Om Prakash Chautala Backs Khap Panchayat Resolution

In an announcement which is certain to leave women’s groups terribly enraged, O.P.Chautala, former Chief Minister of Haryana, has spoken in favour of the Khap Panchayat’s resolution that girls should be married off early to tackle the mounting incidence of rape in Haryana.

Om Prakash Chautala back's Khap Panchayat's' idea of early marriage of girls

Chautala said that during Mughal rule people used to marry girls off early to avoid atrocities against them. Drawing a parallel between the current increasing incidence of rape in Haryana and the atrocities against women during Mughal rule, Mr.Chautala said “I completely support the Khap Panchayat’s decision. It is a good way to protect women.”

We are not sure whether women would agree with Mr.Chautala’s line of thinking.

While Chautala’s understanding of historical developments does not seem to be particularly flawed, there is one definite chink in his argument. During Mughal rule, any attempt to molest a married woman would have meant certain death to the offender. But our modern day rapists have no such qualms: they fear neither Law nor God.

On Tuesday, while visiting a rape victim in Jind, Mrs.Sonia Gandhi castigated the Khap Panchayats for the resolution; she said that it was not the Khap Panchayat which could decide the law but the judiciary.

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