New Delhi: After the praise showered by
his Congress party colleague Navin Jindal on Khap panchayats,
Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda today said these
caste councils do not have legal sanctity and his government
would not allow them to take law into their hands.
"Khap panchayats don`t have any legal sanctity. They
are like an informal social organisation like NGOs.... As
far as Haryana government is concerned, if somebody does
anything good for social cause, we welcome that but nobody
will be allowed to take law into their hands," he told
reporters here.
Hooda`s statement comes after Kurukshetra MP Navin
Jindal praised the works of these caste councils and extended
support to their demand to amend the Hindu Marriage Act to
prohibit same sub-caste (gotra) marriages.
Former Haryana Chief Minister and opposition Indian
National Lok Dal chief Om Prakash Chautala has also supported
the demand of the Khap panchayats.
Hooda said the the Khap Panchayats "have their
own views. Individuals have their own views and we have our
own."
The caste councils which function as kangaroo courts
have gained notoriety for their diktats against couples who
marry against societal norms.
Jindal, considered as a forward looking young
generation Congress leader, attended a Khap mahapanchayat in
Kaithal, Haryana, and said that he would vigorously take up
the issues raised by them with the Congress high command and
the party government in the state.
-PTI
