Khaps, Gender And Politics: Is There A Shift In The Patriarchal Structure?

On the morning of June 14, a Khap meeting was organised to discuss a local issue in Kandela village in Jind district of Haryana. Khap leader Tekram Redhu presided over the meeting. As the men, mostly in their 60s and 70s, smoked their traditional hookah and discussed the issue at hand, women peeped through the partitions; their faces carefully covered. They were busy wrapping up their household chores and taking care of their children. Typically, women stay outside the peripheries of Khap meetings and political discussions here.

Many such meetings—khap Mahapanchayats—have been organised across Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh in the past few weeks to support the ongoing wrestlers’ protest. While most women in UP and Haryana villages may not be aware of what has unfolded in the national capital with “their daughters” due to the absence of education, exposure and access to mobile phones, a positive shift could be seen in some of these Mahapanchayats in which women were “seen” joining the protests.

June 15 was a game-changer. After five-month-long protests, the Delhi Police filed a 1,500-page chargesheet against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, the outgoing Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Member of Parliament. The charges framed against Singh include outraging a woman’s modesty, sexual harassment, stalking, abetment of an offense, and criminal intimidation. 

Delhi Police, however, also filed a report recommending the cancellation of the POCSO case against Singh after the minor, who had accused the WFI chief of sexual harassment, changed her statement. There was “no collaborative evidence in the case”, say police. The chargesheet cites photograph evidence in at least four of the six complaints by women wrestlers, and video evidence in at least three instances of alleged sexual harassment, as per news reports.

The Khaps from Haryana, Western UP and Rajasthan, des­pite their internal politics and differences, have ext­ended their support to the players in their fight against the BJP MP from UP. Jagmati Sangwan, a social activist and former volleyball player from Haryana, describes the Khaps’ support against sexual violence as a silver lining in the movement for women’s rights and gender equality. They were earlier only invested in upholding territorial exogamy and caste endogamy in marriage alliances in their villages. Sangwan, along with thousands of women from Haryana, has been a voice of resistance against Khap diktats.

“There is no denying that Khaps speaking against sexual violence is a positive change for Haryana, which, if sustained consciously, will help to trickle down the change at the grassroots level,” says the Bhim Awardee volleyball player, who is also the national vice-president of the All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA).

Politics of Khaps Supporting Wrestlers’ Protest

At the Mahapanchayats, khap leaders cutting across community lines extended their support to the protesting wrestlers. However, after months of protests, men in the villages of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh have started to question the wrestlers’ movement claiming it is politically motivated. “Why did they not say anything then? Why are they protesting after seven years? Why is the minor retracting her complaints?”—these are some of the questions being asked in many villages.

The Khap leaders, however, dispel the rumors. “These women, who have worked so hard and achieved so much for the country, won’t tarnish their names by making any false claims of such severity for materialistic gains,” says Awa Singh, the pradhan (head) of Antil Khap in Sonipat district of Haryana. He adds: “The Khaps did not jump into the protests. We only extended our support after the wrestlers asked for our assistance. It is the wrestlers’ protest therefore it is irrelevant for us to take any decision for them.”

While the Khap leaders try to paint an image of unconditional support for the wrestlers, there are some hiccups. “Their lack of communication with us has caused a lot of internal and village-level conflict,” says Shyam Singh Malik, a thambedar (leader) from Gathawal Khap, who, along with Balyan Khap leader Naresh Tikait, went to Haridwar on May 29 and dissuaded the wrestlers from submerging their medals in the Ganga River.

At the Mahapanchayats, it was common to see different factions engaging in debates. In Shamli’s Bahawari on June 14, Mohit Pandat, 24, a resident of Western Uttar Pradesh, took on Malik and said: “The Khaps are divided. We res­pect them but we do not stand with their politics and ideals.” The two engaged in a war of words. While Malik exp­lained that justice has been denied to the wrestlers who are under extreme pressure from the BJP, Mohit argued that the government has succeeded in keeping its promise by protecting the Hindus in the state. He also said that UP has become a crime-free state with guaranteed safety for women as he hailed the bulldozer and encounter justice system prevalent in the state.

Something similar happened between Khap leader Awa Singh and BJP follower Rajveer Antil at Murthal on June 13 where Antil accused Khaps of serving the interests of former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda. He also questioned the credibility of the wrestlers who have accused Singh of sexual harassment.

When asked about the opposition within the villages and differences along community lines, Satyaveer Singh, sarpanch, Dalmora village, says that there continues to be incessant support of the Brahmin community to the BJP, hence the likes of Rajveer tend to defend the BJP and oppose the protests.

Impact of Khap Support at the Grassroot Level

Khaps have a history of organising and leading agitations and movements across West Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, and border areas of Delhi. They have strengthened the farmers’ protest and with time, their socio-political role and position have transitioned and shifted in these regions.

Historically, Khaps have commanded great power within their communities as they served the role of social and justice institutions; settling disputes, defending religious faith, and protecting communities from outside aggression/invasion (medieval era). In present times, Khaps are seen to be more politically involved than social, cutting across party lines and supporting candidates and parties that best serve their interests.

The word Khap is said to be first used in the 1890-91 Census report of Jodhpur, based on religion and caste. Experts are of the opinion that the word is derived from Saka language, Satrap, meaning, an area inhabited by a particular clan. Singh, the Aatil Khap pradhan, says that it is derived from the words Khai and aap—akash and paani, the symbolism of a Khaps’s transparency and neutrality. “However, now Khaps have grown distant from their social roles and become politicised,” he says.

Neerja Ahlawat, a professor at MD University in Rohtak, in her paper titled ‘Political Economy of Haryana’s Khaps’ notes that land is inalienable in the strong patrilineage society that Haryana and Khaps represent, meaning that daughters and sisters, the potential introducers of fresh blood and new descent lines through their husband are to be kept away from exercising their inheritance rights. “This is clearly evidenced in the emphasis placed and even violence inflicted upon the compulsory observance of village and territorial exogamy and caste endogamy in marriage alliances,” she says.

Time and again, Khap panchayats have issued several controversial diktats against sagotra (same gotra/clan) marriages and marriages within the same village. As the leaders talk about the protection of women from sexual harassment in the workplace and their safety from the predatorial likes of Singh, they unfailingly clarify their stance on endogamy and the system of punishment. 

“We have demanded the government to give us the recognition of lok adalats and forbid marriages within gotras and same villages,” says Kandela Khap pradhan Tekram Redhu. He adds that Khaps have never ordered any honour killings, however, “the families and kin of the boys and girls who break the social norms of marriage kill them. Therefore, we advise against sagotra marriages, which pose a threat to the village fraternity.”

Previously, if an individual or family refused the diktats of the Khaps, the entire village would boycott the family. However, leaders now say that it is no longer a possibility as there is “law and order” in place and that they are limited to mediating in disputes, or suggesting who wears what or marries whom. The claim, however, becomes false in the case of Rajasthan’s Khaps, or Ghads. “Those with lesser financial stability come to us for justice. Others, after they have spent all their money and energy and still are unsatisfied with the judicial process, approach us,” the leaders claim unequivocally.

Khaps and Gender: Deep Rooted Patriarchy

The handful of women aware of the ongoing protests and their demand to arrest Singh are torn in their take on the movement. They also state that it would eventually be the women and girls to bear the brunt of the case that has garnered a lot of momentum on the ground. 

“Girls will be surveilled more and censored by their own mothers and families now that so many questions on their safety and security have risen. It is also difficult to establish who is right and who is wrong now as they have complained after so many years and are also giving contradictory stances,” says the daughter-in-law of one of the Khap leaders on the condition of anonymity.

Prior to the wrestlers’ protests, Khaps and women’s organisations have been protesting against Haryana Minister and former captain of the Indian National Hockey team, Sandeep Singh. In 2022, Singh was accused by a junior coach of sexual harassment, and an FIR was registered. “We had blocked roads in Haryana in December and demanded the government to take actions against him, but the state is so keen on safeguarding sexual offenders that he hoisted the flag on January 26,” says Sangwan.

She also added that the wrestlers’ and complainants’ families have held up the movement for almost two months and sustained the immense government and systemic pressure. “The judiciary in its process must take cognition of the circumstances under which their (complainants) supplementary statements have been recorded and then reach a decision,” she says.  Himmat Singh, a Khap leader from Dausa, Rajasthan, while expressing his dissatisfaction at the wrestlers’ unclear stance, says that Khaps from the state continue to give their support to the protesters.

It is evidentially clear that the youth and educated have started to distance themselves from Khaps in the villages, but the inherent patriarchy that guides their conscience, however, continues to grow. “Most families, including ours, are still conservative where the ladies are confined within the four walls of their homes. My husband and I are the only ones to have finished our education in my family. I am the first working woman here and they obviously can’t grant me all the freedom and independence at once,” says the daughter-in-law of Chaudhary Abhay Ram Redhu.

Perhaps, it is because of the absence of women’s voices and spaces for them that Sangwan’s AIDWA and multiple women’s organisations from Haryana participated in a Mahila Mahapanchayat organised on June 14, very close to the new Parliament building.  

Swati Shikha in Sonipat, Shamli and Jind

(This appeared in the print as 'Khaps, Gender And Politics')