There is no end to just how far a khap panchayat interferes in people’s lives. They decide society rules, punishments, and sometimes, they even decide your marital status, whether you agree or not. In yet another weird diktat, a khap panchayat in Haryana’s Hisar district has ordered a newly-wed couple to break their marriage and start living as brother and sister.
Navin Kumar, 26, of Sangha gotra married Babita, 26, of Bura gotra on December 6th, at Sulkhani village in Hisar district, after their families brought them together. But the khap panchayat now says the marriage will have to be annulled as their gotras are in what is known as ‘bhaichara’ and that they are brother and sister for all practical purposes.
The panchayat, held at Sulkhani on Wednesday and presided over by Bura Khap president Hari Narayan, has warned the boy’s family of social boycott if they don’t follow the diktat. People from nine villages – eight dominated by Bura gotra and one by jats of Sangha gotra – took part in the panchayat.
As per the bhaichara concept, no youth from these nine villages can marry from Bura gotra.
A former panch from Sulkhani village Zile Singh Sangha, who was present in the panchayat, asked, “How can we allow marriage of sister and brother?” Navin’s father Balwant Singh, who is a teacher in a government school, claimed there was no brotherhood between the two gotras. “The panchayat members were putting pressure on us unnecessarily. I would approach the authorities and file a complaint against them if they continue with the threat,” he said. “How can we break the marriage when it has been solemnized in the presence of all relatives and villagers,” he added.
Navin is an auditor with the Comptroller and Auditor General and is posted at Guwahati, while Babita is an assistant manager of a cooperative bank at a nearby town. His family has also decided to file a defamation case against the panchayat members for insulting the couple and their families.
On the other hand, khap leaders blamed Balwant Singh for hiding the fact that the girl was from Bura gotra. “The villagers came to know about this only when they went to the girl’s village as part of the barat party,” said Zile Singh.
In July, the khap panchayat of a village near Narwana in Jind district had asked a married couple to start living as brother and sister five months after their wedding. Praveen Kumar, 25, of Koyal village and Poonam, 30, of Tarori village in Karnal had moved the Punjab and Haryana high court seeking protection after the khap annulled their marriage as they belong to same clan.
