What do the apologists for Kejriwal say now- What a retrograde statement!!! Khap panchayats have cultural purpose, no need to ban them, Arvind Kejriwal says Arvind Kejriwal, the new political star said he would not ban the illegal village courts because they had a cultural purpose despite their harsh treatment of women. Many urban Indians had hoped the 45-year-olds progressive social politics would include a strong agenda for womens empowerment. But his stand on village councils - unelected all-male bodies which have issued many misogynistic decrees, including ordering honour killings - contrasts with that of some womens groups who want them dismantled. Their diktats have ranged from banning women from wearing western clothes and using mobile phones to ordering the killing of young couples. Some councils have demanded that the minimum age of marriage be lowered to 16 from 18 for girls and 21 for boys as a way of coping with an increase in the number of rapes. No, it is not a question of banning these panchayats, Kejriwal told Thomson Reuters Foundation late on Monday, referring to khap panchayats, the name given to village councils in rural areas of north India. Khap panchayats are a group of people who come together. There is no bar on people to assemble in this country ... (But) whenever they take a wrong decision, whenever they take an illegal decision, they ought to be punished, he said. Powerful village councils have governed the rural landscape for centuries, keeping a conservative grip on rural society that not only clashes with the current more liberal attitudes towards women, but also challenges the law of the land. Acting as de-facto courts for millions, they settle disputes on everything from land and cattle to matrimony and murder, helping maintain social order in a country where access to justice can be slow and difficult for the rural poor and uneducated. Last week, 13 men were arrested after they were alleged to have gang-raped a 20-year-old tribal women on the orders of a village court in West Bengal as punishment for having a relationship with a man from another community
Posted on: Thu, 30 Jan 2014 14:36:39 +0000
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