5 Panipat villages ban alcohol, music during wedding celebrations

The representatives of Mandi, Palri, Bijawa, Baandh and Balana panchayats held a meeting in this regard before imposing the ban.

Popular numbers such as ‘DJ wale Babu’ and ‘Jaise daaru desi’ will not be part of marriage celebrations in five villages of Panipat district, as representatives of these panchayats have ‘unanimously’ banned loud music and liquor during weddings and other festivities.

The panchayats also prohibited organisation of ‘kaaj’ or ‘barhi’ (public feast) ceremony in these villages, stating that it is not reasonable to serve sweets and other eatables to villagers after death of elderly persons. (HT Photo)

The representatives of Mandi, Palri, Bijawa, Baandh and Balana panchayats held a meeting in this regard before imposing the ban. The reason behind this extra-judicial diktat, according to the representatives, was attributed to the trend of vulgar songs being played by the DJs and free liquor being served, which they believed were the root cause behind scuffles during marriage functions in the villages.

Talking to Hindustan Times, Palri sarpanch Naresh Sehrawat, who is behind the move, said, “The reason behind the decision was to put a check over the incidents of quarrels in the marriages as DJ and liquor are the main cause behind altercations in marriage functions.”

“You can see that most of the songs being played by DJs spread vulgarity and sometimes family members of the bridegroom faced difficulties due to unruly baraatis,” he added.

The panchayats also prohibited organisation of ‘kaaj’ or ‘barhi’ (public feast) ceremony in these villages, stating that it is not reasonable to serve sweets and other eatables to villagers after death of elderly persons.

Echoing similar sentiments, Dharamvir Singh, a resident of Mandi village, who attended the meeting, said, “We welcome this decision and will persuade people to help us implement it in our village successfully.”

Singh said that representatives and village elders arrived on the conclusion after deliberations and decided to start it from five villages. It will later be extended to seven more villages. On what action will be taken if anybody was found disobeying the orders, he said, “First, we will see what kind of response we get from people, and further decisions will be taken in next panchayat.”