinder Gehlawat had “dared” to marry a girl from
the Kadiyan gotra. The norms of Kadiyan khap in 12 villages, which included Ravinder’s
village as well, considered Kadiyan and Gehlawat to be of the same gotra and of the same
family, and thus considered Ravinder and his wife to be related, as according to them they
were brother and sister. Ravinder and his family were threatened by the girl’s family and
asked to leave the village. For this the Gehlawat family had 500 policemen protecting the
dozen member of their family but in no vain.
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GOVERNMENT’S VIEW ON KHAP PANCHAYAT
HARYANA GOVERNMENT STILL SUPPORTING KHAPS AS
THEY PROVIDE “DISPUTE REDRESSAL”
Though the criticisms against these self-styled khaps by the judiciary n social activists are
increasing day by day, the Hooda government and the various politicians in Haryana still
favour the functioning of these Panchayats and do not support the campaigns that aim to
curb the power of these courts. Even though the frequency of these honour killing is
increasing at a rapidly multiplying rate, policians from Haryana refuse to go against the
functioning of these courts arguing that these have been set up for the welfare of village
common masses. Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Chief Minister, Haryana, who approves of the
working of these panchayats as age-old institutions, which have been embedded in the
social customs and cultural traditions of the rural india which forms the heritage of the
country.For him, these khaps have evolved as an “alternate dispute redressal mechanism
and have been traditionally found helpful in maintaining social cohesion.” He even opposes
the fact that there is a connection between the increasing honour killings and the Khap
System adding, “the assumption that there is always a nexus between the panchayats and
the so-called ‘honour killing’ does not seem to be well founded. In Haryana, there are 20
cases of murder attributed to ‘honour killing’ registered from 2000 till date. However, these
murders are reportedly committed by the family members of the boys and girls concerned
and not under the dictates of panchayats. Honour killings are reported from urban areas
also where such panchayats are not-existent.”
In April 2011, in Bhiwani, Haryana, two widows were beaten to death while the whole
village watched the scene. This was accused to be on the grounds of morality. Not
presenting a very justifiable statement and calling this incident to be “unfortunate”, Hooda
again remarked that such incidents were common in the villages, adding that though the
law and order in the State have improved the situation a lot.
Anupam Gupta, a noted social activist and lawyer opposes the Haryana government’s
statement. He believes the khap system to be solely responsible for this ever increasing rate
of honour killings and adds, “’Haryana’s argument that there is no nexus between khap
panchayats and honour killings is open to serious challenge. Khaps have definitely cast their
pall of terror in many parts of the state. To acknowledge only the murder of an individual,
but to shut one’s eyes to the forces behind the murder, clearly betrays lack of will in
combating these forces. It is impossible to curb honour killings today without confronting
the khap panchayats.”
Why is the government not helping to curb their power?
The Khap Panchayats have been powerful due to the intrinsic weakness of the Panchayati
Raj institutions which are democratically elected. Further, the Jats, who make up 25% of the
Haryana’s population, are the State’s largest caste group, because of which Haryana has
become the epicenter of the most horrible form in the rural villages, honour killings. The
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government has not been able to take proper steps so as to curb this menace.In many
villages, because of no legal action against them, the authority of these khaps remains
unquestioned. Even the police tend to ignore the khap verdicts, regarding the declarationof
death for offenders, because of the strong power and influence that these have acquired on
people in villages overtime.
HARD CORE REALITY OF KHAPS
The hard core reality of the khap can be seen in many of the forms which are being imposed
on the people. These include:
1. FEMALE FOETICIDE : –
Despite the number of articles in newspapers, magazines and spread of awareness at a large
scale by volunteers, social activists and government organizations, the female foeticide rate
is growing at an increasing rate in the whole nation, especially in the north India, where it
stand to be the highest. The cases of female feticide are recorded to be the maximum in the
North Indian States of Haryana and Punjab. The sex ratio in these states are recorded to be
a shocking figure of 722(females)/1000(males). Boys are comparatively considered superior
to girls as per the people who support the practice of female foeticide. They believe the girl
child to be liability and the male child to be an asset for the family. Giving a birth to a girl
child is almost a sin in these regions. So these people resort to killing of the baby girl inside
the foetus or the moment a mother gives birth to a girl child, the baby is killed.
2. HONOUR KILLING : –
Almost all the newspapers are these days filled with the rape or murder of the girls for
defying the khap rule of marrying within the same sub- caste. These killings are given shape
by the ruthless rules of the khap system which takes away their lives with barbaric ferocity.
The female who becomes the victim to it is often raped, stoned, burnt or beaten to death,
stabbed, cut at the throat, decapitated, suffocated slowly or even forced to commit suicide.
All this is done in the name of honour. The murderers do not feel remorse, instead they
defend their act with the belief that they have restored and saved the family’s honour which
was earlier lost by the girl’s actions. Honours and morality are considered to be collective
family matters amongst the various religions like Hindu, Muslim and Sikh. These killings have
been increasing mostly in village areas like Haryana, Punjab and western Uttar Pradesh.
3. FORCED MARRIAGE : –
A marriage performed by pressurizing one or both the parties and without their free will and
full consent is considered to be a forced marriage. The victims of such marriage are forced
through coercion, fear, abduction, threat, inducement and deception. A forced marriage can
be between people of any age group, children, an adult and a child, or between adults. It is
considered to be a form of domestic violence and people falling prey to it have to undergo
both mental and physical pressure. At times, they are even forced to leave the country and
settle abroad. Even boys and men are made to forcefully marry against there will, so this is
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not limited to girls and women only. The victims [ men and women ] of forced marriage
experience torture, abduction, threatens, mental and emotional abuses, physical violence,
sexual abuse, false imprisonment, murder and at times are even forced to commit suicide.
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CONCLUSION
In States where the various brutal murders in the name of honour are seen, which include
North Indian states like Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and especially Haryana, there has been no
doubt a rapid capitalist transformation, but here is a catch, that this has been coming up
with the regressive feudal perception. Though there is a rapidly spreading awareness
amongst the dalits, women and backward sections, regarding education and politics, but
side by side there is a huge consolidation and strengthening of the khap panchayats in
protecting the status quo. It has been observed that these totally unconstitutional khap
panchayats have many a times declared verdicts which publically defy the law of land. The
issuing of illegal diktas, attacks on young couples in the name of honour, molestation of the
Dalits and people with progressive minds have been increasing manifold.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
www.studyiq.com
www.economictimes.com
www.lawteacher.net
www.timesofindia.com
www.lawlive.com
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