Another cog in India’s patriarchal juggernaut

It was India’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, who said: “You can tell the condition of a Nation by looking at the status of its women.”

Years on, the situation of women in India has only fractionally changed as evidenced by the 73rd amendment to India’s constitution in 1993, which obliged Indian states to establish local governments at village, block and district levels and at each level, and that one-third of the seats were to be reserved for women.

It took about 8 years for all Indian states to comply, like a stubborn father wincing and wining his way to accepting a love-marriage.

And yet, the patriarchal societal practices run predominantly, echoing the androcentric voices of dominant men throughout the nation. Women have to present dowries to the groom’s family and in some cases even have to shoulder the entire cost for the exuberant ceremonies that ensue. Worse still are selective abortions, high female infant mortality rates, significantly lower literacy levels compared to men and child marriages.

As though to put another nail on the women’s rights coffin, the Indian government has released an official guide for pregnant women and if the future looked bleak before, it is absolute torture now.

According to this new manifesto from macho-hell, pregnant women should “shun impure thoughts about sex and avoid eating meat and eggs.” Considering India has one of the highest maternal mortality rates with nearly 174 of every 100,000 pregnant women dying during childbirth, asking women to exhaust their mental capacities by straining to filter out “impure” thoughts, while consuming diets completely lacking in protein, essential oils including omega-3 and other highly-beneficial nutrients doesn’t seem to take us any closer to addressing the severity of this case.

It is just as well that gynecologist Arun Gadre voiced his contempt of this new manual, saying: “The government is doling out unscientific and irrational advice, instead of ensuring that poor pregnant women get to eat a nutritious, high-protein diet.”

There was one who did not seem to agree with Gadre and that was the traditional medicine minister, Shripad Naik, who praised the new guide for its “wisdom accumulated over many centuries.”

He went on to add: “The booklet puts together relevant facts culled out from clinical practice in the fields of yoga and naturopathy.”

Naik’s comments highlight the contradictions of traditional Hindu practices and seem to further enrich Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s pro-vegetarian campaign as part of his Hindu-nationalist party’s agenda.

According to UNICEF reports, 48 per cent of Indian children aged 5 and below are categorised as “stunted.” Stunted children are a result of malnourished mothers, who are often the last to eat and consume the least amount of food in the average Indian household.

Physician Amit Sengupta joined Gadre in criticising the government’s backward practices, saying: “Undernourished girls grow into undernourished women. Married by their families while still in their teens, these girls become pregnant by the time they are 17 or 18, when their bodies have not matured enough to safely deliver a child.”

Will India ever move into a more secular society that inhibits such injustices cast upon women, or are they doomed to falling well short of international humanitarian regulations that would have Nehru weeping at the feet of his beloved nation?

Raising awareness of women’s rights and voicing my contempt for India’s Hindu-nationalist, patriarchal agenda.