Panchayat breaks century-old custom, says yes to marriages
In a historic move, residents of six villages—Paharipur, Malikpur, Safipur, Godhadi, and Aachhej—under Beri subdivision and Gwalison under Jhajjar subdivision have decided to break a century-old social custom that prohibited marriages between the five villages and Gwalison due to long-standing brotherhood.
The decision, made unanimously during a panchayat held at Paharipur village here on Sunday, paves the way for future marital relations between Gwalison and the five villages. The panchayat was presided over by Aachhej village sarpanch Rajender Singh Solanki and residents of all six villages participated.
“All villages belong to different gotras (sub-castes) and there is no restriction on marriage within these gotras, but the social custom had prevented weddings from being solemnised. After discussions, the panchayat passed a resolution to turn this brotherhood into marital relations, allowing residents of Gwalison to marry their children in the five villages in the future,” said Solanki, adding that no marriage was allowed among the five adjoining villages.
“Gwalison village, located on the route to Jhajjar city, was where residents of the five villages used to stay while travelling to Jhajjar for work. The residents of Gwalison would treat their guests like brothers, offering hospitality, and even arranging for accommodation, if needed. This deep sense of community and hospitality led to the restriction on marriages,” he said.
Yudhvir Dhankar, a senior leader of the Dhankar khap and resident of Gwalison village, who started working on building consensus over the issue over a year ago, said there was no longer any logical reason to maintain marital restrictions, especially when the 'gotras' were different.
“As per social norm, marriages are not allowed within the same gotra or between adjoining villages. However, Gwalison is not a neighboring village to any of these five villages. Even, Gwalison residents belong to different gotras, hence the panchayat agreed that there was no harm in allowing marriages,” he said.
