Ground realities related to Khaps!!

Every community in India has its own type of social organization. Minority religions have their unique systems regarding marriage etc. These are so unique that some of them are even beyond the reach of civil and marriage acts. It means Indian constitution allows diversity of culture and thought. Khaps should basically be analyzed with a belief in this very concept. If so many distinct customs of marriage, divorce, property rights, which are even in stark contrast to other uniform laws in India, are allowed then why are khap panchayats judged with an exceptional, exclusive judgmental hammer ignoring so many unique cultural traits they define and defend regarding the Jat community. We have to understand that these are basically units of social organizations just like any other community in India and having its own utility and flaws.

Those who sit in the studios and blabber about the issue of honour killings should come out and see the ground realities related to honour killings. Ask the family where such incidences have taken place. They will tell it was the fear of getting marginalized by the mainstream society and the fear of stigma that drove them into the gruesome act. Very rarely Khaps will ordain honour killings. There have been some incidences when such injunctions were unfortunately ordained from Khap chabutra, but in those cases it happens when things somehow reach the larger domain of the community. In such cases these criminal acts have to be punished as per the law of the land. Don’t individuals commit murders? Does that mean that all of us should be put under scanner for being possible murders? Every individual, every institution in the domain of social, economic and political framework has its own versions of criminal acts. Does that mean that we should raise questions about their existence itself? Civilization thrives on reformation, not termination. Even Britishers thought of reforming so many unique customs instead of gross termination.

Right from Muslims to people in down south, marriage customs are different in India. If Khaps have a stand against same gotra marriages then what is wrong with that?? Genetically it has been proved that the more you move away from the genetic line of your parentage, the better are the offsprings. On what grounds we get judgmental? From the yardsticks of Hindu marriage customs, some customs related to certain communities will appear unacceptable. So just targeting a particular community regarding its marriage customs does not sound prudent and justified.

The biggest undoing with Khaps have been their spokesmen! Jats are basically farmers and count very low when it comes to being diplomatically correct. If put prudently even a slap may sound like a logical act born of some justified grievance. And if not put appropriately, even a justified act may appear like a gruesome act. That’s what Khap leaders have done to their system. Their ill-calculated statements regarding reduction of marriage age to cut down on rape, not allowing women to use mobile, codes regarding dress etc, have brought ill-repute to khaps. On the practical surface there is hardly any negative change in the lives of girls and women on account of such instructions, but yes after getting overhyped in the media Khaps sound like Taliban ever trying to enslave woman. Before getting panicked whenever there is such an injunction by some khap, kindly visit the respective areas and find out if there is a change in the lives of woman. You would not find any perceptible change. But yes Khaps will definitely get demonized. Khaps become just self-injurious in such matters. It happens just once in a while when some old patriarch of the headgear generations gets panicked possibly on ulterior grounds and ordains something funny which does not have any affect on the ground level. So Khaps should have diplomatically correct and educated people as their spokesman who know what they are saying and what might be the consequences.

 If we just strictly look from the prism of modernity then most of the unique aspects of different communities will appear redundant. We are here to preserve distinctness, not to smother down diversity. Doing that just against Khaps does not sound like treating Jats equally with other communities in India. So many customs and ways of life related to many other communities also repeatedly rub against the shoulders of law. So reformation is the key objective, not annihilation. In this regard Supreme Court’s observations on Khaps appear unjustified.

Every social system having historical roots has and will serve a role. So to say that Khaps have become redundant is quite farcical. Khaps are passing through a generational shift. The old patriarchs still clinging to its top leadership sometimes over buzz the panic button. It has to be understood that many things that are happening are beyond their imagination. So the reaction! But most of the times their reaction has not any effect at the practical level. Once this generation bows out, brighter young people who are more educated will take charge of Khaps. We have to facilitate this generational shift in Khap leadership instead of tabooing them Taliban way,

Why BJP brand of politics is a safer bet for Indian democracy at present?!

Family politics is one of the biggest issues that  plague Indian democracy. Congress led by Gandhi-Nehru clan and the smaller regional offshoots have checked the flow of democracy from reaching the grassroots level. That’s the reason Swaraj is still a distant, almost impossible, reality even after 66 years of independence. Even within the folds of democracy, only autocratic tricks can succeed in maintaining power concentrated in a particular family. In this regard Gandhi-Nehruvian type of manipulations have done the greatest harm to the spread of democracy and independence across the widespread strata in India. Consequently, things did not change much for the common man of India post-independence.

BJP brand of politics is at least in sharp democratic contrast to Congress in this regard. Atalji headed NDA as Prime Minister.  He could focus just on his democratic duties instead of wasting resources and institutional powers in consolidating family fiefdom to keep it floating across generations. New BJP Prime Minister designate will be in a far better position to function as the topmost administrator of the country in comparison to let us say somebody from the Gandhi Nehru clan. The latter will again have to go into undemocratic manipulations, directly and indirectly, to maintain their grip as the first political family in the country.

At least in present conditions BJP is a far better option than Congress for the spread of democracy in India. It may not be perfect but will at least take Indian democracy to the next stage when Swaraj will be a possibility under the care of some new rising son!!!! 

Peacock, the Beggar

The fields around my village are splashing with as much green paddy as possible. Monsoonal sun across the corners of flying lumps of clouds gives the best glimpses of nature's bounty. But the travelling shadows also try to cover up silent, invisible man-made tragedies. Driven by intensive agriculture, born of costly inputs and decreasing landholdings, farmers just mindlessly dump poison in all forms of pesticides, weedicides and insecticides. So this lush green is a merciless stroke of brush on the canvas of nature, swiping away the natural world of many insects, worms, reptiles and rodents that make nature holistic and encompassing in its game of give and take across food chains. So guys, its just green paddy and poisoned soil below.

Peacocks thrive on insects in the fields. So food-less where would they go. A peacock's plumage swinging to gentle breeze in open surroundings of the countryside is a treat, and we were lucky to witness it so many times during our childhood. Now the last or second last generation of these destitutes, who rarely get an insect in fields, has descended down in the village. An irony: the poison giver is somehow better than the poison itself, at least in the short turn. In the foliage of neem and acacian trees, they just pew out their miseries. To the infants and younger lot it gives a chance to get acquainted with the national bird's sound, and of course help them in learning the initials of human language.

My mom has an almost regular bird visitor, who perches upon the neem in our courtyard and pews out its begging song as if pleading, Mai Roti do!!' While she dispenses her routine chores across the yard, it continues to draw her attention. Roti delayed, it is forced to descend down and enter the inner reaches of house just to make his presence felt through his luxuriant plumage. Once roti is put in small pieces before it, it has to chuck up the offerings as fast as possible because crows line up in their accusing harsh tones, blaming him for being a transgressor who has infringed upon their rights. Crows are very clever. Some of them get behind his plumage and take a pick at his feathers to distract him. One defensive look behind and a few pieces stolen by the other crows waiting in the wings. I call it the 'beggar peacock', my mother does not like the title though.

If that is the fate of the national bird, its hard to imagine the condition of others. Looking at this marvel of nature, whom mom sometimes accuses of being 'namakharam'-- when it comes without its plumage, all the feathers having been shed somewhere, and mom cursing it for being so mindless to waste them somewhere and not shed them in the courtyard -- I just feel sad on account of the fact that may be it is the last or at the most second last in its lineage!!!  

China'a Himalayan Drills

My two neighbours have been at loggerheads for long. One is strong, financially and socially in a decent position. The other is comparatively lesser on all these accounts. The stronger one will not miss an opportunity to badger the opponent and would not lose a chance to prove his strength and the other's helplessness. One day I heard the one, always at the receiving end, saying, 'I am going to an all out with him. Even if he beats me its better to be fully defeated instead of getting insulted all the times!' Driven by the concept that he brooded over his insults, he went all out with the neighbour at the next provocation! It was unexpected given his unresponsiveness of long. The stronger opponent was taken back and before other villagers intervened he had god bloody mouth and many bruises. Moral of the story is: sometimes it serves to hit hardest when you are pushed against a wall; when you have been completely cornered!

Repeated Chinese transgressions into Indian territory and India's helplessness in this regard may a serve a corollary to the episode narrated above. China, on account of the War and repeated intrusions, has taken it for granted that India will remain inert to all provocations. Can India act ultimately like my weaker opponent? If China can cross over into our territory, cannot we go for the same exercise sometimes? Suppose China reacts at the level of using force at our China-type intrusion, we will earn a right to ward them off at the same level if they play the mischief again. It will only define the LOC more definitely---after all you are supposed to put your stamp of authority on you claimed land through the use of forces to their utmost capacity. It will just balance out the position.           

Amarnath Yatra

Life is all about exploring the self--its limitations, its specialties, its weaknesses, its strengths. Putting yourself in inhospitable conditions can be one of the means for this. The holy cave of Amarnath is situated in the frigid heights of higher Himalayas. As you move along the rain-lashed, slippery and stony mountain track, you find yourself caught in a dualistic chasm. Pleasure and pain side by side. Sighs of agony as well as excited palpitations of heart over nature's masterwork. In the misty heights melting glaciers are a visual delight; but the hazy heights lacerated by gloomy, craggy tops gets into your heart like some ice-cold stare of a corpse. 

Gasping like a fish without water, for the oxygen is seriously low, you find the next little step as the most unachievable task in the world. One look however at the melting glacier on the opposite side of the valley uplifts your spirits like Phoenix. You see the signs of warmth triumphing over snow: emerging pastures side by side with snow. Yes, green gives solace! Mountains lost in their massiveness just take your tiny existence into their mystic oblivion. You just surrender! I do not think many of us try to over-impose our self-worth against such massiveness surrounding us. Mostly, we just realise what we are--mere parts of nature, who can just smite our existence away in just one angry stroke of little finger!!!!  

You look anxiously into the sky for traces of rain. The clouds building up around the surrounding hilltops send down still chillier sensation down your spine. But then a look into the deep gorge across the sheer precipice carrying the track, gives you an outwardly sensation of fear and excitement mixed with a strange elation that cannot be explained in words. You see fellow devotees struggling along the ponies. These are the rare moments when you can really feel the agony of a fellow human being because you are put in the same cauldron. 

The last portion of the valley leading to the shrine is still covered with heavy snow. As you walk on it, you slip and regain control like a toddler learning to walk. After all we are always God's kids. Kashmiri Islam is beneficent. At no other place you will find a Hindu Religious occasion being supported by so many Muslims. All the hawkers, stall operators, tent vallahs, porters, foot massagists and alms-seekers are Muslims. At no other place in the world you will come across a Muslim stall operator welcoming a tired Hindu pilgrim: 'O Bhole Mata Parvati ke liye shringaar le lo!' In delicious Kashmiri the locals call you 'Bhole!'. And once inside the majestic cave, you just find yourself lost in the divine trance of the ice lingam, Baba Barfani!!