Let temples of tradition welcome women

Tradition and modernity have always had an uncomfortable relationship and while we all draw our identity and comfort from the rituals and beliefs that constitute our past, we must realize that the time has come to let some go or at least introduce some vital changes. Women’s rights must surely count as an important area to revisit old beliefs and unfair, unjust rituals. Naturally, all efforts in this direction are hotly – even violently – debated in society and religious institutions. However, we must be proud that India was among the rare nations that granted equal voting rights to all its citizens, regardless of gender, when we gained independence. Similarly, all Indians are equal in the eyes of law and no one can claim to be above it by quoting birth, caste or creed. Not many European countries can claim such a gender-just system and in the case of the USA, remember that equal human rights for its women and coloured people have a long history of struggle and violence behind them.

However, while on paper we may seem like a very modern and progressive nation, we have all experienced bigoted, unjust and abusive social behaviour even in the 21st century. Calls for a uniform civil code is mired in prejudice and religious outrage because no community is willing to give up its right to be unfair in the name of religion. So, Hindu women cannot enter certain temples and entry to all temples in banned if the devotee is menstruating. Male priests alone have the right to conduct Hindu religious ceremonies and so on. Muslim women do not have even the basic right to demand alimony (recall the Shah Bano case) or inherit property. The practice of triple talaq is unacceptable in this day and age, but dare anyone take on the clerics? Catholic women have similar handicaps in inheriting property and practising family planning. 

That is why the recent protest by women demanding equal rights of worship becomes relevant. For behind this demand is the denial of equal rights to women in several spheres. The social history of every country throws up one universal fact: that women are considered less equal than men. Perhaps it is too much to expect that men will voluntarily concede their special status because, as debates on the women’s reservation bill in our Parliament reveal, even those who swear by social justice and tolerance are actually the most unfair and intolerant segment of our society. So while women from their own families are pushed into politics, they will fight tooth and nail to deny other women this right when they distribute tickets. Let us not forget that the same resistance was displayed by the male chauvinists when widow remarriage and the Sharda Act were passed all those decades ago. But then the leaders of these movements were men and women of such impeccable probity that their voice carried the day. Where are such leaders today? 

Our society is now led by those who allow narrow ideological concerns overtake larger social concerns. The common public, too, has no faith in what these so-called leaders say. As our TV debates and newspaper articles reveal, it is all right to cast stones at others, but never right to question their own beliefs. So, if a poor Muslim is lynched by a callous mob of hoodlums, rather than punishing the miscreants our leaders prefer to discuss ad nauseam as to who is to blame: their party or the other? Was it the responsibility of the state or the centre? Was this party to blame or that one? In this endless round of passing the buck, the victim and his family became pathetic pawns in the game of political one-upmanship.

Much the same is happening today in the nation’s capital, stinking under piles of garbage and litter. The AAP party has decided that no matter who suffers, there is an international conspiracy to discredit it because every other political party in the country wants it to fail. The piles of garbage grow bigger, traffic is held up by protesting MCD workers and the city is sitting on a volcano of filth waiting to erupt into an epidemic. But do you think anyone is interested in solving the problem? 

Small wonder then that the levels of cynicism against our political leaders rise by the hour and one can almost predict that anarchy will one day be let loose as people decide that enough is enough. 

If there is any hope, it lies with our faceless saints. For every venal politician, there is a doctor who treats the poor and rich alike, a teacher who has opted to earn a modest salary because she believes that the young must be taught the right values, an honest auto driver who returns a bag of money a passenger forgot when alighting…. They are the men and women who keep our faith alive.