The Khaps and the Gotra Syatem of Marriage.

Have you heard of Khaps? You must have, by now if you are in India. Primarily they are social institutions linked to castes. They are supposed to be the highest bodies to decide on matters concerned with that particular caste. In older times, they had much relevance because then the castes were important. In fact all social institutions were relevant then. India was primarily an agrarian society.

With the changing times, all social institutions are loosing relevance. The society is changing the economic activities of the people. More and more people are going for jobs. At least the urban population has acquired a service class character. Many typically caste oriented compulsions and rules are being ignored. Untouchability is one of them. So is the inter-caste marriage.

However, the Khaps are in the news a different issue. It relates to Gotra identity. Gotras are the lineage of a person. Here in India, it matters in marriages. A person is supposed not to marry in one's own gotra, as it tantamounts to incest.

Even as khaps have themselves been defamed and so has the gotra system, traditionally the mediators in marriages have ensured, and it used to be a matter of special attention, that lineage on both father's side (in fact grand mothers' and their mothers' side) and mother's side were not common, at least upto 5-7 earlier generations.

In that sense, the khaps are not wrong. Their demand of prohibiting marriages within a gotra by law is not baseless or useless. It should neither be seen as old fashioned or retrograde step. It saves the Hindu society of many endogamous diseases. Government should oblige by adding this provision in Hindu Personal Law.

However, what goes against Khaps is their method. They should not act as whimsical 16th century social bodies. They are ordering murder, and openly. They have ordered a couple to live as brother and sister. The couple has grown up children! The khaps must act judiciously. They should not traumatise a family after so many years.

They could have put up their case in a sensible manner and there was no reason why they would not be heard, and hailed.