Religious prejudice

 Religious Prejudice 

(By Rounakshi Dey ) 

Image By:- Sandeep

“As a devotee, I think God do not have any special conditions for any of his creations, and as a woman and a citizen I think my right to enter the temple is questioned here. It’s a clear and sheer discrimination with me and my rights.” by Suneetha Balakrishnan. God is omnipresent. If women have faith in an idol, tradition and stigmas should in no way stand as a barrier between them. Indian Constitution says that all the Fundamental rights must be given to its citizens irrespective of their gender. Preventing women from entering certain religious places is an outright violation of Article 25 that allows all persons the right to “freely profess, practice, and propagate religion.” We are in the 21st century. Human beings have progressed in every domain starting from space science to medical science. Yet, in spite of such enormous progress, we still haven’t broken the shackles of certain religious patriarchal traditions. Women are still unable to visit some temples according to their wish. Have we really progressed? Though science has progressed, yet our mentality seems to be stuck in the earlier times.

Scenarios where women were denied entry in religious places and the jurisdiction intervenes:

• SHANI SHINGNAPUR TEMPLE (Maharashtra): A 400 year old tradition existed in this temple which prevented women from entering its inner sanctum. Women protested outside the temple against the tradition. But the authorities denied women's entry into the inner sanctum stating that it was against the Hindu culture. The women approached the Bombay High Court against this tradition. The court gave its verdict that this tradition was against the fundamental right to public places and hence women were allowed thereafter. 

• TRIMBAKESHWAR SHIVA TEMPLE (Maharashtra): Temple trustees said that women will be allowed to pray inside the temple only for a fixed hour of the day provided they had worn cotton or silk sarees. This rule was a living example of patriarchy even in modern times and conferred restrictions upon women. Though the trustees allowed women to enter the temple, but indirectly made it clear that it was a male-dominated society we reside in and we were bound to follow the rules set by them.

• SABARIMALA TEMPLE (KERALA): In this temple, women of menstruating age (10 to 50 years) were not allowed to enter inside it. A priest was said to perform ‘purification’ ritual after a 35-year-old woman stepped inside the temple. This ban has existed for ages in the name of religion. The Supreme Court questioned the ban on women's saying that God never discriminates between genders, hence no tradition should discriminate between them.

• HAJI ALI DARGAH (MAHARASHTRA): This tomb did not allow women to come near the graves. Women protested against this tradition demanding their entry inside the sanctum. The trustees said that allowing women close to the graves was a sin according to Islamic tradition. The Bombay High Court lifted this ban, saying that it violated freedom of conscience and free profession, practice and propagation of religion. 

• PATBAUSI SATRA (ASSAM): Women were banned from entering this temple in order to protect the purity of the place. The Governor of Assam persuaded the spiritual head of the Satra to uplift the ban. But, the ban was reimposed again.

• KARTIKEYA TEMPLE (RAJASTHAN): Women are banned from entering the temple due to an age old folklore surrounding this temple. The ban still persists.

• RANAKPUR TEMPLE (RAJASTHAN): This Jain pilgrimage site bans the entry of menstruating women inside it. Also, every woman entering this temple should ensure that her dress length is at least below the knee. This pilgrimage enforces patriarchy and compels women to follow the rules made by men in order to enter the religious site.

Version of Women regarding Patriarchal Rules in Religious Sites:

Though we have progressed a lot, yet even today, women silently follow the rules made by the male-dominated society. Since childhood girls are made to follow the traditions and rules been handed down from one century to the other. Every girl is expected to follow them meekly. We hear from the female members of the family that a girl’s body is impure when she is menstruating. She is not allowed to go near idols, even in her own home during this time of the month. Some families, even completely separate the menstruating women for five days of the month. They eat separately, sleep separately, they are not even allowed in the kitchen. These traditions remain generation after generation. Hardly have we found women protesting against them. Even educated women of modern times, meekly accept these traditions in the name of religion. Worshiping God comes from within, tradition and rituals should never be a barrier between a human being and the Almighty. God never segregated men and women neither did he reject the worships of a menstruating woman. It is we the human beings who have created these traditions to dominate women for ages.

Times have changed and society has progressed. It’s high time we the women come together and uniformly protest against the wrong doings. Unless we are conscious about our rights we will be treated as inferior to men. Getting the judiciary involved in these religious matters show that we have failed as social creatures. There are discriminations which are still prevalent in the society. Next time we find any wrong doing against any woman, we should uniformly protest against it. Only by snatching our right, we will be able to get rid of these shackles and find a modern India. We look forward to that day when women will be treated equal to men in all aspects…

 

Disclaimer:-

The opinions expressed in this article are the personal opinions of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of Light de Literacy and LDL does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.