In Fatehabad, Hoshiar Singh, 22, a Dalit youth, was recently killed for marrying Nirmala, a Jat girl.
Haryana govt to reward couples who enter into inter-caste marriages
CHANDIGARH: In Fatehabad, Hoshiar Singh, 22, a Dalit youth, was recently killed for marrying Nirmala, a Jat girl. In Sirsa, parents of Poonam, 21, reportedly pushed her in a canal for marrying a Dalit boy, Mukhram.
Love has surely not been blooming in Haryana when it comes to inter-caste marriages that the youth opts for. Call it a feudal set-up or overbearing dominance of “khaap”, the community panchayats, inter-caste marriages have been invariably hitting the rocks and leading to tragic deaths as well in the state.
But despite strong social resistance, the Haryana government has decided to side with love-birds going in for inter-caste marriages.
Those opting for such marriages in the state would be given an incentive of Rs50,000 each by the state government under a special scheme. Either of the newly-weds has to be from Haryana to qualify for the bounty that they would be entitled to within a year of their marriage.
One such couple is Veer Singh of Bachod village in Mahendergarh district and Renu of Ghaziabad of Uttar Pradesh. Coming from different castes, the duo decided to break the barrier of casteism by tying the nuptial knot. The Narnaul district administration accepted their application this week under the inter-caste marriage scheme and decided to give them Rs50,000 within a month.
Haryana incidentally has recorded an unusually high number of honour killings, where youths entering into inter-caste marriages have been the main victims.
According to police, eight such incidents had been recorded in the last six months alone. The trend has been widely prevalent in the Jat heartlands of the state which includes districts like Rohtak, Sirsa, Rewari and Fatehabad.
Haryana finance minister Birender Singh blamed the social structure largely for the malaise and said the government scheme would only provide “courage and incentive” to youths daring to break social barriers.
b_ajay@dnaindia 
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