Crippled by an emerging social order determined by forces beyond their control, people at various places in Punjab have joined hands to launch a movement for social reforms Aggarwals, Brahmins and Khatris in urban areas, and Jat-Sikhs in the countryside have issued commandments to their respective communities to put an end to customs and traditions that have deteriorated into extracting rituals, observes Sarabjit Singh.

Another group of girls, dressed to match the occasion, moves around with shahi kabab, tikkas and sizzling tandoori chicken to serve the guests. The arrival of a specially arranged orchestra on the stage is announced with a flourish. Within minutes, semi-clad girls with their lewd dance movements turn the atmosphere "hot" within the palace. The party continues well past midnight.

The guests leave behind a lot of litter — chicken bones, glasses containing costly whisky, bottles and much more. The marriage of a politician’s son has been "solemnised."

Another evening, another venue and you find almost the same sequence of events, with minor variations, being repeated. The host might be a leading industrialist or a bureaucrat but as one moves from one city to another, the pattern remains unchanged. An unseemly vulgar display of wealth and unabashed flaunting of status appears to be the credo . Who are these trendsetters? Those who are responsible for governing us and those who finance the governing class? What sort of values, culture, customs and traditions are they setting and promoting? There was a time when those who led had to, per force, appear to be fit to lead .Now, it seems, the leaders revel in outdoing each other in ostentatious display of wealth .

The debate on what society is and what it ought to be is as old as society itself. Social scientists have tried to answer it from time to time. Usually, the model of an ideal society is presented before its constituents. However, in reality its two images have run parallel to each other .

One image is that of development, progress, prosperity and improving standards of living, generation of wealth etc. The other image is that of a decadent value system, hunger, squalor, poverty, morally flawed customs, rituals, and traditions that have degenerated after remaining rooted in the psyche for decades.

Visionaries have challenged the existing social order and launched effective social reform movements in the past. The country witnessed several Brahmo Samaj- like campaigns in the beginning of the last century and even earlier than that.

However, no such attempt has been made in the post- Independence era. The political class has remained completely power-focused. Its sole motive has been to capture power by employing all sort of means. Religious and spiritual leaders have been more preoccupied with increasing the number of their disciples, instead of initiating social reforms and checking the steady decline of values.

As a result of this failure, society is faced with extremely complex problems as regards to the degeneration of traditions, customs and rituals. Social evils have become a grim reality over the years. Think for a while about the dowry menace and crime related ( bride-burning) to it.

The question we need to ask ourselves is: why have such evils established their roots in recent decades? Concentration of wealth and power in the upper strata of the society has led to a very impersonal and inhuman game of economic and social and political competition. The common man has been virtually reduced to an object, a mere pawn in the whole game.

He has to follow, may be at a smaller scale, the standards set by the wealthy and powerful families that dominate the entire social structure. In the process, strapped for resources, he is crushed under the financial and social burden as he tries to emulate standards set by those who have flourished in leaps and bounds in the post-Independence period. An instance to prove the point. An industrialist in Ludhiana placed an order for marigold flowers to a Benaras- based flower-dealer for his daughter’s marriage. The trend set by him has become a compulsion for others who want to match his social status and also keep face among their fraternity of industrialists.

In the absence of any policy and initiative from political and religious class to build a "humane society", the people have turned to follow what they see being done by the elite class. Instead of becoming role models for others, political leaders by themselves have resorted to a show of wealth while performing marriages of their daughters and sons. Display of wealth just with an objective of flaunting status has assumed sickening and vulgar proportions.

The noveau riche, fired by the ambition of upward social mobility, have become conscious practitioners of a philistine culture to the extent of alienating themselves from the social mainstream. Emergence of an indigenous elite, intoxicated by multiplying power positions, has reduced common people to mere spectators of social decay.

Wealth and power and their acquisition seem to be the guiding force of all activities. The basic objective of the education system was the overall growth of the individual. But that has become redundant. Hardly any parent is interested in inculcating good values in his or her ward. While parents are interested only in the percentage of marks secured by their wards, the schools are more interested in how many students have secured above 95 per cent. Whose responsibility is to teach values, respect for elders and fellow beings and mould the character?

With commerce dictating every sphere of social activity, education has failed to remove social backwardness and help to cultivate mental development. This, despite the fact that the literacy rate in advanced states such as Punjab has touched 60 per cent. Education has also failed to tackle the feudal mindset of those who determine the value system and it is this feudal mindset that is a primary source of various ills in modern society.

Despite the emergence of such social evils and rank degeneration and deterioration of values, there is a silver lining. Crippled by a emerging social order determined by forces beyond their control, people at various places in Punjab have joined hands to launch a movement for social reforms and do away with age-old customs and rituals that are proving a bane for them. Aggarwals, Brahmins and Khatris in urban areas, and Jat-Sikhs in the countryside have issued commandments to their respective communities to put an end to customs and traditions that have deteriorated into extracting rituals.

The Aggarwal Sabha, Punjab, has been the first to take the initiative in this direction, The Brahmin and Khatri Sabhas have also joined hands with the Aggarwal Sabha recently to initiate social reforms in the Hindu community.

Barnala, a semi-urban town in Sangrur district, has become the hub of a major social reform movement among the Hindu community of the state. The Aggarwal Sabha, Punjab, has its headquarters there and a well-maintained office. It has 60 units spread over the state. Decisions are taken on the basis of suggestions made by the different units. These are implemented firmly after a consensus has been reached. Measures such as armtwisting or threats of excommunication from the community are not resorted to.

All the three — the Aggarwal, Brahmin and Khatri Sabhas — have not only started a public campaign against the customs and traditions which they feel ashamed of but are also distributing literature and printed material to convey the message across the state. Aggarwals constitute more than 40 per cent of the Punjab’s Hindu community, claim Badri Dass Singla, president of the local Aggarwal Sabha and Prem Kumar Garg, general secretary of the Punjab unit of Aggarwal Sabha.

Aggarwals have an impressive strength in neighbouring Haryana and Agroha Dham in Hisar district is an important pilgrim centre of the community. It has issued some 12 commandments directly aimed at getting rid of flawed customs and traditions.

The practice in Aggarwals was to take ration and wood for cremation from the in-laws of the deceased. This expenditure was around Rs 5,000. This practice has now been stopped. According to Badri Dass Singla, this was a humiliating tradition. A man earned for his family throughout his life but at the time of the death, his in-laws are told to foot the bill for his cremation. Why cannot sons or other family members bear the expenditure, he asked.

Another custom among the Aggarwals was that the funeral procession of an elder was to be preceded by a brass band and relatives used to resort to revelry. This has now been stopped. Another equally condemnable custom was darwaja band karna (closing of the door). At the time of death of an elder in-law, the daughters and sons of the deceased used to close the door of the room where the dead body was kept. It used to be opened only after taking some money, varying from a few hundred to thousands from the family. This custom has been dropped along with the playing of bands and revelry with gulal.

After the cremation of the deceased, the in- laws of his sons used to pay for the ration, cold drinks, tea etc served to people visiting the family to condole the death. Aggarwals call this custom kaura vatta, which (loosely translated) means a bitter bargain. This evil has also been stopped. Custom of milni at the time of death of an elder has also been done away. There will be no give or take any more, says Garg. There will be no distribution of sweets after the bhog ceremony and at the rasam pagri only Rs 10 will be accepted. This custom had turned into a show of wealth earlier. There was also a custom to visit the in-laws of the deceased to condole his death. This custom was called vapasi makan. It will be no longer observed .

Certain customs pertaining to marriages have also been banned. There will be no sending of gifts to in-laws of the girl before her marriage. Explaining this custom, Garg said that Aggarwal families send a lot of costly gifts to a girl’s in-laws before her marriage. There were instances when girls remained engaged for a year before marriages. It is known as the period of Katcha rishta. It is not possible to give gifts for a year-long period, says Badri Dass Singla. Many families used to feel burdened by such a custom. There will be no distribution of sweets along with a girl’s marriage invitation card and no putting up of a liquor stall at any marriage. The marriage of the girl should take place at her residence or her native place are some other changes that have been initiated. Of late, parents of the girl were being forced by parents of the boy to arrange the marriage at the native place of the bridegroom.

Rates have even been fixed for eunuchs. They visit families after the marriage of a boy or after the birth of baby boy. Aggarwals feel that hijras (enunchs) in the recent years had crossed all limits and often harassed families in the name of celebrations. They have fixed a fee of Rs 250 for eunuchs for dancing on such occasions. A strong debate is going on in the Sabha about the growing menace of dowry and for taking steps to check it as it is the worst kind of social evil, often leading to social strife among families.

Commenting on this, Raj Gupta, president of the Istri wing of the Aggarwal Sabha, Punjab, said that she was for banning the dowry system, come what may. She did not accept a single penny from the in-laws of her youngest son. In fact, she did not take a baraat and insisted on the simplest possible marriage.

"We have initiated some steps to improve the social structure but more tough decisions are required to be taken to tackle bigger social evils like dowry and bride burning", she adds. Steadily the Aggarwal community is being prepared to march ahead and take such decisions that would influence the attitudes of members of the community. However, according to Gupta, it is a good beginning. Once these reforms are sustained and stabilised, others would follow, she adds.

Only a small percentage of people in these communities can afford to bear the heavy expenditure on meaningless customs and traditions. Even those who could not afford to do so had to arrange money by some means to perform such rituals. As a consequence they were crushed under the burden of debt. It has become necessary from that angle as well to do away with all social evils entailing huge wasteful expenditure.

The reform movement is not without teeth. Those daring to violate its tenets are taken to task by the Sabha. Recently, a senior office-bearer of the Sabha from Sangrur district was found violating the commandments of the Sabha because he asked the in-laws of his son to arrange the marriage at his native town.

When the Aggarwal Sabha got to know of this, he was immediately issued a notice and asked to explain his position. He not only apologised but also gave an assurance that in future he would abide by all edicts of the Sabha. Likewise, an Aggarwal family in Baghapurana near Kotkapura, violated the Sabha’s code. The family has also been asked to explain its conduct. Garg says that a deputation of the Sabha was scheduled to visit Baghapurana soon to take further action in the matter.

Garg, who is also a general secretary of the joint committee of the three Sabhas, says that the Khatri and the Brahmin Sabhas have also taken the same decisions. A joint committee of these Sabhas meets on the first Tuesday of the every month to take stock of the reform movement. Discussions are held on various issues and decisions are taken accordingly.

Besides ushering in social reforms, the Aggarwal Sabha has also started adopting those brilliant boys and girls who are unable to pay for their studies. At least five such students have been adopted this year. The Sabha contacts managements of schools for getting the school fee of such students remitted. Help is also sought from government officials concerned, like sub-divisional magistrate and others.

Akhilesh Bansal, the press secretary of the Sabha, says that the community wanted that all commandments for reforms in the community should be issued from Agroha Dham, a holy place of Aggarwals. For holding simple marriages, the Sabha has established one marriage palace in Barnala and wants to construct another one there. It has urged the administration to give vacant land in Gadda Khana locality to the Sabha for this purpose. The Sabha provides a marriage hall and utensils as well as other materials for marriages at a no profit, no loss basis.

Likewise, Jat Sikhs in various villages have stopped several meaningless customs and traditions. They have stopped distribution of sweets at the bhog ceremony of elders. At the time of marriage of a girl, locals are not allowed to take food, snacks and cold drinks as it adds to the marriage bill of the host family. But there is no organised attempt to enforce such reforms in villages at a collective level. At the local level only panchayats are involved in the effort to initiate social reforms.

Without cooperation, enforcing of social reforms is not possible. There is a need for a collective strategy at the urban and rural levels for changing the sullied face of society.