Originally posted by: Kyahikahoon
U leaned more towards our culture and roots in your 20s because eventually u realised that it is the one that truly aligns with what liberalism really is. Our culture defines freedom, equality n inclusivity.
Yea there r certain pockets in the country which r regressive..but they don’t define Hinduism..and we can differentiate only on reaching a certain level of maturity. Thats also when we realize that BJP is the only liberal party in India
Sorry to butt in on this conversation, but I had to address something and please don’t take this as an attack or anything. It’s just a matter of a perspective that I want to share.
Often regressive Hindu practices are associated with the religion but not the history that inspired those. One of the most infamous examples of this could be from Gujarat and Rajasthan with the concept of Ghoonghat and child marriage practices. We rightly see them as being something that shouldn’t be practiced in the modern day but we should also consider that there had to have been a reason for them to have been initiated in the first place.
I am not sure how many people realise this but across Gujarat and Rajasthan, you would find communities which are Shakti worshippers and most of them are warrior goddesses. Perhaps the most benevolent and peaceful form of Devi across the two states is Ashapura Maa of Kutch - whose very name means the Wish Fulfilling mother. We have Chamunda Maa, Khodiyar Maa, Randhal Maa, Bauchara Maa, Meldi Maa, Karni Mata to name a few as forms of Devi that are considered as Kul Devis of the various communities across the two states. Then how is it that Devi worshippers had to resort to child marriage and Ghoonghat? The answer lies in history. The centuries of repeated wars and attempts to subjugate and destroy the civilisation of the land, to convert.
Barbarians didn’t care what they did to whom - right from a young child to an older woman, from those newborn to those who had died. I hate to bring this up but remember that infamous image of the young woman paraded around half naked just 2 years ago when the attack in Israel happened? The way we could clearly see she had been gruesomely assaulted and there were pictures of other women who were bleeding profusely as well who were held captives. This has happened in our own lifetimes with photographic and video evidence of the same that will exist for posterity… there’s no evidence of similar events that happened in the past in our country… but what we saw in the present is a reflection of the past.
Child marriages became a necessity to both provide protection to a young girl from 2 different families as well as to have a quicker replacement for the generation of warriors ready and waiting for their own turn to protect their people and land, their culture and their legacies. Ghoonghat became not just a necessity born of the extreme heat that could protect the head akin to a turban worn by men in these geographically heated regions but also a practice to ensure that no woman was even violated by mere observation. The fact that we have even a historical war where a mad man named Khilji tried to get a married woman just because she was considered too beautiful perhaps played a part in the decision. If hiding a face can save lives of the men of their community and land, then was it so great a cost to bear?
Too often practices are targeted but not enough times are they dissected with the intent to understand what their origin might be. To me, that’s half the information and not enough knowledge. When I hear or read or find out about practices that are too regressive or orthodox for modern times, I try to understand the logic behind the practice. What might have led to its existence in the first place much led its continued practice. And the reason I do this is because I know we as a land have been one of seekers and knowledge, we didn’t do things just because. Our ancestors didn’t just formulate practices for the sake of them but for reasons that vary and can be only understood from context and on the basis of their respective requirements and roles. For example, the practice of fasting, particular poojas or offerings made for the same varying per the ritual and the time of the year it’s meant to be performed, the practice of Yoga… everything has a purpose. It doesn’t make sense to me that down the line we stopped questioning or started doing things illogically or because we started becoming regressive just because.I believe even the origins of these practices have a history to them which should be analysed in the context of the era they began and what was happening at the time in that particular region, it might bring a POV that doesn’t preach for the continuation of such practices but it can certainly explain the need for them in the first place. Most of the practices that continue today are done so because people have followed them but not questioned their need or their origin; they don’t take into account that something might have been changed per the need of the time centuries ago but it wasn’t the norm until the memory of it not being the norm was itself forgotten and lost over time.
When people start doing that, they may then decide whether or not the practice makes sense even today or not. Whether they wanna follow it on an individual level or even as masses or not.
Advocate Anjali Awasthi
Seher Hone Ko Hai
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