In India, Castes, Honor and Killings Intertwine
I think it’s important that people realise that honor killings aren’t exclusively tied to Islam, but rather reflect highly traditional, patriarchal and oppressive attitudes towards women more generally.
The NYT has an excellent piece today on honor killings in India and caste (hint, these are Hindus, not Muslims):
In India, where the tension between traditional and modern mores reverberates throughout society, Ms. Pathak’s death comes amid an apparent resurgence of so-called honor killings against couples who breach Hindu marriage traditions.
This week, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh ordered a cabinet-level commission to consider tougher penalties in honor killings.
In June, India’s Supreme Court sent notices to seven Indian states, as well as to the national government, seeking responses about what was being done to address the problem.
The phenomenon of honor killings is most prevalent in some northern states, especially Haryana, where village caste councils, or khap panchayats, often operate as an extralegal morals police force, issuing edicts against couples who marry outside their caste or who marry within the same village — considered a religious violation since villages are often regarded as extended families.
Even as the court system has sought to curb these councils, politicians have hesitated, since the councils often control significant vote blocs in local elections.
New cases of killings or harassment appear in the Indian news media almost every week. Last month, the police arrested three men for the honor killings of a couple in New Delhi who had married outside their castes, as well as the murder of a woman who eloped with a man from another caste.
Two of the suspects are accused of murdering their sisters, and an uncle of the slain couple spoke of their murders as justifiable.
“What is wrong in it?” the uncle, Dharmaveer Nagar, told the Indian news media. “Murder is wrong, but this is socially the best thing that has been done.”
Intercaste marriages are protected under Indian law, yet social attitudes remain largely resistant.
Honor killings represent the ultimate in the oppression of women: it’s the logical if repellent extension of the view of women as chattel. Chattel to such an extent that one’s very life can be taken away at will. As such, this is not primarily a religious issue (although religions can and do play a large role in motivating and justifying such killings, obviously), but another front in the War On Women Worldwide.