JD-U slams khap panchayats over diktat to women in UP

The Janata Dal-United on Saturday hit out at Khap Panchayats over the recent incident of a village Panchayat in Uttar Pradesh issuing a diktat on the movement of women, saying strict action should be taken against such people engaging in such tendencies.

"These unconstitutional khap panchayats have openly defied the law of the land by issuing illegal diktats...How can the Khap panchayats put a ban on women visiting markets and using cell phones or ask them to cover their head in public. These type of khap panchayat orders are a slur on our society," JD-U president Sharad Yadav told the media.

He said the most unfortunate aspect of this entire incident is that this has happened in the vicinity of the national capital.

Yadav said the chief ministers of states as well as the Delhi, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh CMs should be tough in dealing with such diktats.

"The government and our political leaders are not taking this issue very seriously because of the fear of losing their vote bank. This is a social issue, which should be tackled with a firm hand. Since it is being taken in a lackadaisical manner, these type of khap panchayats are getting encouragement," Yadav said.

The JD-U president appealed to the CMs and cabinet ministers not to forget the oath of allegiance to the Constitution that they took when they were appointed. He also condemned the incident in Guwahati where a girl was molested and said that the Centre and the Assam government should take the matter seriously and strengthen the police force to control them. He stated that the cops were finding it difficult to take action due to shortage of personnel.