MANS helps community accept boycotted couple

PUNE: In yet another victory against social boycott, the Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti (MANS), Pune, recently helped a couple that had been boycotted by the Telugu Madelwar Parit Community in the city, due to their inter-caste marriage. 

The man, Ajit Chinchane, had been boycotted by the community for 20 years since his inter-caste marriage in 1999. Chinchane’s case will now also facilitate the inclusion of 75 more such families.

“In our community, a person is made a part of the community after he gets married, essentially within the caste. My marriage made me an outcast. However, my father and I kept persuading the community members. When that didn’t work, we approached the MANS,” Chinchane said.

The MANS earlier tried to resolve the matter by talking to the panch of the community’s caste panchayat. However, when that did not work, a case was registered against the nine panch members under the Prohibition of Social Boycott Act on September 23, 2017. After a struggle of two years, the community members finally agreed to resolve the issue out of court and accept the Chinchane couple.

On the insistence of the victim’s family, however, under section 11 of the Prohibition of Social Boycott Act, on April 8, 2019, a settlement document was produced before the court by the community. The document stated that the panch members will henceforth not object to any caste member’s inclusion in the community. Everyone will be included once they turn 18.

“There was also a fear in community members that if they allow the men to marry women from other communities, who would marry their daughters? However, we understand that social boycott is unconstitutional and we will refrain from it,” Ganesh Nimkar, a community member said.

Speaking over the issue, Nandini Jadhav of MANS said, “Our intention is not at all to punish anyone by law. We always try to see if these issues can be solved through a healthy conversation. This case was regarding the Khadki trust of the community. One such case has also been registered against the Pune trust. We are looking into the matter and we are sure we will be able to get through to them as well.”