Bhiwani, January 19
The self-styled khap panchayatis are at it again, this time expelling two families from their respective villages for daring to marry their children despite the panchayat’s objections.
The decision was taken after a marathon meeting of the Sheoran 25 panchayat held at Nagla village today. The panchayat ordered the families to leave their villages within 15 days, besides imposing a token fine of one “dhela”. It also ordered the social boycott of the families.
Trouble began without a warning yesterday when the heads of the two families concerned were asked to cancel the marriages on the plea that since both their villages were part of the Sheoran 25 “kanni”, the marriages could not be accorded social sanction. Both families refused to comply. The villagers then held a panchayat and decided to meet again this morning to discuss the issue.
However, in between the two families decided to go ahead with the marriages and the ceremonies were completed around 2 a.m. this morning to thwart the panchayat’s plans.
A resident of Nangla village Mahavir Sheoran had fixed the marriages of his daughters, Anju and Aneet, to the two sons of Bajrag Gill of the nearby Ladawas village for today. The boys are named Jagdish and Krishan.
Although the marriages had been fixed several months ago and this was public knowledge, some villagers suddenly raised objections yesterday and wanted the two families to call off the marriages. When the families refused to oblige, an impromptu panchayat was held which decided to meet again this morning. Today’s meeting was presided over by one Bijender, claiming to be the head of the Sheoran 25 “kanni”. Speakers at the panchayat pointed to a resolution of the larger Sheoran 84 panchayat, which prohibited matrimonial alliances between families living in villages falling in a particular “kanni”.
When it was brought to the knowledge of the panchayat that the marriages had already taken place early this morning, it decided to expel both families from their respective villages and issued a diktat, saying any other family maintaining any kind of relation with these two families would also meet the same fate.
Meanwhile, tension has gripped the area and police arrangements have been made in both Nangla and Ladawas villages. Security has also been provided to both families concerned.
The parents are maintaining complete silence over the issue and hoping that the issues might be resolved amicably. However, one relative, on condition of anonymity, said that marriages between families of a particular “kanni” had been taking place in the past and there was no logic behind the panchayat’s objections.
