Events
& Issues
New
Delhi, 21 April 2016
“Temple Entry”
WOMEN,
DALITS BATTLE AHEAD
By Proloy
Bagchi
Trupti Desai of Bhumata Brigade was
beaten up the other day simply for entering the sanctum of Mahalaxmi Temple
at Kolhapur, Maharashtra in a dress that is
generally used by women in Punjab and not as
per ‘dress code’, a sari. Once used only by the Punjabis, the dress (kurta and
salwar/chooridar) is now common all over India,
including remote places of the North-East and South India.
The Punjabi outfit is no less Indian than sari and yet she was assaulted in a
display of the extreme orthodoxy of the locals.
But, that doesn’t seem to be the
actual reason for her being roughed up. The staunch Hindus of Maharashtra have
been against entry of women in the sanctums of their highly venerated places of
worship. Desai has been spearheading the women’s movement against this
discrimination. On the basis of a judgment of Mumbai High Court, where a case
had been filed, she led women into the temple of Shani Shingnapur
in Ahmednagar district after the Court delivered a verdict in favour of the
women. The faithful, true and steadfast Hindus did not like it one bit and had
developed acute antipathy for her.
Orthodoxy has never had any
rationale and even if it had any it wouldn’t adapt to the changing environment.
The kind of rigidity displayed by the devout Hindus in Maharashtra was utterly
reprehensible, particularly, at Kolhapur
where they indulged in violence and that too against a woman. The court had
already ordered that the discrimination was not legally sustainable.
The Shingnapur Shani temple
authorities fended off the attempts by the Bhumata Brigade for a couple of days
after the court ordered in favour of the petitioners, but later women entered
and worshipped the deity in the sanctum only under police protection. Those
were a few days of tension which may continue for some time as the staunch
Hindus are not likely to give in so easily. One expects civil disturbances to
occur whenever women attempt to enter the sanctums.
One might mention that another
instance of this kind of discrimination is being fought out in the Supreme
Court. A case is being heard of entry in temples of women down in the South.
The famous Ayappa temple
of Sabarimala in Kerala
has prohibited entry of women of the ages between 10 and 55. Hundreds of
millions of people visit the temple trudging for miles through difficult
terrain of hills, rivers and valleys of dense forests but menstruating women
cannot join the pilgrimage.
The reason handed out is that Lord
Ayappa is a celibate (Brahmachari) and hence women are barred – an absurd
argument if ever there was one. The Apex
Court has decided to give the matter extensive and
detailed hearing and has asked uncomfortable questions embarrassing the lawyers
defending the indefensible practice. The matter, however, is yet to reach
finality at the Court. What is, perhaps, ironical is that these very men
wouldn’t flinch from worshipping a goddess. For them, perhaps, goddesses do not
menstruate.
In the meantime, the Hindu religious
head of a monastery (math), Swami Swaropanand Swaraswati of Sharda Peeth,
Dwarka in Gujarat, waded into the controversy.
He gave an avoidable statement and said that women should not worship Shani
(Saturn) as it is a cruel planet and that women will be raped in increasing
numbers if they did so. A greater nonsense perhaps was never uttered by a Hindu
high priest whose position as Shankaracharya is traceable back to Adi Sankara
of 9th Century AD, the great reformer of Hinduism.
Of late he seems to have
appropriated the exclusive right to articulate views that at best are idiotic.
He gave another statement in which he viewed the drought in Marathwada region
of Maharashtra in another context. He said
that Marathwada was undergoing an acute spell of water scarcity because people
there have been worshipping Sai Baba of Shirdi – a deemed god who, according to
him, is unworthy of being worshipped. He has, thus made himself a subject of
ridicule for millions of Hindus who have unshakeable faith in Sai Baba.
Speaking of women’s movement of
“temple entry” one is reminded of another such movement more than a 100 years
ago. This movement was one for “temple entry” for Dalits, the erstwhile
untouchables. India
has had the scourge of untouchability since times immemorial and as a
consequence the Dalits, the lowest in the Hindu caste hierarchy, were never
considered equal to higher castes.
They were not only suppressed,
shunned and humiliated, but were also prevented from making use of various
common facilities, for instance, the roads leading to temples or the very
essential facility of a common well. These practices still continue in several
parts of the country in the north and south even 68 years after independence
and promulgation of the Constitution that guarantees absolute equality to each
and every citizen regardless of caste and creed.
If the Dalits were prevented from
making use of facilities that were vital for sustaining their lives, the
question of their being allowed into the Hindu temples would naturally not
arise. A simmering discontent was, therefore, pervasive all over, particularly
in the southern parts of the country where orthodoxy was and still is at its
worst. There it is a litany of agitations, riots and largely unsuccessful
litigations in the courts since the 19th Century. However, the “temple entry”
movement gathered strength in the early years of the 20th Century. Even Mahatma
Gandhi lent his moral influence to the movement which, though, had little
effect on a bull-headed Hindu orthodoxy.
Eventually, the erstwhile state of
Travancore (Thiruvanantpuram, earlier Trivandrum of Kerala) became the
epicenter of the movement, though before that the movement was active elsewhere
in the region. Despite the uninterrupted agitation for almost a decade it was
only in 1936 that the Maharaja of Travancore signed the historic Proclamation
of Temple Entry for Dalits, thus in one fell swoop doing away with the age old
injustice meted out to them.
This happened more than 80 years ago
but even now one hears of the discriminations against Dalits in the South where
they not only are harassed in their day-to-day lives, their women are raped
with impunity and they are hacked to death if they ever displayed the audacity to marry a member of the upper
caste.
Divisions are inherent in the Hindu
social and religious fabric. It has been like this for ages and the
abominations in the system have developed deep roots. It will take years, decades,
even centuries to get a level playing field for everyone in this society. Women
who have won the right to worship in the inner sanctum of temples have to face
up to the Hindu extreme Righ – a fringe that is a tough nut to crack. It might
take some more years before they are able to visit temples without any fear or
apprehensions. Shaking off their complacency, they have to be prepared for a
few more fights that seem to be in offing for them. ---INFA
(Copyright,
India News & Feature Alliance)
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