Prepare to feel a strong sense of déjà vu.
Two khap panchayats in Haryana's Rohtak and Jhajjar have issued bans on various things which they think cause rape, moral deterioration and honour killings.
Most of the bans are a reinforcement of similar diktats issued by panchayats around the country - no jeans and mobile phones for girls, for example - but a khap in Rohtak said it had hit upon a golden formula to end the malaise of honour killings.
They passed three 'resolutions' in the panchayat - among them one calling for a ban on same-gotra marriages, which they said would automatically put an end to the malaise of honour killings.
Gathering: The Rohtak panchayat was attended by representatives of several khaps
"We will start a nationwide protest to amend the Hindu Marriage Act to ban same-gotra marriages. If they are banned, the honour killings will automatically stop," said Ramphal Hooda, president of the Hooda khap panchayat.
Apart from this, the resolutions also included a proposal to implement a dress code for college-going girls that would bar them from wearing jeans, tops and any type of 'gaudy' clothing, and a ban on porn sites and on same-gotra marriages.
Similar diktats were announced by the Birohad Barah khap, which met in Birohad village in Jhajjar on Sunday. They said girls in all the 12 villages that fall under the khap's jurisdiction should be barred from wearing jeans and tops and forbidden to use mobile phones.
Explaining the order, the president of the khap Jagdev said: "The attractive dresses, including jeans and tops, as also mobile phones are responsible for the fall of social barriers. There will be no honour killing if a strict dress code is imposed in colleges and mobile phones banned."
The khap also announced a ban on drinking in public places and the use of DJs in weddings.
The panchayat said it will "sternly deal" with persons found drinking at public places and during celebrations such as weddings.
