The fact that organized religion is inherently patriarchal is not fresh information. Many rituals followed in all major religions are designed to keep women subservient. And since these rituals have been handed down for generations, they are not supposed to be questioned. A religious debate has been sparked over having different rules for men and women in places of worship, sparked by the Shani Shingnapur issue. This temple in Maharashtra does not allow women near the Shani idol since the time it was established. Women groups were seen protesting against this practice and this issue has snowballed into a big issue with the Maharashtra CM commenting about it and women demanding entry into Haji Ali Dargah. We bring you the conversations that happened in the blogosphere.
Preeti Sharma Menon talks briefly about the discrimination against women that has been carried out over the years by every religion, by the very powerful, by the learned and the society at large. She talks about how the things have reached ahead and how she still believes that humanity is not evil.
“Discrimination of any kind has only one root gene – the misuse of power. Throughout history, the more powerful have used their power to abuse the weaker sections. Men used their stronger physical power to abuse women, invaders used their military power to abuse invaded populations, rulers used their power to abuse the ruled, the stronger and dominant religion or race or class or caste abused the lesser powerful one. Doesn’t speak much for the race of humans, does it?”
One of the ironies of this issue is that women were prohibited from entering the temple on Republic Day, a day when the country marks the celebration of its constitution that provides equal rights to man and a woman. Keyur tells us more and how blogging and social media can play a role in the 21st century.
“In today’s day and age, governments and authorities have become aware about the voices on the internet. Message them, tag them, email them and use various other options on the internet, but make sure you put across your message. Use the hashtag #RightToPray
The issue is not just limited to these few places of worship. It’s a fight against patriarchy and sexism in the name of religion, which have ruled our society for thousands of years. This is a major opportunity to kick such ideas and kick them hard. Don’t let the movement go wasted. It’s 2016, for God’s sake!”
Dr. Vivek Kumar Shrivastav wrote an elaborate post for Concurrents where he discussed how the along with discrimination against women, caste and religious discrimination is equally responsible for deepening intolerance in our society.
“The truth of ages is that no religion can ever be based on discrimination. There is great need to emphasise that India as a country cannot progress as long as the Hinduism is not properly reformed in which equality of every sort is granted to all. It is so because as long its major religion is unequal till then its people will remain unequal. There is clash between constitutional values and religious values but constitution overpowers all.
Hence there is need to understand the long term impact of women’s efforts for temple entry. The base of human civilization cannot be singular that male will only possess authority but the civilisation can progress only when all the people without any gender discrimination or castes discrimination are allocated equal value. This needs to be understood by those who run the business for the religion.”
The system of governance in India, although an inclusive one at times, is found to interfere with the beliefs, ideologies and preferences of its citizens. Manoj Kumar decisively talks about how the concept of dharma, religion, constitution and governance are separate in their own ways. He opines further that a religion and its beliefs are solely the prerogative of its followers and the government should be kept out of it when it comes to deciding the rules of any.
Piyasree Dasgupta writes on Huffington Post India about how contradictory the present day scenario is. She discusses the outright shaming and discrimination against women because of which things like women priests are a rarity that make news. She also brings to light a fact that it is not just Hinduism but almost all religions that treat women in an inferior manner.
“Demanding entry into a Sabarimala or a Shani Shingnapur, therefore, amounts to seeking a better, more comfortable place within patriarchy, when the need of the hour is to outright reject it. It amounts to seeking a compromise with a social narrative that for ages has actively discriminated against women and curtailed their rights in plain sight.”
Vivek Patwardhan talks about how our beliefs are based on partial ideologies that are based on the assumption that men are superior to women. In a conversational tone, he brings out the evaluation as it would appear if someone were to justify their acts in today’s time.
“They say that god Shani punishes anyone who steals.”
“Interesting. Wow! It places such a high value on the innate good nature of people.”
“Hmmm…. At least in this case it works like that….”
“And to practise the act signifying highest level of trust you require a deterrence! They says ‘Shani will punish…’ Phew!”
“I don’t get what you are saying.”
“It is simple! Obvious! Treating men and women equally is an act of high value. Those who believe in God say that HE too practises it. So we create a deterrent if men do not practise it.”
“What’s that?”
“The Government must punish anyone who comes in the way of not allowing women inside the temple. Deterrence itself is not a pre-eminent value; the primary value is morality, if I may quote Herman Kahn. Parrots understand right and wrong better than men parroting the mantras.” Lulu offered me the chilly he was eating.”
The debate however is not just limited to governance, constitution and religious beliefs of people. The practices that are followed in the temple have their own astrological and scientific angle. Luffy22 talks about the pouring of oil for Lord Shani, how reforms are the way to go and how a solution can be found for this deadlock.
“I understand a lot of people could be offended by this article. I apologize to them and ascertain them that I have no intention of mocking their beliefs. All I wish is for Hindus to stop fearing a noble planet like Shani. The only point of this article is to raise awareness about the right issue on hand. Instead of pouring oil on the black idol it would be better if that oil is given to the poor and needy. This is perhaps the debate about reform which should be happening instead of the fake outrage that is currently presiding over Shani Temple.”
Insights IAS team writes about the issue of women’s rights and religion. The timing of this issue is very good when you consider that these are times when discriminatory religious laws are being hotly debated. The only question is whether it is a question of women’s place in religion or of who controls religion.
“The Constitution of India allows to everyone to follow religion of their choice and also allows anyone not to follow any religion. While the Constitution protects religious freedom, clause 2(b) of Article 25 allows the state to intervene in religious practice. The Untouchability Offences Act threw open temple doors to all castes, and many states passed laws extending those rights to all classes and sections of Hindus. Women activists question; if temples have no right to bar dalits or untouchables, why should they be allowed to bar women? Hence, it is the responsibility of the government to mediate and try to solve the issue.”
The tenets of Hinduism have been debated about forever, because of their vastness and the question of how relevant they are. It is a religion rooted in the everyday life of every Indian with the majority taking pride in following it without much debate or introspection. It claims to exist in the modern times with equal ease, but incidents like these make us question whether it is time for Hinduism to bring about a change when it comes to giving equal rights to men and women. Rati Hegde introspects further on the debate.
“With women fighting for entry into temples recently, saying that Hinduism needs to keep up with changes in the modern world, one wonders whether it is time that Hindus and Hinduism kept pace with Modern Times. And the verdict is out from people from other religions too, that Hinduism needs to change. So what exactly is the lacuna in Hinduism that needs to change? Or is it that people, both men and women need to change their thinking on what changes are to be brought about in society? Let us see …”
Aravindan Neelakandan who is an author and a science writer in Tamil talks about how the traditions in Hinduism recognize the relation between gender, body and religion. He believes that the issue has been hijacked and portrayed wrongly by faux feminists.
“Consider the Attukal Pongala festival, which is held for Goddess Bhagavathi in Trivandrum, Kerala. The capital city of Kerala heavily restricts and almost forbids male entry into the place of Pongala.
Rituals and natural spaces where men are forbidden have been there in Hindu traditions from time immemorial. As a living culture, Hinduism continues to evolve gender-specific forms of spiritual empowerment.
Mata Amritanandamayi of Kerala, for example, has popularized and spread the concept of ‘Brahmasthana temples’, where the Divine forms are installed by a woman and the priestess are also women. She has not invented a new form but has adapted and brought in a new context already embedded in Hindu tradition.”
On paper, every religion preaches equality, peace and all the good things one is supposed to practice. Things take a different turn when it comes to religion in real life. The Shani Shingnapur and Haji Ali issues have many angles – social, religious, political and moral. The way forward should be in a way that is not inflammatory or misleading, but should also make everyone involved proud to be a part of the religion and its beliefs.
What are your views on the issue? Let us know in the comments section below!
It is, of course, not surprising any more that these gender discriminations are happening in our very own country where educated people (who follow gurus and yogis as well) protest for gender equality on the streets when one of us called Nirbhaya is oppressed by bloody male rapists. Candle marches, protests on the streets and dominant to our wives at home, how far is this justified? Seeing father condescending mother at home seems normal all the time but at candle marches, we have to fight for gender equality rights because this makes me fight for a cause! Thank you!
In a country where we had Indira Gandhi as a Prime Minister once, women are still fighting for their rights to go into the temple and I thought we are only fighting to get equal statures in offices as men. What a shame! There are total 17 religious channels in India which are having good business so far just because we end up following them. Do we need such a thing in our lives to follow religion? Really?
We, Indians, need to nip this inequality in the bud and not let anyone misuse our rights in the name of religion. Charity begins at home and let the equality begins in our home where a kid should not be taught a wrong lesson of how women should be treated.
I don’t second that it is the religion who teaches us that women should be barred from certain customs, it is merely the owners of religious temples or so called religious offices who consider themselves the judge of religious constitutions. I am a proud Hindu and my religion as far as I know places Sita ahead of Ram and Radha ahead of Krishna when we chant Sita-Ram and Radhe-Krishna and not the other way around.