Balram Sampla
Geopolitics
(Asian imndependent) The terrifying ordeal of Amanpreet Kaur, a five-month pregnant Jat Sikh woman thrown into the Rajasthan Feeder Canal by her own family for marrying Satnam Singh, a Dalit Mazhabi Sikh.
Is a horrific reminder of the gap between religious ideals and social reality. Her miraculous survival by clinging to a wild plant exposes an uncomfortable truth in modern Punjab: despite being rooted in an egalitarian faith, society remains deeply fractured by caste prejudice.
The Theological Vision vs. Rural Reality
Sikhism was founded as an explicitly anti-caste movement. The Sikh Gurus actively dismantled social hierarchies by establishing institutions like Langar (community kitchens where all sit as equals) and creating the Khalsa, where individual surnames were abandoned in favour of “Singh” and “Kaur” to erase lineage-based privilege.
However, cultural practice in Punjab has largely detached itself from this religious ethos. Caste identity, particularly the economic and social division between dominant landowning Jat Sikhs and marginalized Dalit communities (such as Mazhabi Sikhs and Ad-Dharmis) remains heavily entrenched. Social status, land ownership, and political leverage continue to be hoarded along caste lines.
A Pattern of Violence and Retaliation
Amanpreet’s story is not an isolated anomaly; it fits a well-documented pattern of violent enforcement against those who cross caste boundaries:
The Naushehra Triple Murder (2019): When Harman Singh, a Jat Sikh, married a Dalit woman against her family’s wishes, her relatives raided Harman’s home in Tarn Taran, hacking his father, teenage brother, and sister to death in retaliation.
The Ferozepur Abduction (2020):
A Dalit man and his Jat Sikh wife sought refuge in a government protection home. Heavily armed relatives from the woman’s family stormed the facility at gunpoint, abducting and torturing the couple.
The Patti Amputation Attack (2021):
A Dalit groom was kidnapped by his upper-caste wife’s family, who amputated his fingers as extrajudicial punishment for violating social norms.
Targeting Advocates and Activists:
The case of Dalit activist Bant Singh in Mansa demonstrates the brutality faced when challenging dominant caste power. After pursuing legal justice for his daughter’s gang-rape by Jat men, he was ambushed and beaten so severely with iron rods that both his arms and a leg had to be amputated.
Transnational “Honour” Crimes:
Cases like that of British-Sikh woman Surjit Athwal—who was lured to Punjab, murdered, and thrown into the Ravi River for seeking a divorce—show how the control of bodily autonomy under the guise of family “honour” (izzat) extends even across international borders.
Marriage, Control, and Institutional Boycotts
The core mechanism used to maintain these caste boundaries is endogamy (marrying strictly within one’s caste). When individuals exercise personal autonomy in marriage, families frequently treat it as an unbearable blow to their patriarchal social standing.
Beyond physical violence, rural Punjab frequently witnesses economic and social boycotts enforced by village councils (panchayats), forcing Dalit families of grooms out of villages or denying them work and access to public lands.
A Need for Honest Reckoning
Amanpreet Kaur’s story and the many lives destroyed before hers proves that religious ideals alone cannot eradicate systemic prejudice without active social reform.
When a family would rather murder their own pregnant daughter than accept an inter-caste marriage, it reveals a profound moral crisis.
Confronting casteism in Punjab requires moving beyond the pride of “egalitarian theology ” to actively dismantling the feudal, caste-based mindsets that continue to destroy lives.
References
1.Https://indianexpress.com/article/india/what-kind-of-father-doesnt-care-for-daughters-child-amanpreet-kaur-lives-to-tell-the-story-10876777/lite/
2.https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/punjab/woman-alleges-honour-killing-bid-in-muktsar-six-booked
3.https://newsdive.net/2026/09/09/pregnant-woman-endures-assault-by-father-and-brother-rescued-after-being-disposed-in-canal/
4.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Surjit_Athwal?hl=en-
