Sat, 29 Apr 2017-07:40am , DNA
A decade ago, the Manoj-Babli murder case in non-descript town of Kaithal in Haryana made honour killing a household name.
The brutal killing of this newly-wed couple on the diktat of a khap panchayat, or better put kangaroo court, shook the conscience of the nation, bringing in spotlight patriarchy and how firmly it shackles the society.
Young lives are callously snuffed out by family members to protect their false sense of honour, an honour which is so shallow and weak that it is slighted if one falls in love with a person outside his caste/religion or in the same village.
As the clamour for death penalty for honour killing surfaces now and then, this savage act continues unabated, the perpetrators shaming us with their lack of psychic mobility. We do not hesitate in gloating about our scientific, technological and economic achievements, but it is rather unfortunate to know that we are still steeped deep in orthodoxy and living in Stone Age. Khaps are law unto themselves, pronouncing orders on life and death of innocent beings, drunk on false notions of machismo and arrogance.
It is not just avenging a hurt ego but more about punishing a woman, the one who is still seen as subservient to man, for daring to exercise her own free will and make her own choice.
What better way to feel omnipotent that to unleash unspeakable violence on her? The barbarians, however, fail to see that it does not make them any powerful, neither does it add to their honour. It is an act of sheer cowardice, committed by men who have refused to either change or grow with time, impotent men hanging onto the last shreds of their chauvinism. Remember, there is no honour in honour killing.
Source: dnaindia
