To choose love or votes?

They have been branded murderers, backwards, tyrants, but they sure know where to hit to make the maximum impact.


Arms and the men: A grand meeting of the heads of various khap
panchayats was held in Jharoda Kalan in west Delhi to force the
government to bring a bill banning same 'gotra' marriages in the current
session of Parliament.u00a0pic/mid day

The Khap is back and with a bang. Several village panchayats congregated in a grand gathering of the 'elders' to flex the political muscle in order to stress their demand for a law against same 'gotra' marriages. And they had a proposition for Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi.

"If Rahul Gandhi wants his party to win in Uttar Pradesh, he must support us. Else we will ensure that the Congress never makes electoral gains in the politically important northern state," said Chaudhary Ramkaran Solanki, Pradhan, 307 Khap, Palam Village, Delhi.u00a0 He was one of the thousands who attended the the Mahapanchayat of Khaps organised in Jharoda Kalan village of west Delhi bordering Haryana.

"Rahul Gandhi must remember that gestures like staying at a Dalit's house will not get his party votes. We have the people and the power to bring any party in power. The Khap diktat runs larger than any political party could imagine. But, if the young leader announces his support to us, we will gift his party a grand victory in the next assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh," said Solanki.

More than 180 Khap representatives from UP, Haryana, Punjab, Maharashtra, and Madhya Pradesh participated in the Mahapanchayat organised at a community centre and an adjoining open field. More than 10,000 people participated in the congregation.

Another Khap leader rubbished the allegations that the panchayat had ordered killings of innocent couples who dared to go against their diktat.

"No Khap has ever ordered the killing of an innocent man or woman. The allegations of so called honour killings against us are totally baseless. We just want to protect our age-old traditions. We want the government to amend the Hindu Marriage Act 1955, to make it illegal to marry somebody from the same 'gotra'," said Ram Kishan Solanki from Jhajjar, Haryana.u00a0

When Bhim Singh of Rajasthan was asked why is it that the Khap always runs into problems with the law, he said the government should not forget that the panchayat dates back every codified law on earth. "What law, what constitution are you talking about? The Khap has been there when there were no courts. Therefore, I think it would be foolish on the part of the government to teach us law or label us illegal," said Singh
Jharoda Kalan is among the few villages in Delhi that are yet to be urbanised and is known as a Khap bastion.

The villagers are mostly into agriculture, transport and services. The villagers own more than one thousand trucks, buses and other commercial vehicles.

Various Khap leaders were seen sharing a smoke on the traditional wooden 'hookah' at the huge community hall, venue for the Mahapanchayat. In the adjoining field, thousands of turbaned participants listened to their leaders over loudspeakers mounted on bamboos.

The congregation went on for over three hours and several Khap heads addressed the gatherings. Participants dared hot and humid conditions in the open field to send the message across to the government that they stand united.

"We are going to organise another Mahapanchayat on August 1 in Rohtak and our ultimatum stands till 6-7 November," Ram Kishan Solanki said.

A Congress leader, requesting anonymity, said the party does not subscribe to the regressive views of the Khap. "Violence can never be condoned. Social issues can only be decided through negotiations and debate. We have nothing against any social grouping or organisation or panchayat but nobody is above the law of the land," he said.

"No Khap has ever ordered the killing of an innocent man or woman. The allegations of so-called honour killings against us are totally baseless. We just want to protect our age-old traditions. We want the government to amend the Hindu Marriage Act 1955, to make it illegal to marry somebody from the same 'gotra'," said Ram Kishan Solanki from Jhajjar, Haryana.u00a0

"What law, what constitution are you talking about? The Khap used to be there when there were no courts. Therefore, I think it would be foolish on the part of the government to teach us law or label us
illegal," said Bhim Singh, Rajasthan