Mumbai, Sep 6 (PTI) A social activist at the forefront of a campaign to draft a law banning customs that distress widows and discriminate against them has asked ‘sarvajanik Ganpati’ organisers to allow them to perform rituals like ‘aarti’ at their mandals.
Social activist Pramod Zinjade on Friday said Maharashtra is known for its progressive ideology and penchant to embrace social reforms, adding that his aim was to ensure the country is free of practices against widows by 2035.
“Such steps will instil confidence among widows. They will get the feeling they too matter in society. This appeal got a good response last year. Some 2,000 mandals in Mumbai, Pune, Nashik and Nagpur invited widows to perform aarti and other rituals. There are some 5.5 crore widows in the country. If 5-10 per cent of them get opportunities, they will not fear society,” he told PTI.
“Irrespective of whether the government enacts a law, people will abolish these customs by then by themselves,” he asserted.
His campaign to draft a law that imposes a ban on funerary customs, like breaking the bangles of a widow and wiping off vermillion as well as removing toe ring etc, found many takers, with Herwad village in western Maharashtra passing a resolution to end them.
Sharad Argade, sarpanch of Soundala village in Ahmednagar’s Nevasa taluka, said awareness was growing.
“We have been inviting widows to perform aarti during Ganeshotsav. We have kept financial assistance of Rs 11,000 for widow remarriage. There has been one widow remarriage in our village. During Diwali and Rakshbandhan, we give Rs 1000 to widows of farmers who have committed suicide,” he said.
Rajmala Patil, Pune-based social activist associated with Zinjade, said discrimination against widows needs to be tackled at home and society at large.
“Discrimination exists across all social strata. People have educated themselves by way of degrees but have not transformed lives or the way they think. Education doesn’t give the courage to say no to anything wrong in the society,” Patil asserted.
Women are discriminated against by women themselves when it comes to religious events and social gatherings, she rued.
“When society supports widows, kin too will realise they have to be treated well because they have support outside home. Families want widows to play second fiddle so that they don’t demand their rights,” she claimed. PTI MR BNM
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