Prima facie, the coinage honour killings seems to be purely contradictory.
Many of us wonder how in God's name are the terms honour and the brutal lynching of a life in cold blood ever related.
We can't even dare to conjure up in the worst of our nightmares of retaining honour by squeezing out pools of blood from our loved ones.
We have been cultivated so intelligently to pass on the buck to our notorious neighbor- Pakistan for everything that is disgraceful and nasty.
Up until now most of us have been brought up to think that heinous crimes like Honour killings take place in oppressive nations like Pakistan.
The most jarring reality is here to stay.
Despite the "feel- good factor" screeched aloud throughout the length and breadth of the country, the most barbaric act of playing havoc with the life of the young generation of today continues to flourish.
Welcome to the blood stained soils of Haryana, Punjab and parts of Uttar Pradesh where this gruesome crime is at an all time high.
According to All India Democratic Women's Association 10 per cent of murders in Punjab and Haryana are honor killings.
Consensual relationships are a taboo in this part of the world.
Geeta, a 20 year old Rajput girl from Hoshiarpur in Punjab lost her husband, a Jat Sikh youth, within one month of their marriage.
He was murdered ruthlessly in front of her by members of the Rajput community.
His arms and legs were chopped off and he was butchered in broad daylight.
Her only crime was that she had married outside her community.
There is no dearth of such horrific cases in this region.
A woman hailing from Bhawanipur district in Uttar Pradesh was gang-raped and then burnt to death by an influential Yadav family of the same village.
Her only crime was that her son had reportedly eloped with the wife of one of the Yadavs.
The provisions of the constitution about the civil rights and the liberty to choose one's spouse are mocked at umpteenth times.
What can be more ironical than the fact that the supposedly protectors of the society act as a well paid party in further perpetrating Honour Killings.
The police leave no stone unturned in tracking down the fleeing couple and handing them over to the butchers.
Surprisingly, not only the illiterates from the remotest corner of the region but even the so called "literates" and civilized beings too are involved in playing a villain in the love- life of their siblings.
The people not only remain tight lipped over the gory tales of barbarism and bone chilling procession carried out in broad daylight in full public view, they even spinelessly vindicate such acts.
The Human Rights Watch defines Honor killing as "the acts of violence, usually murder, [mostly] committed by male family members [predominantly] against female [relatives], who are perceived to have brought dishonor upon the family.
A woman can be targeted by (individuals within) her family for a variety of reasons, including: refusing to enter into an arranged marriage, being the victim of a sexual assault, seeking a divorce - even from an abusive husband - or (allegedly) committing adultery.
The mere perception that a woman has behaved in a specific way to "dishonor" her family, is sufficient to trigger an attack.
" Often the cases involving women's plight in this regard are reported.
But this is light years away from the ground reality.
Even the male section is not spared when it comes to abstain from any taint on the community's honor.
The male counterparts are equally tortured and ill treated.
It won't be an exaggeration to opine that the male members are the worst hit.
Their families are either ostracized or the female members of the family are gang raped to pay for the revenge.
Instances of revenge rape are not uncommon in Muzaffarnagar district.
Every year hundreds of young couples are murdered on the pretext of saving the family or community from being disgraced.
Every now and then, a case of honour killings hogs the headline for a while and then never see the light of the day.
Self styled Khap (caste) panchayats mainly in Haryana have asserted powers and discretion on to themselves in meddling into personal affairs.
The dwindling sex ratio in the state is no big deal for them.
But the bitter truth is that without political patronage such unofficial diktats are hardly possible.
Such self revived social institutions should be bereft of the right of passing justifications and annulling marriages.
Merely making a law or two won't serve any good.
It's just like constructing a well without any trace of water in it.
The need of the hour is to ascertain that these laws are carried out effectively.
The special marriages act should be made more flexible to get self willed marriages registered.
Public opinion against such evils should be mobilized.
If not checked on time, this immoral act will go a long way in posing a threat to the very essence of the constitution.
Awareness among all sections of the society alike is all the more necessary to wipe off this evil from the face of India.
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