Khap's brave step against female foeticide

Shreya Dhoundial CNN-IBN | 19 Jun 2013 11:01 pm

New Delhi: Female foeticide is not a lesson in their text books but students at the Bibipur village school in Haryana are happy to stay an extra hour to listen to a man - their Sarpanch Sunil Jaglan.

30-year-old Jaglan, an MA in Mathematics took a calculated risk by doing something that had never happened in the 1000 year history of the Khaps. He invited women to a Mahapanchayat of over 200 villages across north India to speak on female foeticide. Clad in their 'ghunghats', the women spoke and the wise men of the village listened - ultimately deciding that killing a girl in the womb is murder and therefore punishable under law.

The khaps often referred to as medieval Kangaroo courts because of their bizarre diktats had finally arrived to the 21st century - thanks to this man.

"I have seen the khaps closely for many years now. They do many positive things that never get reflected. It's because of them that the social fabric of the village is intact. If one man in the khap says something stupid it doesn't make the whole institution stupid," Jaglan says.

Jaglan's village lies in the heart of Haryana's Jind district - an area notorious for honour killings and it's low sex ratio. He says he realised just how bad things were for women when his own daughter Nandini was born 6 months ago.

"When Nandini was born, I took sweets fro every one and I was surprised when not just village women but even educated friends wondered why I was distributing sweets for a girl. I felt very bad," Jaglan says.

It was then that it became clear to him that to fight female foeticide he would have to get women on his side. He reasoned, he argued, he fought and continues to fight. All in the hope that little Nandini grows up in an equal society where women have a right to choice as much as anyone else.

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