Dress Ordinance by Khap Panchayat

Haryana Khap Panchayats have done a new deed of creating hardship for the pioneers of “women’s liberty” by passing a new dress ordinance for female students and young women. The Ordinance says that all girls of more than 10 years should cover themselves from head to toe. Even their eyes should be under cover, only hands can be open. According to this regulation, standard clothing is Salwar Kameez which should not be of tight fitting, with dupatta. This dress code is released by the two big Khap Panchayats of Jhajjar zone on 18 October 2013, according to whom while going outside their homes girls should never use such outfits which can attract young men towards them. Jeans and T-shirts are prohibited. Misuse of mobile phones and interaction with non-related boys are also restricted. Television programmes affect the behaviour of girls and boys. Khap leaders are pressurising even on the need of having separate buses for school and college going girls and boys. Near to them, untraditional behaviour of girls and young women and their liberal interaction with boys is responsible for the situations leading to the incidences of "Honour Killing" (The Hindu 19 October)

Who is restive …?

This new decision of Khap Panchayats has created malaise among those regions which always make a hullabaloo on every incidence of women harassment but remain against good advice to be given to them. And, as written in this Daily report which is related to the fresh decision of Khap Panchayat, these champions of women rights and their liberty of likes and dislikes have considered this step of Khap as a “Talibani process” whose roots are from mid-age. But Khap leaders do not care about all this. They think it necessary in favour of girls themselves. A senior member of “Sarvi Khap” , a group of Khap Panchayat, Mr. Om Prakash Dhankar says, “Though these steps of ours seem to be hard but these are very important in order to prevent new generation from sexual exacerbation and to stop the incidences of honour killing, in fact it is in favour of girls themselves.” In accordance of the Vice Chairman of Barah Barohar, the girls who are adopting the modern tradition of clothing and living, are the agents of those who are polluting the society and are defaming the society as well. These Khap leaders want these girls not to do violation of their provisions as it will be better for them.

Khap Leaders and Taliban

Here, the aim is not to advocate Khap leaders’ decisions through which they take laws in their hands but to make women and girls civilized especially, appreciation of new Ordinance of dress is surely the aim. They take it as a good chance for telling about Taliban and their culture. Khap leaders must be reading and listening about the Afghani Taliban that they are very cruel and uncivilized, they torture women, oppose girls’ literacy; so is the case of them. They too want women to be covered from head to toe, prohibit liberal interaction of girls and boys, preventing from the misuse of television and mobile phones.

Since Khap leaders and Taliban have same thoughts in this regard and are defamed for the same reason but the propaganda against Taliban is globally spread because their teachings are in accordance with Islam. And Khap leaders must know that today, only those powers are opposing Islam who have made women shameless, spoiled, characterless, a market commodity of sex and a toy to fulfill the desires of men and these nations and their under influenced regions want the same, too.

25/10/2013 khabar-O-Nazar by Parwaaz Rahmani, sehrozaDAWAT, translated by:Miss Khalida Hussain