Honor Killings in India: A Threat to Modernization

Strategic Insights -

In the state of Haryana, India, a bloody conflict is brewing between the government and the khap panchayats, traditional caste councils that govern villages and enforce strict social norms. The recent death sentence handed down to five family members for murdering a young couple who married in violation of an incest taboo has sparked a wave of protests and calls for a constitutional amendment to ban marriages deemed incestuous. However, this dispute is just a symptom of a deeper problem: the khaps' resistance to modernization and the erosion of their traditional dominance.

Key Takeaways:

  • The khap panchayats are fighting to preserve the static value system that ties social status to land ownership, while India is rapidly modernizing and valuing education and employment.
  • The khaps are trying to control the sexuality of women and prevent them from marrying better-educated partners, leading to a backlog of bachelor men in the region.
  • Honor killings, in which families execute young men and women for violating the marriage rules set down by the khaps, have become a common occurrence in states like Haryana, Punjab, and Uttar Pradesh.
  • The khaps comprise rich landowners who use their power to suppress women, Dalits, and the poor, but their cultural obsessions with masculinity and blood purity are compelling the younger generation to rebel.
  • The skewed sex ratio in the region due to female feticide has made marriage nearly impossible, and as many as a fourth of the region's men remain bachelors.

Statistics:

  • 10 percent of all murders in states like Haryana, Punjab, and Uttar Pradesh are honor killings, according to AIDWA estimates.
  • The khaps' blind allegiance to ancient incest taboos makes marriage nearly impossible, and as many as a fourth of the region's men remain bachelors.
  • The shortage of marriageable women has pushed some men to import short-term, child-bearing brides from as far afield as Kerala, in India's deep south.
  • The number of honor killings has increased in recent years, with screamer headlines like "DAD KILLS PREGNANT DAUGHTER AND LOVER" becoming commonplace in the vernacular press.

Sources:

  • GlobalPost, "Honor killings in India: A caste council's fight to preserve tradition" (http://www.globalpost.com/)
  • AIDWA (All India Democratic Women's Association) estimates, sourced from the article
  • Sociologist Prem Chowdhry's book on honor killings in Haryana, cited in the article
  • Interviews with sociologists Ravinder Kaur, Surindher Jodhka, and others, sourced from the article