5 months ago
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Last week, an authoritative of Masal gram panchayat of the tribal taluka of Surgana successful Nashik territory passed distant astatine a backstage infirmary successful Beed during treatment. Within hours, the connection of his past rites was circulated among the villagers. As it informed the chap villagers of his demise, it besides gave 1 cardinal message.
“In consonance with the thought of maintaining the dignity of our women, it was decided that the evil contented of wiping distant of vermillion, removal of bangles, toed rings and mangalsutra (akin to thaali worn by joined women), volition not beryllium followed,” the connection said astir the family’s determination to not fto the widow of the authoritative look the societal humiliation.
“We are bittersweet astir his unfortunate demise, but this is the archetypal effect to our effort successful stopping the evil traditions which humiliate our women,” the connection work further.
For centuries now, the contented of publically removing the ornaments considered to beryllium the symbols of matrimony for a pistillate has been prevalent successful Maharashtra. This includes the villagers coming unneurotic and gathering astir the widowed pistillate to portion her disconnected her bindi, her necklace, her toed rings, her bangles. The contented is humiliating for the widows who are made to socially realise the deficiency of their presumption successful the nine owed to the demise of their husbands. While it is not openly followed successful galore municipality areas anymore, it is inactive a communal signifier successful the agrarian areas.
But now, 915 villages successful Maharashtra’s Nashik territory person passed a solution that they volition not travel this evil contented successful their villages anymore. Moreover, implicit 1,100 couples person besides signed an affidavit saying they volition not fto their spouse look this humiliation aft their death. The women person signed the affidavit saying they volition not travel this tradition, and that they volition not fto the nine portion them disconnected their dignity.
The affidavit, signed connected a enslaved insubstantial of ₹100 by each mates is named ‘Saubhagyache Shapathpatra’. It states, “We travel the progressive ideas of Mahatma Phule and Gopal Ganesh Agarkar. As a liable portion of the society, we person implicit religion successful equality, state and dignity enshrined successful our Constitution. Even today, a pistillate is subjected to humiliation aft the demise of her husband. Evil traditions similar the stripping of her ornaments, wiping disconnected her vermillion, stopping her from wearing definite coloured clothes, are among the societal and spiritual restrictions placed connected her. They are achy and unscientific, and are successful implicit contravention of her cardinal rights. So, we pledge that we volition not travel immoderate specified evil traditions. We volition enactment to dispersed societal consciousness against them. We volition not enforce thing connected women against their ain will.”
A azygous colony successful Sinnar named Gulwanch has fixed 250 affidavits truthful far. Schoolchildren person besides started spreading consciousness astir the evil tradition, performing thoroughfare plays and convincing their parents to motion the affidavits.
A pistillate from Chandshi had tears successful her eyes arsenic her gram panchayat passed the solution against it. “Don’t fto anyone region these ornaments. There should beryllium a instrumentality against it. As women, we are successful afloat enactment of this move,” she said, wiping her tears, arsenic the gram panchayat handed roses to the widows of the village.
The determination is simply a portion of the Navchetana programme being implemented by the Nashik Zilla Parishad for the past 3 months. The programme aims astatine spreading societal consciousness against the sick attraction to widows and empowering them with workshops, self-employment opportunities, loans, acquisition for their children.
“Maharashtra is simply a progressive State which has ever been astatine the forefront of societal reforms. These practices not lone portion the women of their dignity, they besides marque them consciousness inferior successful the societal setup aft they suffer their spouses. That is wherefore we decided to instrumentality this programme. For the societal assimilation of the widows, we besides organise ‘haldi-kunku’ programme astatine each village. The thought is, determination should beryllium nary societal favoritism against widows,” said Omkar Pawar, main enforcement serviceman of Nashik Zilla Parishad.
