Vimarsh :: View topic

Posted: Thu Jun 24, 2010 9:05 pm

Nowadays, 'Honour Killings' are much in news. An Honour Killing is a killing in order to preserve one's honour. The putative honour a family basks in for preserving its traditions. In some communities, it is said, it is a tradition that certain kinds of marriages are banned. These marriages can be marriages in which the bride and the bridegroom, belong to the same village, community, caste.; or else different caste or religion.

We often do not know much about the two nouns in the title of this thread, so I decided to invest some effort in this direction!

What is a tradition?

According to the wikipedia article on the subject:

Quote:

A tradition is a practice, custom, or story that is memorized and passed down from generation to generation, originally without the need for a writing system. Tools to aid this process include poetic devices such as rhyme and alliteration. The stories thus preserved are also referred to as tradition, or as part of an oral tradition.[original research?]

Traditions are often presumed to be ancient, unalterable, and deeply important, though they may sometimes be much less "natural" than is presumed. Some traditions were deliberately invented for one reason or another, often to highlight or enhance the importance of a certain institution.Traditions may also be changed to suit the needs of the day, and the changes can become accepted as a part of the ancient tradition.......................................

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Posted: Fri Jun 25, 2010 7:17 am

A very significant part of our lives is dictated by traditions; be it behavior in relation to our close family members, the ceremonies at major events of our lives or the vocation we choose to earn a living, our aspirations etc. For example, most people become priests, warriors or scavengers just because of family traditions. We are in fact bound by traditions. Most often we do not know the genesis of most of the traditions, but feel that we must follow them to keep our identity in society.

Now, What is crime?

According to wikipedia,

Quote:

Crime is the breach of rules or laws for which some governing authority (via mechanisms such as legal systems) can ultimately prescribe a conviction. Individual human societies may each define crime and crimes differently. While every crime violates the law, not every violation of the law counts as a crime; for example: breaches of contract and of other civil law may rank as "offences" or as "infractions". Modern societies generally regard crimes as offenses against the public or the state, distinguished from torts (offenses against private parties that can give rise to a civil cause of action).

When informal relationships and sanctions prove insufficient to establish and maintain a desired social order, a government or a sovereign state may impose more formalized or stricter systems of social control. With institutional and legal machinery at their disposal, agents of the State can compel populations to conform to codes, and can opt to punish or to attempt to reform those who do not conform.

Authorities employ various mechanisms to regulate (encouraging or discouraging) certain behaviors in general. Governing or administering agencies may for example codify rules into laws, police citizens and visitors to ensure that they comply with those laws, and implement other policies and practices which legislators or administrators have prescribed with the aim of discouraging or preventing crime. In addition, authorities provide remedies and sanctions, and collectively these constitute a criminal justice system. Legal sanctions vary widely in their severity, they may include (for example) incarceration of temporary character aimed at reforming the convict. Some jurisdictions have penal codes written to inflict permanent harsh punishments: legal mutilation, capital punishment or life without parole.

The sociologist Richard Quinney has written about the relationship between society and crime. When Quinney states "crime is a social phenomenon" he envisages both how individuals conceive crime and how populations perceive it, based on societal norms.

The label of "crime" and the accompanying social stigma normally confine their scope to those activities seen as injurious to the general population or to the State, including some that cause serious loss or damage to individuals. Those who apply the labels of "crime" or "criminal" intend to assert the hegemony of a dominant population, or to reflect a consensus of condemnation for the identified behavior.................more

What is crime and what is not is not constant. The classification of a particular human behavior as crime changes with time. Take the example of killing someone. It is widely recognized as a crime. But, then what about state sponsored killings? What about killing of so many sikhs during 1984 riots in Delhi? What about the killings during the post Godhra riots in Gujrat? And much more recent, what about killings of poor tribals in Naxalite infected areas of India, whether by the local Police or the security personnel? Are they not criminal activities as well. Activities that are normally not recognized as criminal, because people responsible for the acts are still roaming free, without ever being punished by the law enforciing agencies.

Clearly, the society has a lots of lessons to learn and hence reconsider its prevailing traditions

Posted: Fri Jun 25, 2010 11:58 am

Interesting but I would add my following comments.

It is not that all community members react in the same manner. For example, in the spate of recent honor killings reported recently, all the cases pertain to the Jat community. Some influential members of this community who have become politically powerful, and hence dominate the so called khap panchayats are allegedly involved in the murders. Now why do these people behave in the way they have. There are several factors:

1. The Jat community has become powerful in Haryana because of the present state government and its leaders. There is an affluent section of this community, who have also become economically powerful, by virtue of their land holding, remember in and around Delhi, land prices have skyrocketed off late, because of real state development.

2. The failure of the law and order machinery to address to the genuine distress calls of the poor members of the community. The poor Jats have no option but to seek the help of these rich and powerful members of their community. Hence apparently they support such unlawful actions, in solidarity with their prosperous relatives.

In summary it is not as if all community members would encourage such acts committed under the garb of protecting traditions. More often then not it is a result of social conflicts within the society.