CHANDIGARH: Love marriages have triggered social backlash in Punjab's rural belt, with village panchayats passing resolutions banning intra-village marriages or calling for social boycotts of couples and their families, citing that these unions disrupt social harmony and also lead to violent disputes and family feuds.
The latest case is from Manakpur Sharief village in SBS Nagar district of Punjab near Chandigarh, as the six-member village panchayat recently passed a resolution to ban any youth who solemnise marriage after running away from the village. Any boy or girl who elopes and enters into a marriage without parental approval will no longer be allowed to reside in the village.
The resolution also stated that anyone found helping such couples or offering them shelter will face strict action from the panchayat. It also appealed to neighbouring villages to adopt similar stances, warning that such couples should not be given refuge in surrounding areas either, said sources.
The move was set off after a couple from the village eloped and got married. The villagers were of the view that the families of the couple had banished them and the couple did not reside in the village. “This is not a punishment but a step to caution the youth of the village,” it stated.
A villager said the resolution has been passed unanimously and it was aimed to ensure the welfare of village residents.
In another incident, the panchayat of Galwatti village in Patiala has given a call for the social boycott of a couple, Taranjeet Singh and Dilpreet Kaur, and Singh’s family, as the couple eloped and got married in 2016 and then left the village, but returned to the village six months ago and started living with Kulwinder Singh, father of Taranjeet.
Now on July 31, the village panchayat passed a resolution of the social boycott of the couple and the boy’s family. Earlier the villagers, citing tradition and social norms, attempted to pressurise the couple to leave the village, but as they did not do so, this step was taken. “We want to send a clear message to the youth who want to marry within the village that this is not acceptable," said a villager.
Kashmir Singh, panch of the panchayat and uncle of Dilpreet, said, “The panchayat took the decision of social boycott.”
The couple has now approached the Nabha court, accusing Dilpreet's family of harassment and threats.
Also, the panchayats of Sirsari and Anokhpura villages in Faridkot district passed a joint resolution banning intra-village love marriages. The villages argued that banning intra-village marriages would help reinforce community discipline. The resolution further stated that if the same village marriage takes place, then the entire panchayat and residents will boycott them. The resolution also expresses concern over incidents involving married women eloping.
The panchayats also demanded from the state government that a ban should be imposed on marriages between a man and a woman hailing from the same village. “If the government passes a clear and enforceable law against such marriages, it will help reduce crime and promote social stability in rural areas,” the resolution read.
In another incident from Ghal Kalan village in Moga district, Jasbir Kaur was allegedly assaulted and then forcibly evicted from the village as her son Tarsem Singh entered into a love wedlock with a girl from the same village on May 5 and then the couple left the village.
Earlier, the village panchayat had passed a controversial resolution banning love marriages and further added that anyone helping the couples would face social boycott. Singh’s mother Kaur, had left the house two months back and was living with her relatives, but now when she recently returned to the village, she was allegedly thrashed by villagers and the girl’s family and then told to leave the village. A case was registered after the intervention of the Punjab Women Commission.
On July 18, Kot Shamir village in Bathinda district resolved to oppose same-village marriages, declaring that any couple marrying within the village would not be allowed to live in the village.
Talking with the TNIE, noted sociologist Dr Rajesh Gill said that as far as law is concerned, the youth who attain the legal age to marry can enter into a wedlock. There is no legal binding, they can marry any person of their choice. “But in the past and even now there have been instances in villages in Punjab and Haryana where boys and girls of the same village have eloped and thus tension in the village and between the families. Thus to save the social fabric of the society, the village panchayats are now passing such resolutions. One cannot squarely blame them,” she said.
Punjab Women Commission Chairperson Raj Lali Gill said that as far as these kinds of resolutions being passed by village panchayats, it is for the government to see what can be done. But as far as women being harassed, beaten and thrown out of the villages, this violence is unacceptable and action will be taken against such perpetrators.