India Dishonoured: Behind a Nation's War on Women Read Free Page A

shelter of Ravana. I know the fire of your chastity has prevented Ravana from even touching your nail. But I have my own limitations. As a king I am answerable to my people, and therefore, I would like you to prove your purity in front of all so that in future people on this earth would not cast doubt - dare not put any blame - of infidelity on your noble character.

    Sita turned to her husband’s brother, Lakshman:
    Agonised by these false rumours, I cannot bear living. I shall enter a blazing fire, the only course left for me now that I have been rejected in a public gathering by my husband who is not pleased with my qualities.
    To understand the origins of most cultural practices in India requires going back to centuries-old religious mythology. The Ramayana , within which this exchange takes place, is known to almost every Indian child from a young age. This epic tale of kings and queens, family duty and promises, love and war, tradition and honour, is a key part of the Hindu religious canon. Lord Ram is held up as the epitome of a dutiful son, a good husband and an honourable king who will do anything to rescue his wife Sita from the clutches of the evil Ravana. Sita is portrayed as the archetypal woman: kind, righteous, strong but obedient.
    The story of Sita’s fate is important not just because the Ramayana is so highly regarded but because the above exchange, narrated near the end, illustrates the significance given to a woman’s ‘honour’. There are several versions of the Ramayana , narrated by different sects of Hinduism across different parts of the country. In most versions Sita accepts the trial of fire and walks through unharmed. However, in other versions she rejects the trial and calls on the Earth to consume her and spare her the indignity. The Mahabharata, another popular epic tale, has a similar tale to tell about the duty of men and women, the importance of tradition and the different roles of men and women. These religious texts undoubtedly shape popular perceptions on how women should act.
    Salil Tripathi, a writer and columnist for the Mint newspaper in India, says texts such as the Ramayana and Mahabharata reinforce the underlying message that “if you want to be a good person, these are the role models to follow.”
For many of India’s Hindus (around 80% of the population), Muslims (14%), Christians (2.5%), Sikhs (2%), Buddhists (1%), Jains (> 1%) and other minorities 1 Indian Census 2011 – religion is a way of living and celebrating, not just a matter of attending a place of worship once a week. It can be extremely difficult to draw a line where religion ends and culture begins; the two have been intricately inter-woven over centuries.
    But Tripathi says that religion did not always influence cultural attitudes – other factors had a bearing too. “Some of the restrictions on women’s presence in public are influenced by history. For example due to the central Asian invaders [the Mughals], who would kidnap women, they started staying at home and covering their heads.”
    Of course, there are other theories too on why the role of women declined in public spaces. Tripathi says that British invaders and their Victorian-era morality also had a part to play in shaping Indian laws and attitudes. “For example gay sex was criminalised by the Victorians in India; prior to that it was not illegal.” He points out that some Indian religious mythology featured homosexual stories and temples had carvings of lesbian sex. “I don’t want to say that India was more liberal than Britain – but a lot of the Indian Penal Code was shaped by the criminal code that Victorian Britain imposed on India.”
    Many Indians say that culture places men and women in different but complementary roles and that rather than subscribing to western ideals of feminist equality Indian women are in fact put on a pedestal. During one very popular Hindu and Sikh festival for example, Rakhee , sisters tie a thread around