Village bansarchaic widowhood practices forced on women
A remote Maharashtrian village has shown India how to stop Brahminical social tyranny against widows. It just takes a collective, conscious decision to make it happen. Herwad village in Kolhapur district has banned regressive customs that force a woman into widowhood after the death of her husband. Women losing their husbands will no longer have to perform rituals like breaking bangles, wiping off ‘kumkum’ (vermillion), and removing the ‘mangalsutra’ (symbol of Hindu marriage). These ancient customs were hitherto seriously enforced, especially in Brahmin homes, and later co-opted by other castes, to distinguish widows from other women. Widows were also discouraged by their families to attend celebrations like marriages where their presence was considered unlucky. These rituals are practiced even today in many Hindu households across the country even though the winds of social reforms are sweeping across. Herwad’s urge for change came about after it lost over a dozen men to Covid-19. The villagers could not bear to see the rituals adding to the misery of the new widows. They eventually passed the resolution and will now launch an awareness campaign about the ban on widow customs. The decision of this small village stands alongside revolutionary social reforms like the end of “sati” and allowing widow remarriage. The progressive sections of the society and Governments in the States and at the Centre should take over the baton from Herwad.
It is significant that this village falls in Kolhapur district, considered the social reform capital of Maharashtra. The panchayat resolution coincided with the death anniversary of the erstwhile ruler of Kolhapur state, Chhatrapati Sahuji Maharaj, who is credited with introducing social reforms and loosening the Brahmin stranglehold over religion, culture and society. The man who introduced reservation in India by allocating 50 per cent of all vacancies to the backward classes, was instrumental in banning the Devadasi system and child marriages and legalising widow remarriages and inter-caste marriages. Women’s rights and reforms for Dalits eventually brought in remarkable social changes in the State. The development of roads and rapid urbanisation allowed new ideas to trickle into the villages, thus weakening the age-old social hierarchies. Much of rural Maharashtra is now semi-urban. Urban migration led to a large-scale division of land and that impacted traditional agricultural practices. The services industry entered the rural areas in a big way. Greater participation of women in education, work and entrepreneurship loosened the grip of archaic customs because women spend as much time as men outside their homes. However, the total emancipation of widows is still a distant goal. A majority of the widows in India are unaware of their legal rights. Confined to home, mostly uneducated and burdened by patriarchy, they have no idea about their rights to inheritance, maintenance, adoption, and right to property after remarriage. Older widows are mistreated by their families or are left in old-age homes. Their lack of economic independence is their undoing. Making them aware of their rights is the way forward.
