Violence Against Women

[Andal]

Namaste,

As a Hindu woman and human being I am absolutely horrified by the gang rape and death of "Damini"

Doctor: Young woman gang-raped in India dies - CNN.com

We have a big problem here. Hindus are 80% of India and this type of violence is tolerated on a regular basis. Women are subjugated to truly atrocious human rights violations on a daily basis.

When I was in India this past summer I lived with a family where women were treated as slaves. I as an American woman was also molested in the ISKCON temple in Vrindavan and when I complained I was given a list of excuses

Hindus every where need to stand up against this type of vile treatment of our sisters, mothers, wives, and friends. This can no longer be tolerated.

While we do not have one organized body, surely something can be done to change this.

So the question is, how do we over turn centuries of exploitation and culturally justified violence?

Aum Hari Aum!

 

[Sumit]

As a Hindu woman and human being I am absolutely horrified by the gang rape and death of "Damini".

May god provide peace to her soul. And hope that our gov will give death sentence to culprits.

We have a big problem here. Hindus are 80% of India and this type of violence is tolerated on a regular basis. Women are subjugated to truly atrocious human rights violations on a daily basis.
When I was in India this past summer I lived with a family where women were treated as slaves.

At present time India is facing her worst period. Crime is at peak and females are soft target. At many places woman can't step outside without family members because of fear. Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi etc are some places where conditions are worst. Future seems dark. Our government is totally corrupt and plays vote bank policy and many of it's politicians are involved in rape cases. Our education system is hollow. Parents have no time for children, they do not give them moral education. Joint family system is no more in practice. As a result there is none to guide them and they therefore choose wrong path starts taking alcohol, smoking and commits other crime.

I as an American woman was also molested in the ISKCON temple in Vrindavan and when I complained I was given a list of excuses

Sorry for that, India is filled with a lot of saffron clothed wolves. You will find many of them in haridwar, Varanasi, Risikesh. Their knowledge is a big zero. Their only work is to make people fool, drink and smoke whole day and than say Hari Om. Temples are constructed purely for business purpose and those who donate in them are biggest fool. The condition of India is "People sleeping, gov sleeping and criminals are free to crime". However the condition of Indian villages is very good. People are united, helpful and cheerful.

Hindus every where need to stand up against this type of vile treatment of our sisters, mothers, wives, and friends. This can no longer be tolerated. While we do not have one organized body, surely something can be done to change this.

So the question is, how do we over turn centuries of exploitation and culturally justified violence?

By education.

 

[Yogi1054]

Violence against any one male or female is wrong - people of faith and no faith need to stand together to protect human rights. Different faiths ignore these problems and in some cases my justify the use of violence against women - again in MY eyes this is wrong as well

 

[Maya3]

I'm glad you brought this up.

This is really a very important issue. And as Hindus we should work to make sure that everyone is treated equally.

I'm not Indian and have never been to India, so I'm not sure how to go about this from the "outside" though I'm also on the inside in a sense since I'm Hindu.
But lets have a conversation about this.

Maya

 

[Jainarayan]

This transcends all cultures and is abominable. What's doubly shameful is that this will be equated with Hinduism, because Indian = Hindu to most people, whether the rapists/killers were Hindu or not. If they were, it's further shameful if they call themselves Hindu, just as it's shameful (I just have no other word, lest I unlease an adharmic torrent) as the Christian men who beat, tied to a fence, and left for dead Matthew Shepard in Wyoming (he did eventually die of his wounds).

Crime is crime no matter where it occurs, and is an abomination, but it's particular shocking and comes into view when it's committed by people who are supposed to be the epitome of kindness, love, gentleness and non-violence, whether Christian, Hindu, Buddhist, even true Muslims, who are forbidden from violence.

 

[Maya3]

This transcends all cultures and is abominable. What's doubly shameful is that this will be equated with Hinduism, because Indian = Hindu to most people, whether the rapists/killers were Hindu or not. If they were, it's further shameful if they call themselves Hindu, just as it's shameful (I just have no other word, lest I unlease an adharmic torrent) as the Christian men who beat, tied to a fence, and left for dead Matthew Shepard in Wyoming (he did eventually die of his wounds).

Crime is crime no matter where it occurs, and is an abomination, but it's particular shocking and comes into view when it's committed by people who are supposed to be the epitome of kindness, love, gentleness and non-violence, whether Christian, Hindu, Buddhist, even true Muslims, who are forbidden from violence.

Well said.

Maya

 

[Andal]

This is both a human rights issue as well as a Hindu one. Whether or not the killers were Hindu is of less importance than the fact that Hinduism has permitted a culture of violence against women to persist in India and abroad. This has to stop.

While violence against men and women is wrong lets not pretend like men are targeted the same way women are just for their gender. Honor killings, dowry crimes, purda, being forced out of school because of your period, rapes, sati, this has to stop.

Sadly if it were not for the media attention, Damini's attackers may have never faced justice, just another crime for the corrupt to sweep under the rug for the right price.

As Hindus we need to ask why? Why have we allowed the ill treatment of women to happen? Why do so many cling to out dated ideas that menstruating women and widows are so polluting, to touch their shadow brings ill fortune? Why are female babies killed at staggering levels?!

It's mind boggling to me that superstition has a far more influential role in daily life than Vedic ethics.

Aum Har Aum!

 

[DanielR]

That incident in India made me really really sad and angry. Very disturbing.

 

[Gaura Priya]

I feel so sorry for Damini. I pray that she is in Svargaloka... she definitely didn't deserve it.

I agree with Andal, that it is both a woman's issue and a Hindu one. Women in Sikhism and Hinduism, as far as I know, are terribly treated wrong. Especially for desi women outside India, attitudes towards them after marriage tend to be more conservative ironically, or at least in my locality.

The same thing goes in the mind of many Indian families - that women are for wives, and men are for the industry. In the land that worships Lakshmidevi, Srimati Radharani, Sitadevi, Bhumidevi, etc. women are still seen as less than worthy as newborns, secondary as wives, untouchable as widows, shameful as sex workers, and polluting under menses.

We are owned by our father at birth; we are owned by our husbands at mid-age, and we are owned by our sons at old age. Women get killed because of deviating from 'shastric' injunction; from being born the wrong gender; from insufficient dowry; from marital disputes, etc. The list goes on.

Ironically I was told in our culture that it is shameful of a man to ever hit a woman, let alone hurt her, just as kshatriyas of old were to spare the children, the women, the elderly, and the priests.

Canada has a history of Sikh individuals doing honour killings on women... it is so shameful. I suppose that proper education is the only key to getting rid of these insanities - not only education of fact memorisation to get a job in some field to make money, but thought-provoking education that values the inherent worth and dignity of women and men.

Haribol.

 

[Maya3]

I feel so sorry for Damini. I pray that she is in Svargaloka... she definitely didn't deserve it.

I agree with Andal, that it is both a woman's issue and a Hindu one. Women in Sikhism and Hinduism, as far as I know, are terribly treated wrong. Especially for desi women outside India, attitudes towards them after marriage tend to be more conservative ironically, or at least in my locality.

The same thing goes in the mind of many Indian families - that women are for wives, and men are for the industry. In the land that worships Lakshmidevi, Srimati Radharani, Sitadevi, Bhumidevi, etc. women are still seen as less than worthy as newborns, secondary as wives, untouchable as widows, shameful as sex workers, and polluting under menses.

We are owned by our father at birth; we are owned by our husbands at mid-age, and we are owned by our sons at old age. Women get killed because of deviating from 'shastric' injunction; from being born the wrong gender; from insufficient dowry; from marital disputes, etc. The list goes on.

Ironically I was told in our culture that it is shameful of a man to ever hit a woman, let alone hurt her, just as kshatriyas of old were to spare the children, the women, the elderly, and the priests.

Canada has a history of Sikh individuals doing honour killings on women... it is so shameful. I suppose that proper education is the only key to getting rid of these insanities - not only education of fact memorisation to get a job in some field to make money, but thought-provoking education that values the inherent worth and dignity of women and men.

Haribol.

What is coming out of this tragic and horrendous incident is that we are speaking about it.

It is very important that we fight for equal rights for women.
As a woman and a feminist I´m shocked by women in the US especially who still thinks that being a feminist is somehow radical or shocking.
Everyone, including all men should be feminist because women are NOT treated equally. What happened in India is a shining example of this.

We have to do what we can so that all people are treated equally all over the world. I agree with you that education is what will change all this.
I grew up in Sweden a country that is on the top of the list of the most equal countries in the world.
But I have done a lot of historical research and it is not that long ago that women were treated much differently.

For example, in the 19th Century people thought that if an unwed mother didn´t inform people that she was a woman who had a baby "in sin", and then looked at someone elses baby, she would make that baby get Rickets.
This only happened if she didn´t tell them. If she did, the baby would be fine.
Women like this were called "Hidden Whores" and were considered extremely dangerous and they were shunned from society. Then of course if she did tell people that she had a baby out of wedlock she´d still be shunned.

What I´m trying to say with this is that it was only a little over 100 years ago that this went on. That is just a little longer then one persons life time if you are lucky and live long.
But education like you said has made a huge difference, and we have to change in the rest of the world too.

Maya

 

[Andal]

Namaste Gaura Priya and Maya,

I cannot agree more with your statements. I think you both hit it right on the head and it is important that we are actually talking about it. I pray that this incident sparks similar discussion in other Hindu communities. Sometimes at least in India the prevailing attitudes are so strong and over whelming that there is no chance of it changing. That isn't true however and the more of us who speak up the quicker change can happen. There have been small strides on the religious side like the pujari programs for women and the giving of the yajnopavita to girls. Now if the social side can adapt and change as well.

Aum Hari Aum!