The savage and totally mindless practice of the so-called ‘honour killings’ are on the rise in northern India, especially in Haryana, which is not far from the national capital of Delhi.

Look at what the ‘khap panchayat’ did to a couple in a village that is only 50 kilometres from Delhi. The ‘crime’ of the couple was that they belonged to the same ‘gotra.’

Khaps are traditional, area-based community groups. Their rulings have no legal validity. In keeping with their so-called traditions, the khap panchayats oppose and annul marriages within the same ‘gotra’ (lineage) and administer cruel and inhuman punishments to ‘erring’ couples.

On July 24, 2009, a khap panchayat ‘banished’ the couple Ravinder and Shilpa and Ravinder’s entire family from their village.

The khap panchayat ordered their banishment on the ground that Ravinder is a ‘Gehlot’ from Dharana, and Shilpa is a ‘Kadyan’ from Siwah, in Panipat.

The Kadyan khap panchayat ‘invalidated’ the marriage between the members of the two gotras because they are relatives! The khap panchayat’s skewed logic goes like this: The family of Ravinder lives in the same village as Shilpa’s extended family.

The tradition dictates that those living in khaps are not allowed to marry in the same gotra; they are not even allowed to marry a member in any gotra from the same village or the neighbouring villages.

What makes the ruling of ‘banishment’ of Ravinder’s family by the Kadyan khap panchayat all the more shocking is that it came only about 24 hours after the cruel killing of a young man called Ved Pal Mor – he was lynched by the villagers of Singhwal in the very presence of the police.

What was the crime that Ved Pal Mor committed? He married a girl from the same gotra.

The two incidents mentioned above are only the most recent in a long series of such uncivilized ‘punishments’ meted out to those couples who ‘offended’ the khap traditions.

Going further back, there are similar cruel incidents galore: In June 2009, a khap panchayat forced Manoj and his wife Babli to drink pesticide. An order by the High Court to give police protection to the couple was in vain.

In June 2009 itself, another couple, Anita and Sonu, who had ‘violated’ the khap propriety, were tricked to return to their village, only to be stabbed to death in public!

Unable to withstand the severe pressure from the khap, Ravinder, who married Shilpa, attempted suicide, but failed. Then his he and his family had to leave for the house of a relative in another village. If and when they have to return to their own village, they need to have police security.

However, the ‘sarv khap mahapanchayat’ later reduced the punishment of ‘death’ to permanent expulsion for the couple Ravinder and Shilpa, and to 3 months for Ravinder’s father. Ravinder’s two uncles and his parents-in-law were ordered to pay fines.

Now, Ravinder and Shilpa live in Delhi, but they require police escort if they would want to visit their village.

Naseeb Singh, Ravinder’s uncle, an Army personnel and who had been fined by the khap panchayat, says that the khap elders have a ‘hidden agenda’ in holding on to the inhuman tradition.

According to him, the Gehlot migrants, who were his forebears, came to the village many generations ago. At present, there are about 100 Gehlot families residing in the village.

Naseeb Singh says that his family owns 100 bighas of land in the village, and the khap panchayat’s punishment might be aimed at grabbing his family’s land.

However, Chhatar Singh Pradhan, aged 92 and head of the Kadyan khap panchayat, denies all these allegations, averring that the community only wants to protect “our bhaichara” (brotherhood) and  ‘maryada’ (honour). He asserts that the khap panchayat does not ‘order’ any killings.

Notwithstanding what Chhatar Singh Pradhan says, the ground reality is that the barbarous writ of the khap panchayat runs, and both the police and the democratically elected gram panchayats (elected according to the Panchayati Raj laws) either remain silent spectators of or provide passive consent to the inhuman acts.

Vote-hungry politicians do play a big role in perpetuating the barbaric practice of ‘honour killings.’

In the last week of September 2009, in the run-up to the elections to the Haryana Assembly, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who was then the Chief Minister of Haryana, unabashedly gave a clean chit to the khap panchayats by declaring that the community councils – which have ordered honour killings in the past -  are still part of Haryana’s traditions and values.

Perhaps mainly emboldened by the political patronage they receive, khap panchayats in Haryana are now seeking legal sanction for their acts f barbarism.

Haryana’s khap panchayats have decided to draw ‘recommendations’ to make ‘necessary’ amendments (at the state-level) to the Hindu Marriage Act of 1955 so that their ‘rulings’ get legal sanction.

Update 1: Sri Rama Sene founder was arrested today – though not for the pub attack. The arrest was in a separate case about spreading communal disharmony.

Update 2: Pramod Muthalik gets bail.

BJP President Rajnath Singh has held discussions with the Karnataka chief minister. Reacting to the savage attack by the Rama Sene in the Amnesia Lounge, Mangalore Singh said, “The act is condemnable and whoever is responsible needs to be booked and justice need to be delivered. I would be holding discussions with Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa on the issue today in Bangalore,” he was quoted as saying.

Photo: Sri Rama Sene activists attacking men, courtesy Hindustan Times

Rajnath Singh is scheduled to stop over in Bangalore on his way to Mysore where he is to attend a rally.

L.K Advani expressed his concern on the matter terming the attack as the work of antisocial elements in society who must be condemned. “State Home Minister V S Acharya spoke to me last night and said that 13 hoodlums had been arrested. The miscreants involved in the attack were anti-social elements, plain and simple. I am told that they have named themselves after Shri Ram, but they have absolutely nothing to do with the party (the BJP),” he said.

The National Commission for Women constituted a three-member team to investigate the attack.

Reports say that 40 activists barged into the pub, found the girls and boys in what they called “objectionable positions’ and attacked them. The girls were chased and thrashed, slapped and kicked. They were tripped while they were running away while trying to escape. In the television reports, one could see at least one girl being tripped, resulting in her falling flat on her face.

27 Sri Rama Sene members have been arrested so far. They have been charged with criminal assault and outraging the modesty of women.

Pramod Muthalik, president of the Sri Rama Sene, was arrested by the Belgaum police on Tuesdayafter he addressed a press conference. The founder of Sri Rama Sene was earlier a convenor for Bajrang Dal, which he left after feeling it was not pro-active enough in dealing with issues. Pramod Mutallik had spoken defense of the Sri Rama Sene earlier: “The ways employed by our boys may be debatable but their objective was absolutely right and justified. In the last one year, there have been eight cases of suicide in Mangalore. By protesting against a culture of drugs and drinking, the boys were only helping the women there come out of this vicious circle. We will continue to fight against asatya, adharma and anyway even if some of our men have been arrested, this is a small price to pay for a larger cause.”

That was hardly television viewers so, though. They saw women being pulled by their hair and thrashed.

Right-wing websites such as Haindava Keralam are reporting that the protest was because the girls were interacting with Muslim boys. Right-wing blogs are also full of accusations of Muslim Jihadi boys luring away Hindu women and therefore, such attacks can be understandable though not justifiable.

When asked about this statement of Pramod Muthalik, Karnataka Home Minister Acharya said, “Our culture doesn’t encourage drinking or pubs, so don’t ask me questions on this. But this Sena is definitely being used by the opposition against us. Also, the pub owners in the state would have to augment security to prevent this kind of incident in future.”

RSS, on the other hand, also gave its comments on the dramatic event that unfolded on Saturday. RSS spokesperson Ram Madhav said, “Any attack of this kind is condemnable. While pub culture is alien to Indian ethos, what is needed is public education, not public violence.”

Taking the responsibilty of the attack, Rama Sene was totally unperturbed by the reactions from across the country. Prasad Attavar claimed the attack was a “spontaneous reaction against women who flouted traditional Indian norms of decency.”

In Mangalore, Sri Rame Sene activists set two trucks on fire and stoned four buses in protest against Prasad Attavar’s arrest. A couple of Volvo buses were also attacked.

Deccan Herald newspaper reported that Sena legal advisor Dinakar Shetty, who had claimed responsibility for the attack, has secured anticipatory bail.

While the Sri Rama Sene leaders said that the pub was attacked because there was a rave party going on, and that that drugs were being used, there is no such evidence. In fact, the pub is a lunge bar, and the girls who were attacked had just placed an order for lunch, according to the restaurant.

Sri Rama Sene is not a part of the Sangh Parivar. But it is obvious that the Sangh, RSS and BJP agree on the issue of pubs. The reactions of the BJP and RSS include statements to the effect that they were against pubs and what they called people going against Indian culture. So the only thing that differentiates the Sri rama Sene from the Sangh is the mode of protest adopted. The societal trends they are opposed to remain the same. This is what makes it difficult for the RSS to unequivocally reject the ideas of the Sene. After all, they are their own ideas.

The Sri Rama Sene has said that they might do it again if a similar situation arises.

What is scary about the Mangalore incident is that it could happen to anyone, anywhere. There are likely to be copycat attacks on pubs and restaurants where youngsters hang out, as this has now proven to be an effective means of garneing publicity. When a bunch of angry always unemployed, angry young men enter a restaurant, there is hardly a question-and-answer session where everyone is inaugurated, and only those who do not meet the ethical standards of the group in question are thrashed. It does not happen like that.

These attacks are aggressive, violent actions where anyone could get attacked, no questions asked. Even the Sri rama Sene chief said that mistakes happen when a group of youngsters protest, and it is understandable.

The shameful role of the media in the Mangalore incedent

This is something very few have mentioned, and has been used by the police to attack the media. Certain television channels were informed about the protest in advance, and the TV cameras were rolling when the women were attacked. Like the MNS in Mumbai, the TV cameras are always around. The media would prefer to capture a controversial exclusive, while the publicity is fodder for little goon outfits like the Sene.

Eye witnesses have said that the camera men and reporters from the TV channels reached the pub 15 minutes ahead of the attack, and were well-prepared choosing their angles. Not one of them tried to help the victims – they ran after them with their cameras as they were being thrashed and chased by these goodas from the Sri Rama Sene, and recorded everything faithfully.

Mangalore incident and Sri rama Sene – protest, or molestation?

One of the girls who were thrashed said that they were molested by the attackers. Another eye-witness reported that the protesters went straight to the women, beat them, and then molested them. Take a look at this report in the Hindu:

“One of them stripped a girl and groped her. She was also badly beaten up. We are still trying to trace her,” she said. According to her, several girls were targeted similarly. “They were laughing when they were doing all this. It was just fun for them,” she said. The attackers then targeted the men who dared come to the rescue of the girls. The narrator herself was slapped a few times.

Death threats

Meanwhile, there are reports that some of the witnesses, victims and those who tried to protect the girls received death threats.

What next?

This has to end, right now. It is unacceptable that anyone can do this and get away with it. Every extremist organisation has done this before, and will do it again.

This is not like an individual case of attack against women. When there is an ideology backing actions such as this, that is an extremely dangerous trend.

We should not allow any organisation, or even the government, to set moral standards for us. Laws are a different matter. But women have a right to eat, drink, smoke or dance in a pub and they should be able to do it without fear. Today, this has happened, and tomorrow, we can be sure another little-kjnown bunch of unemployed hooligans will the use the same excuse – “our culture is under threat” – and try to get some notoriety.

If you are a BJP supprter, convey to the party through whatever means you have – whether it is blogs, social networking sites, protests in college – that they have to completely detach themselves not just from this organisation, but the ideology they represent. Which means, they should abandon any problems they have with the pub culture, or women who behave against their standards of decency.