(1) Introduction:
India is known for being a democratic, secular, republican, and sovereign nation all over the world. It is well-known for its elaborate royal culture and sacred traditional practices. Women are revered as goddesses in Hinduism. Our strict sacred writings accept that a lady addresses strength of feelings, balance throughout everyday life, high insight and characterizes style. She is the maker, a vital component of the entire life cycle.[1]
(2) History Context:
She is a copy of different goddesses in herself. She is a strong mother, a lovely wife, and a lovely daughter. She makes the world complete. One ought to love her similarly, as she carries life to presence. It is clear from holy books like Manusmriti, which says, "Yatra Naraystu Pujyante Ramante Tatra Devta"where women are worshipped, only god lives. Be that as it may, the incongruity is where a lady is viewed as equivalent to goddess, not just kill blameless unborn lives based on their personality of being a young lady (a lady), yet in addition cause her to endure all through her life by limiting her freedoms, committing different rough offenses against her, mishandling her character and presence, scrutinizing her virtue and so forth? Throughout her life, a woman is subjected to societal pressures, gender discrimination, and suffering in the name of culture and customs.
In fact, it is forbidden for her to exercise her fundamental right to participate in religious ceremonies and activities. It is accepted that a lady is unclean when she is bleeding and for that reason ladies are banned from taking part and rehearsing strict ceremonies and to enter the sanctuary during their monthly cycle.[2]
(3) Landmark cases:
We must have all been aware of the landmark case involving the Sabrimala temple, which resulted in contentious verdicts against the temple's discriminatory policies. Wherein, ladies between 10 to 50 years old are explicitly suspended to enter the sanctuary as they are in their regenerative stage and between their monthly cycle. Since 1991, this restriction has been in effect, and it continues to this day. It is a clear violation of their legal rights to prevent a particular gender from exercising their legal rights on the basis of a complete natural process, which is the core of one's identity and a necessary component for continuing the chain of life.
A lady has a privilege to uniformity under the steady gaze of regulation, a right to strict freedoms and furthermore legitimate privileges against separation in view of her sex, orientation, status, and so forth. Any encroachment to their major privileges are to be sure an encroachment of the rule of law. There are temples that forbid women from participating in religious practices and places during their menstrual cycle. In view of the customary mentality and cultural standards, these sanctuaries not just inquiries a lady's immaculateness based on her monthly cycle process yet additionally disallows her to hold strict exercises and love the divinity by the concealment of her will. No strict sacred writings characterizes a lady as Debased.[3]
(4) Legal Milestone:
The Hon'ble High Court and High Court of India have passed different milestone decisions supporting ladies' strict privileges, for example, in the milestone instance of Haji Ali, in which the restriction was lifted from the mosque by the court to concede a passage to every one of the Muslim ladies.
Essentially, a 400 year old custom reached a conclusion in Shani Shingnapur (A blessed spot in the territory of Maharashtra), which confined ladies' more right than wrong to offer supplications at the holy stage and contact the god at the Shani Shingnapur sanctuary. The Court has made it abundantly clear that no woman will be subjected to discrimination, be denied access to temples, or be denied their religious rights.
It was a colossal accomplishment for every one of the ladies to conquer different obstacles, rout cultural boundaries and get their freedoms, however yet this isn't the end. To bring the change it means a lot to significantly impact the mentality of the general public, to clear every one of the old fantasies, break strange notions and make individuals mindful of the truth and regulation. Society must keep up with the times and discard outdated customs. They must accept that God made them. Our perceptions and bodies are distinct. One ought to treat them similarly. As properly referenced by Master Vivekananda -
"The best thermometer to the advancement of a country is its treatment of its ladies."
It makes no sense to, on the one hand, follow the scriptures and worship goddesses and, on the other, treat women as inferior gender and vulnerable status and still expect those worships to benefit and fill one's life with happiness and prosperity. It is unethical and unjust to worship girls and women occasionally for a few days while committing crimes against them the rest of the year. There is high need to break the old orientation generalizations to free ladies in the new time.
Main pressing issue of strict exercises and freedoms doesn't spin around only a couple previously mentioned factors however there is a need to feature the significance of ladies privileges and cooperation in strict exercises as they influence a lady's life on different perspectives like female feticide (killing female babies), marriage changes, rejection of ladies from strict ceremonies and foundations, notwithstanding their entrance in cemeteries, sanctuaries, mosques and uncalled for, unreasonable regulations and one-sided traditions and customs constrained on them.
Ladies never had equivalent freedoms and cooperation in strict issues of the general public. Being a man centric culture, male dominancy generally controlled over everybody. Strict issues and undertakings were taken care of by only men of the general public and impedance by a lady was never engaged by the general public.
In addition to the country's cultural essence, superstitions and myths are widely practiced there. Individuals accept that impedance of lady in customary ceremonies will drive god crazy and may prompt annihilation. In the event that a lady doesn't comply with the principles then she commits sins and she will wind up in damnation. Lady shouldn't contact any god while she's discharging, a lady's presence is banished from the memorial park and the rundown goes on.
Individuals' unbridled religiosity in such notions forever been a purpose for the backwardness of the country. Be that as it may, there are adequate reasons advanced by the general public to hinder and restrict a lady's right from rehearsing and partaking in strict exercises and giving legitimate explanations behind their Unlawful one-sided acts. Ladies contribute their beginning and end to build a superior society however yet they are denied from partaking in their essential privileges as people by a similar society.
The world is advancing yet the circumstances for ladies is something similar. For many decades, it has remained unchanged. In order to avoid rebelling against society, it is demanded that they suppress their feelings and voices and remain silent out of fear. They have been told for decades by society what is their duty, what they should do, and what they shouldn't do. It appears as "the maker is being constrained by her own manifestations". This is, in fact, a depressing fact about the society in which we all live. Because society believes that a woman is obligated to change, society expects women to do so on a consistent basis.[4]
(5) Conclusion:
The society has different ideas about why women shouldn't participate in religious activities to keep the temple holy. Because men are considered to be more deserving, society holds that women should be given more privileges. The issue of sexism is a major concern for society. When one gender is thought to be superior, gender differences and inequality worsen the situation.
We witnessed that women are prohibited from participating in or assisting in any religious rituals, and inequality exists everywhere, including in our own homes. We as a society must recognize that a society is nothing without women.
We ought to enable ladies of the general public by engaging every one of the ladies in our home. We shouldn't be biased against one gender; rather, we should educate and take into account all genders equally. We should not violate one another's legal rights because, after all, we are all Humans and have certain rights by birth.
For the sake of religion, individuals succumb to numerous notions and indiscriminately accept the old traditions, which were passed as social heritage to them. Legally, the situation demonstrates that, in order to satisfy superstitious beliefs, both the guilty mind (Mens Rea) and the guilty act (Actus Reus) can be present when heinous crimes against women are committed. For instance, in the name of rituals, terminating female fetuses and sacrificing female infants to worship goddesses in exchange for a baby boy.
These are called as Ceremonial killings. It is currently seldom clear yet at the same time rehearsed furtively in numerous locales. In the state of Andhra Pradesh, a brutal murder of two twin girls came to public attention in a recent case. Wherein, two honest young ladies lost their lives for strict customs. It is difficult to ignore the fact that people continue to commit such heinous crimes despite the modern era.
The society has no standards by which to evaluate a woman from head to toe. Her personality is decided based on her garments, strict practices, contemplations and sentiments and so forth? At any rate, nobody cares how she feels. Even when marriages are performed in the name of ritual, a woman must pass certain tests to demonstrate her purity. She is quizzed about everything, including her life.
The society's irrational beliefs and lack of knowledge exacerbate the situation. Because we are a part of this society, we must distinguish between ethical behavior and unethical behavior. Banning ladies from her essential privileges or proceed with serious offenses for the sake of religion ought to be completely precluded under the arrangements of Indian regulation
(6) Citation:
1. Ms.Muskan Karmajit Singh, Religious Liberty and women Rights, available at: https://www.legalserviceindia.com/legal/article-6082-religious-liberties-and-women-rights.html (last visited on December 3, 2023).
2. ibid
3. ibid
4. ibid
