The Haryana State has again witnessed atrocities on Dalits and women. Especially the rape cases in recent month have tolled 19 till today. The most recent is a case of gang rape in 'world class city' Gurgaon with 6 years old minor. Out of these 19 cases, 12 are Dalit women and 3 are minor. This last case reported is not even 40 km away from the national capital Delhi.
The state is responsible for protection of its citizens, their right to live freely in a democratic society and gender justice, but the series of rape cases in last one month shows that women are not safe in any part of Haryana. These cases also shows the brutal face of patriarchy in Haryana which is enhanced in this neo-liberal phase where caste councils like; Khap Panchayats passed judgments against women frequently. Khap Panchayats in Haryana suggested that girls should get married before they attain puberty, in this way they can be 'saved' from these incidents of rapes.
Per capita income in Haryana is one of the highest in the whole country, this fact contrast with another not so admirable fact about the sex ratio, which is lowest in the whole country. These rape cases cannot be seen separately from the larger social structure of Haryana, where due to lowest sex ratio (720 female on every 1000 males) women are bought and brought back home from faraway places of Northeast, Kerala, Nepal, and Andhra Pradesh etc. More than 40% of men are unmarried and khap panchayats norms made this situation worst. People who defy these norms met with harsh action by Khap panchayats.
Rape against women has been used historically to take them away from their rights where masculinities find its explanation to show their power. In Haryana the rape is not only used to show the power but to maintain the dominant status and restrict women's mobility, some time on the name of honour and some time on the name of saving culture. Rape cases against Dalit women also show how the dominance and power of upper caste manifests to retain the 'honour' by doing so.
The cases of 'honour' killings are live example of the situation where community find their izzat resides in women's body and women are the carrier of community's honour. Atrocities against women and lower caste is not new in Haryana, but has a long history, not to mention Gohana, Dulina, and more recently in Mirchpur. These horrendous cases of rape against women displays the assertion of patriarchy, especially against Dalit women is a demonstration of brutal casteist mindset.
It is no coincidence that politicians across the parties INLD leaders and former CM Omprakash Chautala and Congress leader from Hisar Dharamvir Goyat shared the same ideology when it comes to maintain patriarchal values and caste supremacy. Where Chautala hailed khap panchayat's idea of early marriage and support them, the Congress leader said, in more than 90% of rape cases happened due to consent with women. The police purposely play inactive role when it comes to social and gender justice. The recent case of Bhagana village where Dalit families were boycotted by the dominant upper castes cannot make it to the deaf ears.
We demand:
1) Speedy action in all these cases of rapes, registered and non-registered.
2) appoint fast track courts to render quick justice in all cases of violence against women and dalits
3) Implement SC/ST atrocity Act in the cases where the girls belong to these communities.
4) Take strict action against the Police inaction.
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