Defending the Khap Panchayats, Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Saturday said they don’t order “honour killings” and most such cases involve relatives of boys or girls, whose relations are opposed by their families.
Addressing a press conference here, the Chief Minister emphasised on the need to change the mindset of people who commit such crimes. “Those behind such killings are parents or close relatives of either the girl or boy. There is a need to change the mindset of people. Khap Panchayats don’t order such killings,” Hooda said. “Anyone who takes law into their hands will be dealt with as per law,” he added.
In the last one month, several such incidents came to light in Haryana. The recent one was from Rohtak where a college-going couple was allegedly killed by the girl’s family members.
Their families were opposed to the relations between them. When asked whether Khap Panchayats in Haryana are playing a notorious role, and in some cases ordering honour killings, Hooda said, “Khap Panchayats don’t kill anyone”. “The incidents of honour killings don’t take place just in Haryana, but elsewhere too,” he said.
Asked about the opposition of Khaps to the same gotra marriages, Hooda said there are “some customs prevalent in society. Tell me one thing, how many of you marry to the gotraIJ I am asking, do you marry within your gotraIJ” he asked.
“There are some customs prevalent here (in Haryana) that dictate we don’t marry into the same gotra, at some places they do. If you go to South India, men marry their niece. Can anyone of you do this hereIJ It is not the custom here, but it is in South India and Andhra,” the Chief Minister said, when asked about the stand of his party on the issue. However, Hooda said that Khaps don’t have any legal standing. “They don’t have any legal status, they have social status.”