Polyandry part of ancient tribal tradition, says Himachal Ministers after woman marries two men

The Hindu

7 days ago

Polyandry is not new to Himachal Pradesh and a primary reason for its prevalence in some parts of the state is keeping a family intact and the landholdings undivided, say multiple people familiar with this tradition.
This anachronistic tradition came to limelight after two brothers of the Hatti tribe in Shillai village of the Transgiri area of Sirmaur district tied the knot to the same woman earlier this month.
'It is not a new tradition. Polyandry is a part of ancient tribal tradition and culture to keep the land undivided and is prevalent in parts of Kinnaur and Sirmaur districts,' said Revenue, Horticulture and Tribal Minister Jagat Singh Negi, who is the MLA from the Kinnaur constituency.
Sunita Chauhan married Pradeep and Kapil Negi, saying they are proud of this tradition and have taken the decision jointly.
'The tradition is old and there would be a rare house in Shallai where such a marriage has not taken place,' said Industry Minister Harshwardhan, who represents the Shallai constituency.
Revenue laws of Himachal Pradesh recognise this tradition, which is named 'Jodidara'. The tradition is also recognised under sections 494 and 495 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Himachal Pradesh's first Chief Minister, Y.S. Parmar, did research on this tradition and his Ph.D. from Lucknow University was on 'Polyandry in Himalayas 'Socio-economic background of Himalayan Polyandry'.
'According to the research of Y.S. Parmar, polyandry was prevalent in all five khand (sections) of the Himalayas from Kashmir to Nepal and there were psychological, biological and economic reasons behind the practice,' former chairman of Dr. Y.S. Parmar Chair at Himachal Pradesh University O.P. Sharma told PTI.
Some segments of warrior communities, especially Khasu and Tod, believe that teh Pandavas of Mahabharata are their ancestors and willingly continue the tradition, he said, adding Parmar had also quoted statistics of screwed sex ratio which showed that the number of girls were less than boys.
'Keeping small landholdings intact and less expense on weddings were the economics behind the tradition,' he said.
He asserted that Parmar 'did not encourage the practice of polyandry in view of women exploitation and I share the same views'.
'If live-in relations are accepted, then why is there an issue with age-old traditions? There are 15-20 families in my village Koti (Sirmaur district) where a woman is married to more than one man and we want the tradition to continue,' says law student Krishan Pratap Singh.
Relations stay healthy in the family and land stays intact in joint marriage, says Balma Devi.
Polyandry is an old tradition in which brotherhood remains and expenses are handled adequately, says Sant Ram.
'We four brothers are married to two women,' he adds.
Hatti is a closed-knit community in the Himachal Pradesh-Uttarakhand border and was declared as Scheduled Tribe three years ago. In this tribe, polyandry was in vogue for centuries, but due to rising literacy among women and economic uplift of communities in the region, cases of polyandry were not reported much as it used to be a simple ceremony.
'We have got tribal status due to such old traditional practices which also find mention in revenue records. Polyandry is prevalent in about 150 villages in the Trans Giri area of Sirmaur district and is still a practising tradition in some villages. It was also prevalent in Jaunsar Babar, tribal area of Uttarakhand,' said spokesperson of Hatti Vikas Manch, Ramesh Singta.
Such marriages are being solemnised in a clandestine manner and accepted by the society but instances are fewer, elders in the village said.
Kundan Singh Shastri, general secretary of the prime body of the Hatti community Kendriya Hatti Samiti, said this tradition was invented thousands of years ago to save a family's agricultural land from further division.
Another reason is to promote brotherhood and mutual understanding in a joint family by marrying even two or more brothers born from different mothers with a single bride, he told PTI. The third reason is a feeling of security.
'If you have a big family with more men, you are more secure in a tribal society,' he said, adding it also helps in managing scattered agriculture lands in far-flung, hard, hilly areas which requires a family for a long time for care and cultivation.
These requirements of tribal families have kept the polyandry system in practice for thousands of years; though these traditions are slowly dying, Mr. Shastri added.