ravichaudhary
New member
What seems to have happened is the development of a mob mentality, a rage, that led to these tragic deaths.
The mob mentality knows only rage, not rationality.
No khap panchayat will order a murder.
Historically, the panchayat has ordered Ostracization, “ Hookah Pani bandh”, not death.
Further this media attention has had a side benefit. It has brought to the attention of youg jats everywhere, the term ‘Khap’- what it means , what should its role be tomorrow.
That in itself is not a bad thing.
Until now that Khap had become an anachronism, something that was consigned to the dustbins of history, a term little understood and of little relevance.
Readers are encouraged to go through the archives to see what role the Khap and the sarv Khaps have played through history.
ON THE QUESTION OF LAW.
The Panchayat historically been a law making, and a law giving body.
This extended up from the village level, to the Khap and the Sarv Khap level. A modern parallel, would be village panchayat, to state assembly to national parliament.
The sarv khap made law, and dispensed justice.
It ran parallel to any central govt in Delhi.
The Sarv Khap power was only broken by the British post 1857, when British and then British/Indian law replaced Sarv Khap law.
The point to keep in mind is that these were legitimate, law making bodies, not kangaroo courts, and they were of high antiquity going back thousand of years.
Certainly they had a greater legitimacy than the current Indian constitution., which is only 60 years old.
The, panchayat, khap, and Sarv Khap represented Direct Democracy, the kind we still find in Switzerland, a system of referendum on all issues.
So the question arises what law should prevail- the jat law, for the Jats, of the law to be imposed upon them by a distant, disconnected, law making body?
MARRIAGE RULES ( or LAW)
The Hindu Marriage Act is a recent creation , 1956, some 50+ years ago.
Previously the Hindu law( uncodified) did not permit same gotra marriage.
After 1956 it allowed that, and also allowed 1st cousin marriage.
The question is why it did not accommodate the customs of communities like the jats, the Gujars, who did not allow marriage in the same gothra.
Any outside observer will agree that act is an injustice, an injustice that must be redressed.
Food for thought.
Ravi Chaudhary
The mob mentality knows only rage, not rationality.
No khap panchayat will order a murder.
Historically, the panchayat has ordered Ostracization, “ Hookah Pani bandh”, not death.
Further this media attention has had a side benefit. It has brought to the attention of youg jats everywhere, the term ‘Khap’- what it means , what should its role be tomorrow.
That in itself is not a bad thing.
Until now that Khap had become an anachronism, something that was consigned to the dustbins of history, a term little understood and of little relevance.
Readers are encouraged to go through the archives to see what role the Khap and the sarv Khaps have played through history.
ON THE QUESTION OF LAW.
The Panchayat historically been a law making, and a law giving body.
This extended up from the village level, to the Khap and the Sarv Khap level. A modern parallel, would be village panchayat, to state assembly to national parliament.
The sarv khap made law, and dispensed justice.
It ran parallel to any central govt in Delhi.
The Sarv Khap power was only broken by the British post 1857, when British and then British/Indian law replaced Sarv Khap law.
The point to keep in mind is that these were legitimate, law making bodies, not kangaroo courts, and they were of high antiquity going back thousand of years.
Certainly they had a greater legitimacy than the current Indian constitution., which is only 60 years old.
The, panchayat, khap, and Sarv Khap represented Direct Democracy, the kind we still find in Switzerland, a system of referendum on all issues.
So the question arises what law should prevail- the jat law, for the Jats, of the law to be imposed upon them by a distant, disconnected, law making body?
MARRIAGE RULES ( or LAW)
The Hindu Marriage Act is a recent creation , 1956, some 50+ years ago.
Previously the Hindu law( uncodified) did not permit same gotra marriage.
After 1956 it allowed that, and also allowed 1st cousin marriage.
The question is why it did not accommodate the customs of communities like the jats, the Gujars, who did not allow marriage in the same gothra.
Any outside observer will agree that act is an injustice, an injustice that must be redressed.
Food for thought.
Ravi Chaudhary
