Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 150
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 151
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Warning (512): Unable to emit headers. Headers sent in file=/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php line=853 [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 48]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 148]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 181]
LATEST NEWS UPDATES | An urban village, a feudal system and a ‘scientific’ excuse by Mandakini Gahlot

An urban village, a feudal system and a ‘scientific’ excuse by Mandakini Gahlot

Share this article Share this article
published Published on Jun 24, 2010   modified Modified on Jun 24, 2010

Wazirpur, the North Delhi village that recently witnessed three suspected honour killings, is only a stone’s throw away from a big, flashy glass-and-steel mall in the middle-class neighbourhood of Ashok Vihar. But, given the extreme brutality of the recent case, it may as well be a million miles away.

Like most urban villages in the Capital, Wazirpur’s economy was at one point completely dependent on agriculture. In 1950, as the Delhi government started acquiring land in the village, a few villagers sold to private developers. Soon, it got to a point where agriculture was completely wiped out. Now, the village is littered with a number of extremely small-scale factories, primarily dedicated to hardware manufacturing.

The other major source of income in this Gurjjar-dominated village, at least for the 500-odd families who claim to have lived in the village for the last three generations, is rent from their modest houses. Spurred on by the development of the Wazirpur industrial area, migrant workers from Bihar thronged the village in search of cheap accommodation close to their places of work. The villagers complied, and today nearly 15,000 families live as tenants in the village.

This influx of migrants has lent itself to the modern version of the feudal system now prevalent in Wazirpur village, the socio-economic division between landlords and tenants. Even those who are not technically from the village and are only living there to make ends meet, are expected to follow the prevalent norms of this society. “Even the Muslims and the Rajputs, who only started moving here a few decades ago, follow our norms and don’t marry within the village,” explains Mahendra Singh, a white haired gentleman who draws quite an entourage to the village chaupal, where he sets base every evening.

On Wednesday, the village chaupal was full of villagers — mostly men, as the women rarely ever leave their houses. Most of them are there to gawk at the media crew who have flooded their village ever since news about the alleged honour killings broke. However, as one villager points out, on most days the chaupal plays host to the village elders who do little more than shuffle cards, smoke the ubiquitous hookah, and cast disapproving looks at anyone who so much as appears a little different from the rest. Incidentally, nearly everyone in the chaupal inner coterie is a landlord, rarely can an outsider impress the elders enough to merit a drag from their hookah.

Sitting with the village elders, one hears the now familiar litany of excuses — memorised by every elder in every village across Delhi, Haryana and UP —in defense of the system that prevents marriage within the same village. “You see, the system is very scientific in nature. There is scientific evidence to prove why you shouldn’t marry within the same village,” explains Dr Brij Mohan Verma, a dental surgeon and proprietor of the one-room Verma Clinic. He, however, does not offer further explanation of this “scientific evidence”.

Wazirpur village has one primary school, and a high school. The girls study in these schools in the morning and boys in the evening. “I pulled my boy out of the school after Class IX because they teach nothing there. Teachers rarely come, and all the boys just engage in mindless timepass. Now, my son helps me out with my work,” explains Rajpal Garg. His 14-year-old son Rahul helps out in the tea shop his father runs in Ashok Vihar.

Yet, the village is not completely devoid of aspirations. As we are leaving, a shy villager quietly says, “Why are your talking to these people? Come meet my neighbour’s daughter, she studied for years and is now a doctor.” He tells us about young engineers, surgeons and pilots in the village who are trying to break out of the strict moral codes. He then asks us not to mention his name for fear that the village elders may not like him telling us about the dreams and aspirations of the young boys and girls in Wazirpur.


The Indian Express, 24 June, 2010, http://www.indianexpress.com/news/an-urban-village-a-feudal-system-and-a-scientific-excuse/637818/


Related Articles

 

Write Comments

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

Video Archives

Archives

share on Facebook
Twitter
RSS
Feedback
Read Later

Contact Form

Please enter security code
      Close