New Delhi: As the controversial Bhuj hostel incident continues to hit the headlines, Swami Krushnaswarup Dasji of Swaminarayan Bhuj Mandir has received flak for saying, “If you eat food prepared by a menstruating woman even once, then your next avatar will definitely be that of an ox. A menstruating woman who cooks food for her husband will certainly be reborn as a bitch.”
He also said men should learn how to cook before they get married, so that their wives “can spend …three days ascetically” while on their period. These rules are “outlined in Shastras (spiritual texts),” he said.
A video of the swami reportedly making the comment at a ratri sabha in Bhuj has gone viral.
As per his profile, Swami Krushnaswarup Dasji has been a priest for the last 24 years.
Most Twitterati were up in arms and condemned the swami’s comments.
Ashok Swain, Professor of Peace and Conflict Research, Uppsala University, Sweden, said he was “ashamed to call himself a Hindu”.
Also read: Less than 20% menstruating girls & women in India use pads. Here’s how to overcome barriers
"If you eat food prepared by a menstruating woman even once, then your next avatar will definitely be that of an ox. A menstruating woman who cooks food for her husband will certainly be reborn as a bitch."
Ashamed to call myself a Hindu!https://t.co/X7oqA6n4Py
— Ashok Swain (@ashoswai) February 18, 2020
One user pointed out that the Swaminarayan Bhuj Mandir to which the swami belongs was inaugurated by Prime Minister Modi in 2010, when he was the CM of Gujarat –
In 2010, CM Modi inaugurated the Swaminarayan Narnarayan Dev Gadi in Bhuj (to which Krushnaswarup Das belongs): https://t.co/tYTxZuEKHz
— Shahid Abdulla (@TheDailyBunkum) February 18, 2020
Some Twitter users called on politicians and women organisations to respond to the preacher’s remarks –
Would love to hear from popular anthropologist Mohan Bhagwat- what leads to these views? Less education or more? pic.twitter.com/xEYflhybww
— Dushyant (@atti_cus) February 18, 2020
Religious College Run by followers of Swaminarayan Mandir (Nar Narayan), Bhuj #GujaratModel..?
Where is @smritiirani @umasribharti ..? https://t.co/bpXHv0rMOZ— Zahid Nadeem (@ZahidNa76888088) February 14, 2020
How can members of Bhuj's Swaminarayan Mandir forbid entry in kitchens& temples for women in periods? Thanks to @news18dotcom pls @UNICEFIndia @DrYasminAHaque@unicefchief @unwomenindia @WSSCCouncil @shokonoda @UNDP_india @UNinIndia @swachhbharat @trust_deepanjan @theoscarwoman https://t.co/Fd21RHuHca
— Dr Deepali Bhardwaj (@dermatdoc) February 14, 2020
Some went ahead and gave the swami a piece of their mind –
From Swaminarayan to Sabarimala, my lords of the Supreme Court, menstruation taboo is a social evil, a misogynistic practice, an anti-woman mindset
Root it out. pic.twitter.com/NNns3EET9U
— Charmy Harikrishnan ചാമി ഹരികൃഷ്ണൻ (@charmyh) February 18, 2020
Diyar creepy ‘swami’ – eff off you rotting peice of turd. If your mother hadn’t menstruated, you would not have been born. On behalf of all women everywhere, allow me to say that it will be a good day when your kind becomes extinct. #CookWhileYouMenstruateWoman https://t.co/g5zgVW2Zho
— Mona Ambegaonkar (@MonaAmbegaonkar) February 18, 2020
Others attacked the media for giving such comments a platform –
Why do newspapers or channels even give such people time and space. This is also a reflection on the so called intelligent media
— renee montgomery (@rejum) February 18, 2020
But most trolled the preacher with some dark humour –
Men who eat food prepared by menstruating women will be re-born as Ox and if menstruating women cook, they will become bitch – Swami Krishnaswarup Dasji, Swaminarain Bhuj Mandir
And those who listen to idiots like him will be re-born as mules in Pakistan https://t.co/nUFTSKXwPW
— Ravi Nair (@t_d_h_nair) February 18, 2020
Swaminarayan Bhuj Mandir runs the Shri Sahjanand Girls’ Institute in Bhuj, Gujarat where 68 college girls were recently forced to remove their underwear to prove they weren’t on their period.
The college Principal, girls’ hostel rector and the college peon were suspended Saturday after an FIR was registered against them.
Also read: Sabarimala temple, Gujarat college or PMS jokes: How Indians loathe menstruating women