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The Khap Diktat!!

NEWS:
Recently, around 200 women came for the Khap Panchayat to protest against female foeticide.

BACKGROUND:

Khap is the community of people from haryana, Western uttar Pradesh and some parts of Rajasthan. This group of people are orthodox and stringent in their own rules and regulations.Generally there are 10-15 people in khap panchayats who impose their will on their fellow villagers.
They have their set of commandments as follows.

a) All girls and boys of one gotra are siblings. No marriages can be arranged for people of same gotra else they would be banished from the village or killed in extreme circumstances. Love marriages are a taboo.
b) No girl can roam about on the streets alone, can't talk on mobile phones and can't wear jeans.
c) Honour killing is allowed if the ward misbehaves or acts against the khap traditions.

MY OPINION:
My mother used to tell me that all humans are children of God then why this disparity between the two sexes?Why are girls made to feel inferior repeatedly? If not ahead, we can atleast try to encourage women to follow their dreams. Killing them even before they take their first breath is a heinous crime. It is against the principle of humanity.
Coming to the issue of marriages, I feel that love marriages are not immoral. One doesn't see the other person's caste and religion before having a relationship with him/her. They may not be preferred but should not be prohibited.
Instead of proscribing the females from wearing jeans, why not teach the males to be moralistic? I read this quote by Robert Frost which says-" Freedom lies in being bold." As leaders, we must make our girls courageous and brave. This can only happen when they are all exposed to the letter of spirit. All females should study and gain financial independence. This would give them the self-confidence and awareness to fight any obstacle in life.They must be given full freedom to rise in life just like boys.Let there be equal opportunities for both the genders.
This reminds me of a statement made by Swami Vivekananda who said that,"To judge the progress of a nation, one must see how able the women are!" So, the jat women (from the khap community) must be freed from their cages so that they too can run azure on golden sands.
It is time to save the Jat women from Jeopardy!!

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