M A I N   N E W S

Nothing comes of CM-khap meeting
Yoginder Gupta
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 10
The much-publicised meeting between Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and a delegation of khap panchayats here today remained unfruitful. Neither side gave in.

The khap delegation submitted a memorandum to Hooda demanding an amendment to the Hindu Marriage Act to ban same-gotra and same-village marriages. Hooda is believed to have told the delegation that while personally he shared their sentiments on the issue, as Chief Minister he could not initiate a move to amend the Act.

The memorandum had urged the Chief Minister to move a resolution in the Haryana Assembly to initiate the required amendment to the Act. Khap leaders maintained that passing such a resolution was within the competence of the state Assembly as the Act was on the concurrent list of the Constitution. The meeting lasted about 15 minutes.

Later, Mewa Singh, a member of the 11-member delegation, said Hooda did not give any categorical response to their demand. “Though the Chief Minister gave a patient hearing to us, we are not completely satisfied,” he added. The delegation also demanded that Hooda should call an all-party meeting on the issue.

It said a mahapanchayat would be held at Meham in Rohtak district on August 1 to press the government to accept the demand of the khaps. Representatives of khaps from all parts of the country would participate in the Meham meeting.

Kuldip Singh Dhandha, convener of the Coordination Committee of the Haryana Sarv Khap Mahapanchayat, clarified that the Meham meeting was not planned today. It had already been planned by Meham leaders, who had invited all activists. “Now, we have decided to participate in it,” he added.

The INLD, the main opposition party in the state, has come out openly in support of the ban on same-gotra marriages. It has given a notice to the Haryana Speaker regarding its intention to move a resolution in the Assembly demanding an amendment to the Act.

However, various social organisations have criticised the INLD for keeping silent on the issue of same-village marriages, a practice prevalent in INLD president’s native village, Chautala, and the surrounding areas.