UP government expected to act against Baghpat Khap fatwa: P Chidambaram

In a Taliban-style fatwa, a Khap panchayat in civil aviation minister Ajit Singh’s Baghpat has banned love marriages and barred women below 40 from shopping or using mobile phones outside their homes. The panchayat in Asara village in Ramala area also ruled that when women leave their homes, their heads must be covered. Reports from Baghpat said the diktats were issued during a meeting of the panchayat held on Wednesday.

A sizeable section of the political class has been reluctant to criticise Khap panchayats, an illegal institution that has become a big threat to individual identity and mobility. That the Uttar Pradesh government was not keen on tough action was evident when reports from Baghpat said that no arrests had been made in the case. The state’s indifference was on display on Friday evening when urban development minister Azam Khan said that he found nothing strange in the Khap decision. He said: “I think it is not a diktat but merely the opinion of villagers for the society they live in. There is freedom of speech in the country and we cannot stop anyone from saying anything.”

In Chandigarh, home minister P Chidambaram said he expected the UP government to take action against those who try to enforce such illegal orders. “There is no place for such diktats in a democratic society. If such a diktat is being issued in Bhagpat, I would expect the state government to instruct the police authorities to ensure that nobody comes to harm for violating that diktat,” Chidambaram told reporters. “That diktat has no legal authority, and if anybody takes any action against a boy or girl saying that you are violating the diktat, action should be taken against the person who is trying to enforce these illegal codes of conduct. I would expect the state government to take action,” he said.

“These kinds of diktats by khap panchayats, fatwas, dress codes, have no place in a democratic society,” he said. “There are laws relating to obscenity. Those laws have to be obeyed. I don’t think anyone can say what a boy or girl should wear and how they should talk to each other,” he said.