Safe houses to protect against honour killing
Police in Haryana, an affluent but conservative northern state, said that they had been overwhelmed by hundreds of cases in which couples had been attacked by enraged relatives for ignoring the strict social codes that dictate who they should marry.
Under a pilot scheme that will start this month, newlyweds judged to be most at risk will start their lives together under armed guard.
In the rural villages of Haryana, caste purity and adherence to traditions are paramount. As a result, the state has grown notorious as the “honour killing” capital of India.
Last year Sunita Prakash, 21, who was five months’ pregnant, and Jasbir Singh, 22, were dragged from their home in Balla by a mob of her male relatives. The bodies of the couple, who had been strangled, were found in front of her father’s house.
The couple were members of the Jat caste. Their crime was to have fallen for each other despite living in the same village — a taboo similar to incest, according to Jat lore.
“We are not ashamed of it . . . we have restored the village’s pride,” one of Ms Prakash’s cousins said. Police said that her father confessed to the murders.
To counter a sharp rise in such crimes, a safe house will be established in the Rohtak district of Haryana. The scheme will be expanded if successful.
There are plans for a programme where police will explain the law to councils of village elders, who often sanction honour killings. “We’ll be telling them that these practices are bad parenting,” Mr Rai said.
Javeed Alam, the chairman of the Indian Council of Social Science Research, said: “The safe house may provide temporary relief. What I think is needed is strong state protection to people who want to exit the community. But here is the catch: the government in Haryana is dominated by the Jats, and, I suspect, sizeable sections of the ruling establishment are in sympathy with the perpetrators of crime.”
The Times of India said last week: “In many of these cases, local law enforcement agencies are loath to disrupt the social balance by enforcing the law of the land. They turn a blind eye to the illegal activities condoned by village elders.”
According to Jagmati Sagwan, of the All-India Democratic Women’s Association, six or seven cases are reported every month in Haryana. Many more are thought to go unreported.
Sandeep,i agree with what u said bout jats being carefree n funloving..esp if i go by my friend back home..
'When they realise tht there is no honour in killing people like this only then it will stop.'
..i guess this has to be done by ppl internally from within the community..wont change otherwise..
u know jats r generally carefree, fun loving people with devil may care attitude but when its about their pride & honour, they absolutely refuse 2 listen 2 any reasoning. When they realise tht there is no honour in killing people like this only then it will stop.
" Dont take life too seriously, you will never get out alive!!!"
I say the same for my daughter :-)
I can understand what you are saying in a way. It's just a foreign concept to me personally. Still, I appreciate the insight.
I didn't drink the kool-aid! -- PM
My mum keeps telling every1 that everyone shud have a son like me ;-) I look for reasoning in everything else but social customs, i dont give too much thought to them..
" Dont take life too seriously, you will never get out alive!!!"
I was always a very rebellious child and had to know the reasoning for everything, usually arguing it to the death (as my parents found out) but that is a part of my culture. They would have been happy if I was a bit more like you, I think :-)))
I didn't drink the kool-aid! -- PM
I have absolutely no clue about the reasoning, dont think about it either.. just accepted it as it is.
" Dont take life too seriously, you will never get out alive!!!"
people your "brothers and sisters" so you can't marry them? I really can't understand the motivation to do such a thing....
I didn't drink the kool-aid! -- PM
there are 3 last names in which u can't marry.. ur, ur mother's maiden last name, ur paternal grandmother's maiden last name.. they r not beneath us but r considered our brothers and sisters.
" Dont take life too seriously, you will never get out alive!!!"
Is it because they are from a caste or lineage that no one wants you to marry, so they make it as if the taboo of incest applies?
It may not be racially based but it seems to me it essentially has the same kind of effect. You are basically saying that there is a group who are "beneath you" to marry, right?
I didn't drink the kool-aid! -- PM
Actually the problem is it is not a racial issue, no discrimination is going on so hard to make a law against it. killing is obviously punishable but more often than not entire village collectively "punish" the lovers, hard 2 make a case stick when there r no witnesses and mob killing is there.
since birth u r told that anyone with these last names are ur sisters and then if u fall for sum1 in those families then u r done, thats the way it is. It requires more of a social awakening then any safe house or any new law. my ancestral village is in same Rohtak district where they are constructing this safe house, I can guarantee u, people will b having a good laugh about it there.
" Dont take life too seriously, you will never get out alive!!!"
In the US, it took passing laws and enforcing them to change racial attitudes. It's hard at first but after a generation grows up with the idea that you can't do certain things because they are AGAINST THE LAW, and you educate people about the ethical reasoning behind the laws, in time you change the attitudes of the people. That's why I think safe houses and law enforcement are a key component of change.
I didn't drink the kool-aid! -- PM
Ofcourse I think they shud change and they will but not in near future.. pace of social changes is too slow.
" Dont take life too seriously, you will never get out alive!!!"
I didn't drink the kool-aid! -- PM
Brit Jats are a caste mostly based in haryana, delhi and western uttar pradesh, some parts of Rajasthan too. Most of the land owners in these areas are jats.
j3375 I understand what u r saying but like ur friends in Mumbai, i too feel helpless about it.. If a girl is having a certain last name, she is my sister as per tradition, If I as much as suggest that I want 2 marry sum1 frm those families, it will cause a huge uproar. thats just the way it is.
It will not work because there is greater fear of losing ur so called honour than the fear of law and order among jats generally.
" Dont take life too seriously, you will never get out alive!!!"
sandeep,why wont it work?..i can understand anger in the people initially there(which may lead to lots of political tension) there,but this has to be done....i hope at least it leads to some difference in the mindset..why dont even educated and so called modern jats(who by the way-both sexes- have a great time away from jatland in cities like mumbai) have the balls to stand up against this shitty mentality..killing ur daughters/sons for falling in love?...i have a few jat friends in mumbai,everybody expresses the same kind of helplessness when this topic is spoken about,gives the idea that they to will follow it..not even the young want this to change?.or is it bcos the jats are a clan that are powerful politically since decades..and follow tradition blindly..Something very Evil bout this honour killing mentality..
brite when its gona happen
By the way, "The Indian Home Minister, P Chidambaram, said: “We should hang our heads in shame when such incidents take place in the 21st century.”
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Sory, what is a Jat ??? Is it a caste or a tribe ??
By the way, "The Indian Home Minister, P Chidambaram, said: “We should hang our heads in shame when such incidents take place in the 21st century.”
He outlined proposals including all-women police stations, but rejected calls for a new law. “Honour killing is murder,” he said. “It would have to be dealt with as murder and tried as murder.”
Source: The Times
...that's why I'm not sure whether things like these sounds helpful or not.
"Everything in this book may be wrong." Illusions: The Adventures of The Reluctant Messiah by Richard Bach
Wish I had an answer Alexa, but I know tht police doesn't interfere in such cases either.. Killings get highlighted but there are numerous other cases of guy getting beaten up becoz he is having an affair with a gal of his own caste supposedly his sister.. If police provides protection to such lovers then the policemen will b termed traitors of community and sidelined frm the mainstream society. There was a case when all the shops in the whole city refused to sell anything to a family for supporting such marriage. Its very very complicated, Situation is improving but change is too slow.
" Dont take life too seriously, you will never get out alive!!!"
around the Muslim world as well!
Being a Jat from haryana I can tell you, It wont work.
" Dont take life too seriously, you will never get out alive!!!"