CHENNAI: Chief Minister MK Stalin on Thursday announced the formation of a commission, headed by retired Madras High Court judge KN Basha and including legal experts, progressive thinkers, and anthropologists, to suggest measures to prevent honour killings in Tamil Nadu, with the government planning legislation based on its recommendations.
The CM made this announcement in response to the concerns raised by multiple members in the State Assembly during the discussion on the supplementary estimates for the 2025-26 on Thursday.
This Commission will obtain views from political movements, legal professionals, social activists, and affected individuals, and provide suitable recommendations on this subject.
“Based on these recommendations, the Government of Tamil Nadu will take the necessary steps to enact an appropriate law to prevent honour killings,” the CM said.
The CM said that for thousands of years, the ethos of the Tamil people has been “All lives are equal by birth”.
“However, certain incidents across the country in recent times have deeply pained us. We are left wondering - is this what our leaders and we ourselves struggled for ?,” the CM added.
Pointing out that Tamil society has been admired worldwide for its intellect, the CM said it should not be divided by internal strife. “No civilised society can accept the act of one human being killing another, whatever the reason. Not just killing, hatred, violence, and humiliation too are unacceptable in a cultured and progressive community,” he added.
The CM said now and then, a tragic incident somewhere shakes our conscience and shames our society. “The patriarchy that denies women the right to decide their own future lies hidden behind such crimes. We must put an end to this,” he added.
Although the police have been instructed that no one, under any circumstances, should escape punishment for any crime, awareness campaigns against this brutal mindset should not be undertaken only by social reform movements, but also by political movements and public welfare organisations. “I would like to make this an earnest appeal,” he added.
Stating that all forms of domination should be brought to an end, the CM said that to build a humane society surrounded by self-respect, equality, and love, founded on opposition to dominance and commitment to equality, the awareness campaign must be advanced as a movement. “Both reformist awareness and punishment for crime must move forward together, like sword and shield,” he added.
On June 25, 2024, in the State Assembly, speaking on a calling attention motion on the attack on the CPI (M) office in Tirunelveli after an inter-caste couple sought refuge there, the legislators asked the government to bring a new law to curb honour killings and all kinds of crimes related that are triggered by inter-caste marriages.
In contrast to his present stance, Stalin had told the Assembly that properly handling cases and ensuring the accused are brought to justice is more effective than enacting a new law against honour killings. He added that cases filed under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, the CrPC, and the IPC must be pursued to their logical conclusion.
