Chandigarh:
A day after he stirred a controversy by backing a khap panchayat's viewpoint that girls should be married early to prevent rapes, former Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala tried to sidestep the issue today. When asked about his comments, Mr Chautala said he was merely quoting the Rohtak khap's views and added that it was "up to the government whether or not to endorse the view."
The INLD chief, who is in the opposition now, had told reporters yesterday, "We should learn from the past... specially in Mughal era, people used to marry their girls to save them from Mughal atrocities and currently a similar situation is arising in the state. I think that's the reason khap has taken such a decision and I support it."
His comments came after Congress president Sonia Gandhi strongly contradicted the views of the khap and said that it will be the judiciary that will decide on matter of law not khaps - body of village elders which control social norms in rural areas. Mrs Gandhi had said this when she visited the family of a Dalit girl from Jind who committed suicide after being gangraped.
Haryana has been rocked by a series of rapes, 14 in the last one month. And most of the rape victims in the state have been Dalits.
Asked about the national outrage over his comments, Mr Chautala tried to dilute his stance. "The khap issue has been dragged unnecessarily. In the early days, parents married their girls early so that they can go to their in-laws house and are away from any defamation and shame. If any khap has mentioned that minimum age for marriage for girls should 15, then let me clarify that neither do we agree nor do we have anything to say on this comment."
He added that "such laws are already existing in India. There is nothing of going against the law in this. Out of 209 nations, 13 nations exist where girls can be married only above the age of 18. All other nations have no such age limit. Anybody can give their opinion, but ultimately it's up to the government to agree to it or not. It is just a suggestion and opinion, the government can decide whether to agree or not"
Mr Chautala was strongly criticised by women right activist for his comments yesterday. Girija Vyas, former president of the National Commission for Women, said the politicians should not have given such statement. "He (Mr Chautala) should be careful while reacting." Activist Ranjana Kumari also slammed him and added, "His statement is condemnable. For someone who has been a Chief Minister, he doesn't know the rule of law."
Khap is a body of village elders which control social norms in rural areas. They are considered politically influential because of the power they wield in rural Haryana. They have been under criticism in the recent past for justifying honour killings, by quoting 'tradition,' and for supporting the reducing of marriage age for girls.