Bhubaneswar: A Pune-based civil society organization is to hold a national consultation on “Impact of Religion and Culture on Women’s Empowerment – an Indian Perspective” at Hyderabad, southern India.
“We are living in times where rising communal tensions and the virulent divisiveness of our national politics weaken the democratic secular fabric of our nation, the price of which women ultimately have to bear,” says Holy Spirit Sister Julie George, director of “Streevani,” (the voice of women), the organizers of the September 23-26 meet.
The consultation at Montfort Social Institute is organized in collaboration with Montfort Social Institute, Indian Christian Women’s Movement, Indian Women Theologians Forum and Satyashodak.
Sister George is a women’s rights lawyer who holds a master’s degree in law with specialization in human rights and family law. She says women also face excesses from within their own religion. Religion has been for a long time considered to be the domain of a select few men. Men have always been the recipients of divine messages, transmitters of the same and have kept to themselves the right to read, interpret and apply religious doctrines to the masses.
Her organization, Streevani, stands for the liberated and empowered woman in the modern world. The mission of Streevani is to actively contribute to the creation of a gender just society through facilitating a process of empowerment.
The culture of men as givers of religious knowledge and women as receivers has been going on from time immemorial despite the support of a few men who understand the situation of women and stand by them in their cause. Women on their part for many decades now had accepted the power of men over religion. And if they were told that they are inferior, women believed in it because it had the force of religion and hence by default the force of God, Sr. George said.
It is with a rising consciousness, awareness and an innate confidence in themselves and as well as a strong belief in their own equality before God, that women have been raising questions which now are making men uncomfortable, especially the clergy who control religion and them.
Hindu women and their counterparts in other communities have raised questions about discrimination within their respective religions.
While Hindu women have recently questioned the restriction on women’s entry into Sabarimala, Shani and Trimbakeshwar temples, Muslim women have questioned the decision of the trustees of the Haji Ali Dargah who have stopped women from entering the sanctum sanctorum.
Within the Muslim community, in an ongoing campaign 92 percent women are demanding the ban of the triple talaq and nikah halala, while Bohra women have begun a drive to ban the practice of female genital mutilation. Christian women, for a long time already, have been demanding their rightful place in the decision making processes of the Church, particularly in matters pertaining to them and their lives.
A common thread among these women is that they are firm believers, love their faith and at the same time demand complete restoration of fundamental human rights as enshrined in the values of their respective religions and within the Constitutional framework of the country.
With this background, it is imperative now to bring together women from different religious backgrounds who are resolved to raise a common voice to demand rights within religions and the state.
This consultation will explore the impact of Religion and Culture on women’s empowerment from an Indian perspective. “We will delve further into religion and the culture of Islam, Hinduism, Christianity and Sikhism, and the dynamic interplay between scripture and tradition regarding customs and praxis particularly in the lives of women. We shall also be investigating the structure of Religion and Power. Through Religion and Law we shall attempt to understand the existing personal laws before dealing with a uniform civil code, and if there is a necessity of it.”
“We are challenged to live more inclusive and collective. And even though we cannot keep away from the dynamics of injustice and violence in our country, we need to graft alternate ways onto our structures to dismantle or transform them, and this is only possible through networks committed to human rights and justice. As followers of our respective religions we need to recover this dimension to make the leap from individual to collective courage. Through this consultation, we hope to work for constructing a culture of inclusion,” Sr. George said.