Haryana Khaps Running Awareness Campaign Against Drug Menace

Several khap panchayats in Haryana are running an awareness campaign against the ill-effects of drugs and also sensitising people in the rural areas on the importance of environmental protection.

A prominent khap leader said many khap panchayats (caste councils) are involved in the campaign against drugs as they are apprehensive that the menace can spread in Haryana just like it has in neighbouring Punjab.

"Our khap and many other khaps in Rohtak, Sonipat, Jind, Hisar and elsewhere are running the campaign against the menace of drugs. We make people, especially youngsters, aware of the ill-effects of drugs and prevent addiction," Tek Ram Kandela, the head of the Sarv Jatiya Kandela Khap, said. He also said they sensitise people on issues related to the environment when they hold panchayats in villages.

"We also promote organic farming," Kandela said. On the occasion of International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking last month, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar had launched the "Nasha Mukt Haryana (drugs-free Haryana)" campaign at a programme organised in Panchkula. Khattar had said a new task force will be formed under the campaign.

Meanwhile, asked to comment on a uniform civil code (UCC) for which the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is making a strong pitch, Kandela said, "Our khap is yet to take a stand on it. We will take views from people, hold a meeting and then decide."

He also said several khap panchayats in the state have been pushing for a ban on marriages between two people belonging to the same "gotra" (clan). Kandela said they are demanding an amendment in the Hindu Marriage Act to ban such marriages. "We are demanding a ban on such marriages as well as on marriages in the same village or between people in villages that share boundaries with each other.

"We have demanded from the government that the Hindu Marriage Act should be amended to ban marriages within the same village and between people in adjoining villages as well as within the same gotra. Laws are made according to the society and if the society does not allow it, the law should also recognise it," he said.

"We recently sent a representation to Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar in this regard," he added. Kandela claimed that according to norms, people from the same "gotra" and same village are considered to be siblings and matrimonial alliances between them need to be banned. "Besides, a ban on same gotra marriages would also bring an end to honour killings and animosity in villages," he said.