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In so many parts of India, a woman is easily labelled a witch. Why are women soft targets? Read to know more.
We may have heard stories of witches and disregarded them as folklore. But ‘witches’ are a reality in rural India, where superstition is easier to come by than education and medical science may be conceived as a myth. Quacks and shamans rule and conspire with locals to blame women for crop failures, illnesses and natural calamities.
Women are being labelled as witches in rural India to facilitate relatives and neighbours to conquer their land and property, to settle personal grudges, or even for denying sexual favours! Single women, widows or old couples may be soft targets although small boys may not be spared either.
In 1985, a boy in Assam’s Goalpara district , who may have been suffering from a mental illness was labelled a witch by the local quack and villagers. He was expected to die within three days. The child survived and his mother – Birubala Rabha found her calling.
Over the next three decades, this ordinary woman would embark on this extraordinary crusade against witch-craft and witch hunting, a social evil appallingly prevalent in Assam.
But the question arises, why are women labeled as witches so easily in rural India?
India is a county that believes in superstition. Women observe various fasts praying for the long lives of their husbands. The responsibility of the husband’s well-being is directly linked to her efforts and sacrifice. If the responsibility of savoring the life and health of a husband could rest on the woman, it is not alarming that the same woman is blamed for every mishap that happens to the husband or his family.
Women in India are deemed either auspicious or jinxed. A son’s business flourishes after marriage. The daughter-in-law’s steps in the family are considered lucky. The same son meets with an accident. It is the woman who is to be blamed. Horoscopes are reassessed and the decision of the marriage to this unfortunate woman is regretted. Till date, even in educated families, widows refrain from being a part of marital, auspicious rituals. Even their loved ones feel that it is a risk not worth taking.
It is therefore not difficult to exploit such psychology of perceiving women as carriers of misfortune and convince an entire village to target a vulnerable woman.
Birubala has a powerful message for women:
“Women have to fight against superstitions, women have to be vigilant. When you become sick go to a doctor, not a quack. Don’t have blind belief in rituals and worships. Worship your gods but don’t hate others in the name of your gods. Women can sometimes be their own worst enemy.”
Image Source – Shutterstock
I like to write about the problems that have plagued the Indian society. I feel that the concept of gender equality is still alien , and that has been the focus of my articles and posts. read more...
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UP Boards Topper Prachi Nigam was trolled on social media for her facial hair; our obsession with appearance is harsh on young minds.
Prachi Nigam’s photo has been doing the rounds on social media for the right reasons. Well, scratch that- I wish the above statement were true. This 15-year-old girl should ideally be revelling in her spectacular achievement of scoring a whopping 98.05% and topping her tenth-grade boards. But oddly enough, along with her marks, it’s something else that garners more attention – her facial hair.
While the trolls are driving themselves giddy by mocking this girl who hasn’t even completed her school yet, the ones who are taking her side are going one step ahead – they are sharing her photoshopped pictures, sans the facial hair, looking nothing less than a celebrity with captions saying – “Prachi Nigam, ten years later”.
Doctors have already diagnosed her with PCOD in their comments, based on photographic evidence. While we have names for people shamed for their weight – body shaming, for their skin colour- racism, for their age- age shaming, for being a female- sexism, this category of shaming where one faces criticism for their appearance has no name. With that, it also has zero shame attached to it.
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