India: 'nothing wrong with khap panchayats . . . [except] when dispute resolution becomes coercive and violates the law' AAP's Yogendra Yadav

From Asian Age

Khaps may be needed to fix disputes: AAP leader
Jan 27, 2014 - Nishtha Grover

Age Correspondent

The Aam Aadmi Party feels khap panchayats are needed to check routine disputes. The AAP, which has adopted khap-style mohalla sabhas, says these have no similarity with caste-based associations.

Senior AAP leader Yogendra Yadav, speaking to this newspaper, said: “Every community (caste, tribe, ethnic group) has its internal mechanisms for routine dispute resolution. Such systems are not only permissible, but are healthy, indeed essential.”

The party, which always claimed it discourages any form of caste or community-based politics, seems to be putting on the khap cap. The party had recently said it would contest the Assembly polls in Haryana. Mr Yadav, the AAP’s face in Haryana, said: “Pushing any and every social dispute into the courts is unhealthy, unaffordable and socially destructive. If this is what khap panchayats do, and to the extent to which they do this, there is nothing wrong with khap panchayats.”

In a reference to recent khap diktats on women-related issues, the AAP leader also said groups issuing fatwas cannot be tolerated. “The trouble begins when dispute resolution becomes coercive and violates the law. This cannot be tolerated, be it khap panchayats, SGPC, clerics or religious gurus issuing fatwas. The extreme form is of course ‘honour killings’. A murder is a murder is a murder.”