The Khap panchayat's diktats have become the fancy of mainstream pseudo-intellectuals much like a how a causes strikes a zeal in a rebel without one. No rational person (and for once I shall include politicians in this set) can justify the cold-blooded murder of a couple who eloped and married. But does that give sanction to a blanket statement against ban on marriage within the same gotre?Now before I'm labelled as an extreme right-wing person, here is something you must consider...Gotre is nothing but a lineage which is traced back basically to the Sapt-rishis. So marrying within one's gotre is essentially marrying into the same lineage as the one you belong to. I would not pervert such relations by saying people of the same lineage are technically siblings but for all it's worth, it is a moot point. That not withstanding, there is a far more logical and scientific rationale for not marrying into the same gotre.
The lost knowledge of our culture was interpreted by the nascent Western civilization as mere folk lore without any sound basis, and we, being Indians, without any hesitation accept their ridicule of our very basic tenets of moral conduct. So I shall put forth the rational of not marrying into one's gotre making use of words and logic of genetics; ironically, augmented by a Christian monk, Gregor Mendel. The noble soul found out that there are traits are controlled by a pair of genes. So a person may have the gene for a deformity but may not actually suffer from it because the ill effects of this bad gene are masked by the dominant big brother gene which stands for all things good. The recessives can only express themselves if both genes of a pair are recessive.
The probability of two recessives coming together increases when the pedegral distance between two individual decreases. Put in simple words, marrying closely related people is a no-no if you want healthy kids. The Parsis are a classic case of the perils of inbreeding. It has left them weak and handicapped. Yes, we can turn a Nelson's eye to this and say it wont happen to us but given enough time, is it not possible that our genetic stock will end up impoverished, just like the Parsis? I mean, had the Parsis known this would be their fate, the forefathers of this culture would have definitely advised their brood against it.
Well, we're a bit lucky. Our forefathers knew this peril and gave a blanket guideline against marrying within the same gotre. I mean how many of us are interested in understanding the principles of genetics before we choose a mate?! Our traditions just made the job easy for us. Till now, we had no issues about having the aam without asking how much the gootli cost but a few wanna-be 'thinkers' have raked a raucous over the fact that a few yokels were enforcing this tradition. Albeit the yokel Khaps don't know genetics any better than most of us, they accept what has been passed down as traditional knowledge. So what is wrong with that? Would these loud mouth protesters endorse the principle of not marrying into one's gotre if Mendel is beatified and his principles stated as gospels? If they do, they should shut up and not interfere with wisdom beyond their comprehension.
