M A I N   N E W S

Social boycott awaits Sonia
Raman Mohan
Tribune News Service

Asanda, October 26
Sonia’s rehabilitation in this village has encountered an unexpected problem. The social boycott of the Lohan families in Jakholi village of Kaithal district at the behest of a khap panchayat has emboldened the Rathis of Asanda and nearby villages to launch a fresh campaign for socially boycotting her husband Rampal Dahiya’s family as and when she returns to the village.

After the Punjab and Haryana High Court’s intervention in the Sonia case, the villagers were reconciled to the fact that she would have to be rehabilitated here, if only for fear of the law.

However, the Kaithal district administration’s failure to prevent the implementation of the Jakholi khap panchayat’s diktat against the Lohans has triggered a reaction here.

During a visit to the village today, The Tribune found motley groups of residents of Asanda, Baproda and Kharhar villages, who had initiated the move against Sonia, openly canvassing for her social boycott.

They cited the Jakholi development to buttress their arguments. This development threatens to derail Sonia’s rehabilitation process started by representatives of several social organisations last week.

It is learnt that immediately after reports of the successful implementation of the panchayat’s directions in Jakholi were received here last evening, Sonia’s beté noires met informally and decided to garner support of fellow Rathis for socially boycotting Sonia.

Their argument was that if the Kaithal administration could not prevent the social boycott of the Lohans, there was no way the Jhajjar district administration would book them for boycotting Sonia socially.

Sonia’s family members are greatly upset over this unexpected development. A crestfallen Om Parkash, Sonia’s father-in-law, said the Jakholi incident had vitiated the atmosphere in the village once again.

“It’s almost back to square one. Fear of the law has vanished and we fear the worst again. Why did it (Jakholi incident) have to happen at this moment?”, he exclaimed, shaking his head to express his helplessness.

Elsewhere in the village, several elderly residents expressed similar sentiments. A neighbour of Om Parkash said, “The dust had already settled on the Sonia episode. But Jakholi has provided Sonia baiters a new ‘handle’. Unless the saner elements or the administration intervenes, Sonia’s return to Asanda could be in jeopardy.”

Back in Rohtak, where Sonia is recuperating at the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences, a pall of gloom has descended on the gynaecology ward, where there is no dearth of her sympathisers.

Sonia has not yet been informed of the Jakholi incident and the reaction it has triggered in Asanda to prevent her from going into a depression again, for that could threaten her pregnancy.

Meanwhile, Dharam Singh of Baproda village, who chaired the two panchayats on the Sonia issue, is dismayed by the developments. He said every effort would be made to prevent the social boycott of Sonia on her return.

“I would be happier if this can be done with social approval amicably. But in any case, I will do everything to ensure Sonia’s safety and rehabilitation”, he added.

However, Sonia’s recent utterances have not helped her cause. Her remark that if the Asanda residents really wanted to accept her as a bahu, then one of the panchayatis should give her ‘munh dikhai’, has angered the villagers, especially the youths.

Tension in the village on this issue was discernible today as youths waved newspapers which reported her remark in front of village elders.

Meanwhile, in a welcome development, Ramphal, chief of the Dahiya khap, today assured Dharam Singh that he would extend him all help in solving the Sonia tangle.

He told a group of representatives of two Rohtak-based social organisations — Samajik Nayaya Manch and Sampuran Kranti Manch — at his residence in Sisana village that if the Rathi khap wanted him to rescind the ban on Rathi-Dahiya marriages, he would be willing to do so.

Commenting on the Jakholi incident, he said the presence of multiple gotras in bigger villages was posing a problem. This problem needed to be tackled immediately by summoning a sarv khap panchayat, otherwise marriages in the countryside would become a big problem.

The Dahiya khap chief offered to send his two representatives along with the manch activists to go to Asanda to confer with the villagers.