It’s with utmost sincerity and a sense of purpose towards reforming society that the Supreme Court has ruled against “khap panchayats” of village elders opposing inter-caste or same gotra marriages and issuing fatwas for honour killings. There’s nothing more dishonourable than scuttling young people’s wedding plans and worse, killing the groom or bride to satisfy an ancient allegiance to a caste order that has no basis in science and offends the foundational principle of equality. Court directives of this kind, with instructions to the police to protect inter-caste couples, are needed to ensure that this atavistic hatred of progeny marrying outside the caste is curbed. It’s not just “khaps” that must be reined in. Instances of honour killings abound in Tamil Nadu too as in several other states, where caste feelings are still rampant.
It may take decades for some sections of society to have a genuine change of heart in these matters. The judges bristled over people still thinking as if they are Caesar or Louis XIV, but the fact is that many living in rural areas, away from even the basic equality urban centres offer, still believe they are a law unto themselves. The real challenge is to reform society. It will help if the law and order machinery is elaborately deployed to support those wishing to marry outside their caste. Providing 24-hour protection is a challenge, but only by showing the system means business can it hope to bring about real equality among Indians and make the concept stretch beyond what’s written in the Constitution. The judges’ rage is understandable as these practices by cabalistic sections of society are barbaric and medieval.
