Woman's Status in India

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21912, 22 September 1934, Page 6 (Supplement)

Woman's Status in India

lii view of the recent Pan-Pacific Conference, and the active part taken in it by the Indian delegation, the progress: made by the women of India in emancipating themselves is of particular interest. Until recent times, woman's position was indeed most deplorable. She was virtually her husband's property, part of his goods and chattels to dispose of at his own sweet will, his pleasure or displeasure. According to both the Moslemic and Brahminic code, she was created solely for the gratification of man, to minister -to his needs and desires and bear him children. In the harems of both Moslem and Hindu, where there was a plurality of wives, her standing was peculiarly regulated. The mothers of sons took precedence over those with daughters; these, in turn, were above childless wives, who ranked only slightly better than servants and slaves. All were at the mercy and beck of the dowager mother, her word being the controlling law of the harem. The lot of woman in India has been considerably ameliorated of recent years, however, though the process has been slow and gradual. It may be said, truthfully, that emancipation came into being with Britain's occupation and suzerainty of India. Then, later, the Zenana (Hareen) Mission was inaugurated and did—is still doing—wonderful work. At the commencement it was a Herculean task they undertook, with the conservatism and code of centuries to overcome, the arrogance of racial and caste prejudices to contend with, the rigid "purdah" (veil) to pass beyond. In many harems the " purdah" was so rigidly enforced that EurofK-an women were refused admittance to the harem precincts. One reason, or, it may be said, the chief reason, for such exclusion was the teaching of the Zenana inmates to read and write, thus opening a means of illicit correspondence with the outer-world. However, the Zenana Mission sisters won their way in and received acknowledgement, with the result that to-day many of the harem ladies are well educated and capable.

Much of this amelioration may be credited to the Begum (Queen) of Bhopal, who, incidently, is the onlv " Woman-knight" in the British Empire, and entitled to a salute of twentyone guns. Bhopal is an Independent State of India, the throne Moslemic. while the mass of the subjects are of the Hindu religion. It is also unique, in that succession to the throne is

THE BEGUM'S PART

l'emale. In 1K57 the reigning Begum was the first Indian woman to disavow the rigidity of " purdah," to appear in public and to give audience to her subjects. By precept and example this progressive Queen helped greatly in the emancipation of her sex in India, and has been followed in so doing by her successors. With the British occupation came many radical changes that directly, and indirectly, improved woman's status. Various cruel and abhorrent customs and rites were prohibited, among them being the "Car of Jagganath" ajid " Suttee." The City of Jagganath is devoted to the Hindu God Vishnoo, and sacred both to Hindu and Buddhist; to the latter, as the " abode of Buddha's tooth." It enshrines the Hindu idol Jugganath, symbolising as the God of Creation and depicted as armless. There used to be twenty-one festivals each year dedicated to this idol. Chief among these was the " Car festival," when the "Car of Jagganath" was hauled through the streets of devotees. The " car" consisted of a temple, thirty-five feet square and forty-five feet high, mounted on wheels seven feet in diameter. The festival became a scene of religous frenzy, where devotional fanatics cast themselves under the pulverising wheels. " Suttee" (anglicised from the ancient Sanskrit, " Sati," which means " a virtuous wife") was a rite whereby widows immolated themselves on their husband's funeral pyres, and this, too, was abolished. The immolation was supposed to be voluntary, but, no doubt, the priesthood had much to do with the hideous and awful ceremony. It is a very ancient rite, dating back to the Macedonian-Greek era, and based on the custom of sending the wives, slaves, weapons, and so on to accompany their lord into the other world. In 1829, Lord William Bentinck made it a punishable offence, when all taking part in the ceremony would be indicted for culpable homicide. In spite of all laws and penalties, however, many such atrocities still take place. In a country of three hundred millions much may pass bv without being noticed, especially where sympathy is with an ancient and unwritten code. However, education, which is cheap, is spreading among the masses; lady teachers are carrying it into the Zenanas and poorer homes, and Indian women are gaining another and broader outlook upon life and the world. Soon, as the veiled-women of Turkey have done, they will totally break and OOOOPj J cast aside the fetters of Inoooooc 9 the past. U