Women in Hinduism

Many people are aware of discrimination women face around the world. All major religions contribute to this cycle, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, all have bias against women. The only difference is that in some it is more pronounced than the other.

Hinduism has long tradition of celebrating goddess’s who symbolize strength, knowledge and wealth. Yet the same religion and culture, for centuries, preached that women are feeble beings who should be controlled. Manu Smiriti, which is regarded as foundation of Hindu cultural life, advocates child marriage and denying women freedom to marry after their husband has died. It also preaches “wife burning”, a horrid practice where wife is burnt alive in her husband’s funeral pyre.

Although nowadays practice of wife burning seldom happens, child marriage is still a reality in many remote villages in India and Nepal. Widows remain at the mercy of their family and re-marriage is a rarity.

My grandmother was married by the time she was 6, to a person she didn’t know and had never met. Think about it, being married at 6! No education, no time to dream about a future, a life time of responsibility and constraints.

It is true that Hindu women have come a long way since then but the fundamental belief of the community remains the same. People regard daughters as unwanted burden, which acts as a fuel to growing problem of female infanticide, women still have very little decision making capacity and they are expected to confirm to the draconian standards set by the elders.

This cycle of discrimination and seclusion will continue unless Hindu women stand up and refuse to accept the bias in religious texts and demand their rightful position in the community.