From Siwaha’s lower-caste diktat to Dalit sub-classification politics, Haryana reveals how feudal patriarchy and caste rigidity still dictate young lives.
This blog examines the persistence of caste rigidity and patriarchal codes in Haryana, focusing on how Scheduled Castes, once oppressed, now replicate the same feudal behaviours historically used against them. The Siwaha incident, where a Dalit couple was ordered to dissolve their marriage, highlights the internalisation of khap-style authority among lower castes. The analysis extends to the political manipulation of caste through reservation, particularly after the Supreme Court’s 2024 ruling in Davinder Singh, which allowed sub-classification of Scheduled Castes. Haryana’s politics has exploited these divisions, splitting Chamars and non-Chamars for electoral gain. Drawing on landmark Supreme Court judgments from Champakam Dorairajan (1951) to Janhit Abhiyan (2022), the piece argues that caste remains the most potent instrument of social control and political mobilisation. Unless society breaks this cycle and returns reservation to its core mission — education, dignity, and opportunity — Haryana will remain trapped in its contradictions.
Haryana is a state known for its hardworking people. Yet beneath the surface of industry and progress lies a darker truth: caste rigidity remains a relentless force. For centuries, this land of wars and migrations has cultivated a society where community identity, not individual freedom, determines destiny. And while much has been written about khaps and upper-caste conservatism, the uncomfortable reality is that Scheduled Castes (SCs) too are increasingly mirroring the same feudal and patriarchal values once used to suppress them.
The Siwaha Incident: A Mirror to Society
In early December, 2009, Siwaha village in Panipat district witnessed an ugly spectacle. A young Scheduled Caste couple, having solemnized their marriage, were ordered by local leaders to either dissolve their union or face the consequences.
What makes this case striking is not merely the cruelty — Haryana has seen too many such diktats — but the identity of the enforcers. These were not upper-caste khap elders, but influential members of the lower social strata, replicating khap-style authority to project themselves as community guardians.
This hypocrisy is telling. Leaders who rail against upper-caste domination are now aping its worst features. By policing love and marriage, they signal both power and “honour” within their groups, even at the cost of young lives. Women, as always, become the first casualties of such patriarchal enforcement.
Feudal Values Across Castes
The Siwaha episode is not an aberration. It illustrates how feudal and patriarchal values transcend caste lines. Haryana’s Scheduled Castes, historically victims of discrimination, have themselves internalised the same rigid codes. Intra-gotra and intra-village marriages are policed with the same severity in Dalit households as in Jat or upper-caste ones.
This is not just social conservatism; it is the replication of a control mechanism. Lower-caste elites use it to assert authority over their communities. In doing so, they imprison themselves within the very mindset that once excluded them.
Reservation and the Politics of Division
The paradox extends from the village to the statehouse. Reservation, conceived as a tool of social justice, has become another arena of caste fragmentation. Over the years, the Supreme Court has tried to balance equality with special provisions:
Champakam Dorairajan (1951): Struck down communal quotas; led to the First Amendment adding Article 15(4), enabling special provisions for backward classes and SC/ST.
Indra Sawhney (1992) upheld OBC quotas but introduced the “creamy layer” exclusion.
M. Nagaraj (2006) and Jarnail Singh (2018) insisted that promotions for SC/STs be justified with data.
Janhit Abhiyan (2022) upheld the 10% EWS quota, weakening the 50% ceiling.
State of Punjab v. Davinder Singh (2024): Allowed sub-classification of SC/ST to ensure equitable distribution. Suggested even SC/ST may face creamy-layer type exclusion if dominant groups corner benefits. Stressed the need for empirical evidence and rational criteria to avoid political misuse.
This last judgment has seismic implications in Haryana. Here, caste segmentation within Dalits — Chamars vs. non-Chamars already runs deep. By permitting sub-classification, the Court has armed politicians with a sharper tool for dividing SC communities.
Indeed, Haryana wasted no time. Acting on the advice of the state’s Scheduled Caste Commission, it moved to categorise SC reservations, consolidating non-Chamar votes under the BJP while leaving Chamars aligned with the Congress. The rhetoric of justice thus masks a familiar game: fragment to consolidate power.
When Oppression Becomes a Tool
The result is tragic irony. Instead of uniting against entrenched inequalities, Dalit communities are turned against one another. Reservation benefits flow disproportionately to dominant SC sub-groups, fuelling resentment among others. The cry of “Scheduled Caste A” versus “Scheduled Caste B” has drawn permanent lines of separation, eroding solidarity.
Meanwhile, education and job opportunities — the real levers of empowerment — remain scarce. The political class thrives on managing identities rather than delivering development. As one analyst quipped, “The ball is thrown for non-existent posts in the playground.”
A Politics of Hypocrisy
From the khap-like diktats in villages to the reservation chessboard in Chandigarh, the message is consistent: caste remains Haryana’s most manipulable currency. And hypocrisy abounds. Leaders denounce upper-caste oppression while enforcing their own brand of patriarchal discipline. Parties invoke social justice while using quotas to split communities. Even the Prime Minister, in seeking connection, identifies not as a citizen but as an OBC.
This is not empowerment — it is entrapment. A society that measures itself by caste purity and patriarchal codes cannot claim progress, no matter how high its GDP or how many medals its athletes bring home.
Breaking the Cycle
The question is whether right-thinking people will stay silent. Will ordinary Haryanvis, living in today’s India, register their anguish at seeing young couples punished for love? Will Scheduled Castes recognise that adopting the worst traits of feudalism only reinforces their own chains?
The Siwaha case offers a warning: oppression, once internalised, reproduces itself endlessly. If the oppressed become oppressors, society does not move forward — it merely shifts the weight of its chains.
The way out lies not in further fragmentation but in reclaiming the original spirit of reservation — to level the playing field through education, dignity, and opportunity. It lies in dismantling patriarchal codes, not reinforcing them. Above all, it lies in remembering that caste, whether invoked by khaps or Dalit elites, is the enemy of individual freedom.
Until then, Haryana will remain trapped in its contradictions — a land of hardworking people shackled by the hypocrisy of its own traditions.
References
1. State of Madras v. Champakam Dorairajan, AIR 1951 SC 226.
2. Indra Sawhney v. Union of India, 1992 Supp (3) SCC 217 (Mandal Commission case).
3. M. Nagaraj v. Union of India, (2006) 8 SCC 212.
4. Jarnail Singh v. Lachhmi Narain Gupta, (2018) 10 SCC 396.
5. Janhit Abhiyan v. Union of India, (2022) 10 SCC 1 (EWS quota).
6. State of Punjab v. Davinder Singh, (2024) 7-Judge Constitution Bench judgment.
7. Satish Deshpande, Caste Matters in Public Policy, Economic & Political Weekly, 2013.
8. Ghanshyam Shah, Caste and Democratic Politics in India, Permanent Black, 2002.
9. Christophe Jaffrelot, India’s Silent Revolution: The Rise of the Lower Castes in North India, C. Hurst & Co., 2003.
10. Haryana Scheduled Caste Commission Reports (various years).
11. News reports on the Siwaha (Panipat) incident, Dainik Bhaskar and The Tribune, December, 2009.
