Caste, community, region, and other peripheral factors play an important role in the Indian marriage system, which ought to undergo a sea change for a better society.
“Progressive couples defying these age-old practices, choosing to marry outside their caste and community are being attacked and killed in the name of ‘honour killings’,” said All-India Democratic Women’s Association’s national executive committee member Jagmati.
Addressing a workshop on Honour Killings, organised as part of the national executive committee meet of AIDWA in the city, Ms. Jagmati said in the name of traditions, the institution of marriage was being ruined with the tacit support of successive governments.
Lamenting alarming rise in the number of ‘honour killing’ cases across the nation, she said a girl had no safety in society. The social scourge was fast spreading to states such as Andhra Pradesh also, but the government did precious little to check it.
Ms. Jagmati, who is also president of AIDWA unit in Haryana, targeted non-governmental organisations for remaining silent spectators to the growing menace. She said fearing trouble from influential politicians, most of the NGOs chose to look the other side.
The women’s organisation leader said it was unfortunate that even educated girls were denied permission to choose a life partner of their choice. Reiterating that marriages above caste and community was the need of the hour, she quoted yesteryear social reformers such as Ambedkar and Raja Rammohan Roy, who espoused the cause of inter-caste, inter-religion, and inter-community marriages in a big way.
Signature campaign
She said AIDWA, on its part, had embarked on a nation-wide signature campaign to mobilise people’s support and copies of the collective signatures would be sent to Members of Parliament.
Organisation’s State secretary Swaroopa Rani spoke about the dwindling gender ratio and cited example of Chityal in the State, which recorded a population of 550 girls for every 1,000 boys.
