BHOPAL: In tribal districts of Madhya Pradesh, weddings will now be dry, not high.
Starting with the ongoing marriage season, tribals have imposed a ban on serving alcohol and playing DJ music at weddings.
The movement started by Bheel tribals in Jhabua district is now spreading to Alirajpur, Barwani and Dhar districts.
Bheels, who form 75 per cent of the population in Jhabua and adjoining districts, but banned the groom’s family paying dahej-dhapa (dowry) to the bride’s family. The move aims to save the poor tribals from falling into debt traps of private money lenders to finance marriages.
“Unlike the evil of dowry from the bride’s family in rest of country, Bheels follow the age-old tradition of the groom’s family giving dowry to the bride’s family. It can be as low as `5 to as high as a pair of oxen. But over the last few years, the groom’s family, irrespective of their financial status, spend `3-4 lakh as dowry to the bride’s family,” says Shyam Hated, head of Adivasi Janjagaran Samiti, which is spearheading the reform movement.
“While DJ music and alcohol have been banned and replaced by tribal dance and traditional musical instruments, the dahej-dhapa has been abolished. Instead, `50, 000 has been fixed for the groom’s family for helping the bride’s family meet marriage expenses,” says Hated.
The movement is spreading to villages in adjoining Dhar, Barwani and Alirajpur districts among Bheel and Bhilala tribals. Similar reforms are being attempted in nearby Dahod in Gujarat, which has a high Bheel and Bhilala tribal population.
BJP MLA from Petlawad, Nirmala Bhuria, said the movement is non-political.
Jhabua district collector Ashish Saxena says the administration backs the move as it aims to do away with the evil of dowry and wasteful marriage expenditure.