With a khap panchayat in Uttar Pradesh issuing a Taliban style diktat on women, former National Commission for Women chairperson, Girija Vyas , on Friday said such panchayats do not have any legal recognition, and added that there is no compulsion to go ahead with their orders as they have no credibility.
Vyas said girls of the country are today pretty aware, and added that there is no need for such a command to be imposed on them.
"First of all it is the panchayat. The government has not made the panchayat, it is made in the local arena. There is a law in our country under which we have the full right to move ahead. The girls are pretty aware these days; there is no need of such a decree," said Vyas.
"There is no credibility to these panchayats. There is no compulsion to go ahead with what they say. One must refuse to follow their orders and oppose it. The panchayats have no recognition for there is a law in our country," she added.
A panchayat in Bagpat, Uttar Pradesh, has asked women to cover their head before leaving their homes. Moreover, they have also issued orders that women, younger than 40, must not leave their homes at all after sunset.
It has also been decided in Bagpat that they will not allow love marriages in their villages, and those who disobey will be banished from the village.