CHANDIGARH: Top politicians kowtow to them. The police watch from a distance when they hold their mahapanchayats. Lovers shiver at their mention. But, if the dreaded khap panchayats in Haryana's badlands fear anyone, it's a 50-year-old woman — a former international volleyball player — who is contemptuous of their diktats.
Three decades ago, when three girls from rural Haryana could not join Jagmati Sangwan to represent India in volleyball for Asiad because they were married off by their parents, it marked a turning point in her career: the beginning of a long struggle against oppression of women.
It pained her when India returned with a bronze as she believed the three girls would have got the country gold. What rankled her more was the fate of numerous girls in Haryana whose cause she then took up with a gusto.
It was in 2002 that Sangwan won a major battle when she barged into a mahakhap panchayat at Sir Chhotu Ram Park in Rohtak. Khaps do not allow women into their meetings. But, Sangwan, made of sterner stuff, couldn't be pushed around. None dared ask her to leave.
Jagmati's voice against khap fatwa is so strong that she has become an eyesore for these Taliban-type courts. Irritated by her, khaps have termed her a "gang leader".
"They try to defame me but I continue my fight for the rights of women and the weaker sections. The khaps are anti-women and anti-Dalit," said Sangwan, director of Women's Study Centre, Maharishi Dayanand University, Rohtak.
Sangwan has a force of over 1,000 women activists, being state president of the All-India Democratic Women's Association (AIDWA). When the powerful panchayat in Karora village of Jind district was adamant on social boycott of the family of Manoj after the infamous honour killing in which he and his wife Babli were murdered for marrying "despite belonging to the same gotra", Sangwan was the first to support their families.
"It would have been difficult for us even to survive without the support of Jagmati," said Chanderpati, the mother of Manoj. Not only this, when police did not arrest influential khap leader Ganga Raj in the honour killing, Sangwan called for a statewide protest, forcing the leader to surrender.
Sangwan began raising her voice against the khaps in 1988, when a girl was raped for revenge after her brother eloped with a girl from the same village in Jind. "We forced the police to lodge an FIR against the rapists and kept the victim with us for six months to ensure her safety," said Sangwan.
(Courtesy : The Times of India)
Three decades ago, when three girls from rural Haryana could not join Jagmati Sangwan to represent India in volleyball for Asiad because they were married off by their parents, it marked a turning point in her career: the beginning of a long struggle against oppression of women.
It pained her when India returned with a bronze as she believed the three girls would have got the country gold. What rankled her more was the fate of numerous girls in Haryana whose cause she then took up with a gusto.
It was in 2002 that Sangwan won a major battle when she barged into a mahakhap panchayat at Sir Chhotu Ram Park in Rohtak. Khaps do not allow women into their meetings. But, Sangwan, made of sterner stuff, couldn't be pushed around. None dared ask her to leave.
Jagmati's voice against khap fatwa is so strong that she has become an eyesore for these Taliban-type courts. Irritated by her, khaps have termed her a "gang leader".
"They try to defame me but I continue my fight for the rights of women and the weaker sections. The khaps are anti-women and anti-Dalit," said Sangwan, director of Women's Study Centre, Maharishi Dayanand University, Rohtak.
Sangwan has a force of over 1,000 women activists, being state president of the All-India Democratic Women's Association (AIDWA). When the powerful panchayat in Karora village of Jind district was adamant on social boycott of the family of Manoj after the infamous honour killing in which he and his wife Babli were murdered for marrying "despite belonging to the same gotra", Sangwan was the first to support their families.
"It would have been difficult for us even to survive without the support of Jagmati," said Chanderpati, the mother of Manoj. Not only this, when police did not arrest influential khap leader Ganga Raj in the honour killing, Sangwan called for a statewide protest, forcing the leader to surrender.
Sangwan began raising her voice against the khaps in 1988, when a girl was raped for revenge after her brother eloped with a girl from the same village in Jind. "We forced the police to lodge an FIR against the rapists and kept the victim with us for six months to ensure her safety," said Sangwan.
(Courtesy : The Times of India)
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