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This story is from November 28, 2016

Local Gawali community discontinues ‘jaat panchayat’, paves way for others to follow suit

The Veershaiva Lingayat Gawali (milkmen) community in the city has done away with its jaat panchayats following a sustained counselling efforts by the Cantonment police, paving way for other such groups to follow suit.
Local Gawali community discontinues ‘jaat panchayat’, paves way for others to follow suit
(Representative image)
PUNE: The Veershaiva Lingayat Gawali (milkmen) community in the city has done away with its jaat panchayats following a sustained counselling efforts by the Cantonment police, paving way for other such groups to follow suit.
Jaat panchayats gained notoriety in the state for running a parallel justice system in contravention of the constitution, issuing diktats such as social boycott of individuals who defied their community norms.

To check on the activities of jaat panchayats, the state cabinet in March this year had approved the ‘Prohibition of Social Boycott Bill’, which proposes social boycotts by communities to be made a punishable offence. The decision by the Gawali community to discontinue with jaat panchayat assumes significance against this backdrop.
Police efforts
So what prompted police to take it upon themselves to counsel the community members against the panchayat activities?
The Gawali community leaders had received a lot of flak in August this year when a 49-year-old autorickshaw driver Arun Naikuji, who was expelled from the community, allegedly committed suicide at Sainathnagar in Chandannagar. He was boycotted on suspicion of regularly visiting a couple who had an inter-caste marriage. Though his son later withdrew the complaint filed against the jaat panchayat members, there was some discomfort within the community.

However, police swung into action in October after a man, who was expelled from the community 16 years ago, approached them. “He had married outside the community in 1998. When the community leaders came to know about it, they imposed a social boycott on him. The boycott was so severe that he was not even extended any invitation to community functions and even the members of the community were barred from visiting him,” API Sunil Gade said.
Later, a police team led by API Sunil Gade raided a jaat panchayat and thereafter started meeting senior members of the community to build an opinion against the practice.
“When we got in touch with the complainant, he told us he was not even invited for his cousin’s wedding three years ago, which was very humiliating,” the officer added.
In the aftermath of the complaint, police summoned the community leaders for questioning in October itself. “Instead of lodging an offence, we decided to counsel them. The youth in particular seemed favourable to the idea of discontinuing the jaat panchayat even as the elders remained hesitant. However over four sessions of counselling, we managed to convince them to discontinue the panchayat,” Gade said.
“We explained to them the legal procedures and the observations made by the Supreme Court against the practice of jaat panchayats,” he added.
Community Leader
Shailesh Bidkar, a key community leader and former member of Pune Cantonment Board, said, “Jaat panchayat was an old ritual that somehow managed to found its way into the present world. However, the world is changing and we also felt that such rituals were hampering the economic and social progress while bringing a bad name to the community. In the larger interest of the society, we decided to discontinue the jaat panchayat,” he said.
Legal View
Lawyer Asim Sarode said, “The community’s move is a welcome step. Some people have become very strong in the community and they ruled over the powerless members using these panchayats. It is a way of social exploitation.”
The state government has prepared the ‘Prohibition of Social Boycott Bill’ and it has been approved principally. However, a community has strongly objected to the bill and the state government has sent it to the President for sanction. “The state ministry has already given its consent to the bill,” he said, adding that all the communities should throw their weight behind the bill to discard all the evils of the jaat panchayats.
End of Article
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