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Khap Panchayat and Yes Pal Malik. D.R. Chaudhry My article “Simmering Identity Crisis at Khaps” published in the Tribune dated July 27, 2012 has eminently served its purpose. It has aroused a lot of interest and controversy among the thinking beings. It has invited comments from many friends on Face Book. One July 27, my telephone constantly remained busy from early in the morning till late at night.The next morning also I received a number of calls. Almost all the callers were appreciative and largely agreed with my analysis. On 27th I received a call at about 11 AM from some Yes Pal Malik. First of all, I could not place him properly. Then suddenly it dawned on me that the caller was from western U.P. and President of All India Jat Aarashan Samiti. I never had the chance of meeting the gentleman face to face. My article dealt with the Bibipur khap panchayat conclave held in Haryana and another panchayat meeting near Baghpat in western U.P. which had put several restrictions on women below 40 years of age- not going to the market alone, ban on use of mobile etc. to save them from eve teasing. Mr. Malik complained that I, being a Jat, had maligned the Jat community in my article. He elaborated that there was no fatwa or firman, but only a suggestion to save women from eve teasers. I argued that whatever be the nomenclature, it was a decision to penalize the victims and letting the wrong doers go scott free. A panchayat worth its name should haul up the anti social elements, hand them over to the police or approach their families to apply a check on them, failing which such families should be socially boycotted- hukka pani bandh- an age old tradition in the khap panchayat. There was no justification for confining women to the household to save them from eve teasers. Then he harangued on paramparas- traditions , conventions and all that. I stuck to my guns.This continued for more than half an hour. At this point Mr. Malik got exasperated and blurted out that there was a conspiracy by the media and some politicians to defame the Jats and their leaders. He insinuated that Hooda(CM, Haryana) must have given me ten -twenty thousand rupees to write this article. At this juncture, I lost my temper and got infuriated. I always avoid getting angry. Anger is a destructive emotion which harms you more than the target of your anger. However, I could not restrain myself. I asked him not to utter this kind of non sense without knowing the background of the man in question. I retorted that every body was not a saleable commodity in society. As a Member and Chairman, Haryana Public Service Commission, I made recruitment for a number of years and many officers were recruited during my tenure. I challenged Mr. Malik to produce a single individual who could state that he/she had paid me even a single paisa for my help. Then I further retorted that while analyzing a situation I did not spare any body. Even in my article in question I have referred to official correspondence which put Hooda govt. in poor light. I am always guided by Socrates’ concept of an intellectual as a gad fly who shakes the people out of complacence without caring for the consequences. I told Mr. Malik that I never thought that he was a man of such low level and it was beneath my dignity to talk  to such a man and I switched off my mobile. I know that people like Mr. Malik come down to character assassination when they have no logical argument to support their contention. I have been advised by some friends that I should avoid getting into arguments with such people by using the alibi of being busy in a meeting or some such thing. I find two difficulties in following this advice. First, reluctance to talk on my part would smack of arrogance. Secondly, the supporters of traditional panchayat system and their critics seem to be in two enemy camps arrayed against each other and there is no communication between the two. My feeling is that there are some well meaning people in both the camps, though their world views might differ. Door must be kept open for dialogue and at some stage some common ground on some issues might be found.