Will government bring a law to protect couples who cross their caste boundaries to build a relationship
THE ASIAN INDEPENDENT UK
Vidya Bhushan Rawat
Two honored killing in last week in two different states have not got the media attention as it should have. A young woman who qualified in the NEET and aspiring to become a doctor from Gujarat state was killed by her father for being in a liv in relationship. The girl had actually ‘messaged’ to her partner about the possibility of being murdered. Unfortunately, victim’s partner was in jail at the time of when she had send her last messages but because of being in custody he was unable to respond. He later filed a habeas corpus petition in court, but the woman had died by the time the hearing was scheduled. It came to be known to police later that the parents put sleeping pills in the milk and gave it to their daughter and killed her as she fell unconscious after consuming it. Such is the brutality of the parents that they become mad and kill their own child. It is nothing but concept of ‘purity’ which is closure to their heart as it maintain caste hierarchy and ensure its smooth practice.
While there seems to be no caste connection in this story which also reflect that parents dont want their adult’s to decide about the future they want to chose for themselves. The irony is that even if there were a caste connection or not, media is extremely ‘sensitive’ to C word. Why have the media become so conspicuous in reporting the real cause. It was reported that the parents of the girl were upset with her relationship with one person belonging to some Chaudhary, who was already married and hence they objected to her relationship. The earlier story in the Times of India suggested that her uncle was upset with her as after getting qualified in NEET, she might come in contact with boys and hence he did not want her to join the Medical or nursing courses. There is another story that this man with whom the girl was in live in relationship was actually already married and had children so the newspaper article says, they were upset with her.
There was another story from Bihar earlier this month. One boy who belonged named Rahul Mandal was murdered by his ‘father in law’, some Prem Shankar Jha, because the latter was against their marriage. Now, here again, the media did not speak about the story. It will explain it purely like a normal criminal term. They said that Rahul was murdered by his father in law because he was not happy with their marriage. The crime committed by a Jha Brahmin who was just upset with his daughter’s’ marriage with a boy belonging to Backward Community. So media reports actually first sideline it and then focus the other aspect like police action, medical report etc but evade the question of why it happened and where there was a possible caste angle in it. All the caste crimes in India have been cleverly converted into simple crime by the media to ensure that we are truly a ‘casteless’ society. A wont see a discussion on the issue in our media.
In the last one decade, media is actually partner in crime that is killing individuals by the illegitimate mob. Most of the time, it refuse to write the name of the accused unless the accused is a Muslim or Dalit/adivasi. Then the media deliberately leak the name of the individual. Sadly, it is not merely the issue of the upper castes hiding their caste identities, fact of the matter is all of us are hypocrite. Many of those claiming to be activist, intellectual and leaders of the backward communities actually did not speak of the issue of a Yadav girl killed by her father for falling in love with a Muslim boy in Gurugram. An OBC parents killed a Dalit boy for loving an OBC girl in Tamilnadu and nothing happened. There is no debate. Frankly, each one of us are happy with an ‘aar paar kee ladai’.. brahmin verses Dalits, upper castes verses backwards or Dalits but this is the biggest hypocrisy. Most of them actually ignore the whole issue of graded inequality. Caste system or untouchability are not the issue confined to Brahmins and Thakurs or Savarnas alone but the politics want us to debate those issues only.Sweeping generalisation of a constructed identity actually help to sensationalise the issues but the fact is it is ‘jaatis’ which are a fact of life. All other big identities used frequently to describe people or communities are actually political with each one of us using them according to our conveniences.
So the noise only happens when you get a political benefit. If it is not there then silence is the best way. Also, most of the time, those who harp on the community identities a lot actually, go the majoritarian way where a dissent of an individual is a betrayal like blasphemy. Most of the time, the so called intellectuals play the majoritarian card of their communities. It actually depend on the issue whether they can claim ‘victimhood’ or look ‘progressive’. But it is a fact that they don’t stand with the minorities in their own communities and when the minority raise their issue they blame them for playing in the hands of savarans. You oppose categorisation and blame it an upper caste conspiracy. Your parties will not give any of the most marginalised a space in the power structure. You kill your daughter or would be damad or son in law if they belong to another community but no discussion and debate there. They find it most easy to fight against manuwad and Brahmins rather than their own politics of creating a caste hegemony.
So the killing of Radhika Yadava by her father in Gurugram did not become a debating issue among Yadavs and Bahujan intellectuals and leaders because somewhere in our heart we supported the killing and felt the Radhika actually deserve because she was in an alleged relationship with a person from another community and many felt it was Muslim. It is not that Muslims don’t object to such things. They will object only when their woman fall in relationship with a non Muslim man. So, at the end of the day, the entire exercise is focussed on compelling women to fix in the ‘traditional’ and conservative frame work of all the communities irrespective of their caste or religious identity. The noise is only created when you think that a political capital could be made out of it.
Marriage or relationships are individual issues and should be left to them unless it turn criminal or any one of them seek the help of law but it is sad that that they become public for political purposes. Many time, people flaunt their ‘inter caste’ or ‘inter religious’ marriages as a show of ‘great’ mission of Baba Saheb Ambedkar. Sadly, these people who ‘exhibit’ their marriages as ‘ideal’ don’t even understand what would their female partner feel when she is introduced that ‘ It is a great thing that Professor Saheb has married to a woman from Dalit community. He must be appreciated and applauded’. Is this equal relationship when you exhibit your marriage for your political ambitions. Well, they should understand that Baba Saheb, Phule, Periyar never ‘talked’ about their marriages, they walked with their partners hand in hand and showed the world what does a relationship mean. You don’t parade your wife as a trophy. Your marriage is an individual affair and people would realise it themselves. They don’t need to be taught about your greatness.
Another example is not related to ‘honored killing’ but even if you get to know about a person who is in a live in relationship. Samajwadi Party MLA Puja Pal was recently expelled from her party for ‘appreciating’ chief minister Yogi Adityanath for getting her justice. Her Husband Raju Pal, an MLA from an Assembly seat of Allahabad was murdered by gangsters of Atiq Ahmed, former MP. Atiq Ahmed was murdered in police custody when he was bring brought out from Jail for a hearing. Now, Puja Pal relently struggled against her husband’s murderer and naturally happy with the murder of her husband’s murderer. I don’t think it mattered to her whether it was legal or illegal. These are issues for journalists, experts, authorities but for those who lose their near dear one, justice is done. Now, she has been dismissed from the party. And that is not enough. Samajwadi party activists are actually targeting Puja Pal, abusing and trolling with the best of Hindi ‘gender specific’ abuses.
We know the heroic battle of Kausalya Shankar from Tamilnadu who fought against her parents for killing her husband Shankar who belonged to Dalit community. It was a broad day light murder and it would not have reached to even the high court without Kausalya’s heroic battle which she continue even today but people’s opinion changed about her once she married again. Now, this is the biggest crisis of our society to not even allow a widow to remarry. Basically, it suggest that she is not obedient to the person who passed away which is actually ridiculous.
It is very clear that our feelings on an inter caste or inter religious marriage or even injustice actually emerge from which side of the spectrum we are. It means, the communities of the girl dare to marry outside her caste, feel ‘betrayed’ or a sense of loss. Most of the time, if the boys community is ‘lower’ in the hierarchy of the caste system, then they become extremely preachy about it. We all know that they would do the same if their daughter try to do the same. So, fact of the matter is the whole idea of ‘annihilation of caste’ is just on the paper and with growing clamor for asserting the identities and feeling pride ensure that if you venture out of it, you would be challenged, intimidated and socially isolated. Baba Saheb Ambedkar spoke about actually rights of ‘individuals’ and candidly that has not arrived in India. Despite every pretence, our community identities remain our biggest ‘asset’. Individual is an isolated spacy and will only be respected if he is ‘successful’. It means if you have means and asset to live without support of society then it is possible that one can live but if you don’t then ultimately we start finding our strength in community identities. That is why we do not allow our children to decide about their own choices particularly in marriages and even in their career. Most of our parents want to decide about what we should pursue as a career.
India need to bring an anti Honor killing law. In most of the cases, it is actually a hate crime and a caste violence which the media never really follow it up. It is time, organisations start complimenting each other and document the cases, look at the caste and religious angle behind it. They are definitely hate crime and therefore need specific laws. The crisis of our time is the inability to accept a ‘dissent’ from the majoritarian view point resulting in popular ‘acceptance’ of such crime. State should also work on specific laws to protect young couples but how will it happen when states themselves start making laws or promoting propaganda which criminalise couples who cross their caste or religious boundaries to make a relationship. Once upon a time, our great constitutional forefathers felt that inter caste and inter religious marriages were the best way to create a new India based on mutual respect and communal harmony but in today’s time such efforts are considered affront to the idea of India and conspiracy theorists would define it differently still time has come that government at the centre and states as well, think over it and bring a law that protect rights of two individuals who build a relationship beyond the confines of their caste and religious identities.
