On the Path towards a Just Society: Challenging Jati Panchayats and the Dowry System

Defying the jati panchayat’s decision was momentous for the women of DMMS, who, through their SHGs, are realizing the power of collective action in shattering age-old domination structures and in moving from passive acceptance to quiet assertion of their rights

T he story begins with the General Body (GB) meeting that was held in May 2013 in which the members of the Damodar Mahila Mandal Sangh (DMMS) Federation passed the following resolutions.

• All members of DMMS, Koderma, will stop practising the dowry system because it leads to high cash transactions during marriages and puts a heavy burden on the bride’s family.
• DMMS members will not participate in marriages wherein cash transactions have taken place, especially if the women of the family are members of the Sangh.
• DMMS members will promote marriages in which no exchange of dowry takes place.

Two days before the momentous day of June 8, members of DMMS heard about a jati panchayat meeting taking place regarding a marriage proposal between Sunil Kumar Rajak and Priyanka Kumari, both from Jainagar. Sunil’s family told the women members that the 24-year-old had been earning his living by taking tuitions in Koderma for the last three years whereas Priyanka, 21, was a B.Sc. II year student. They had met two years ago in the college campus and had fallen in love. Nearly a year earlier, Priyanka had told her family that she wanted to marry Sunil. When her parents met him, they liked Sunil. They decided to place the matter before the members of the jati panchayat. And if the panchayat agreed, the proposal would be carried forward.