8/8/2019 2009 -1 ad vitam june 2009.pdf http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/2009-1-ad-vitam-june-2009pdf 1/6 We present this edition featuring ‘Women’ as a focal point of discussion. Ad Vitam comes before its readers in a new incarna- tion, larger in ambit, and wider in scope. It breaks away from chains, and liberalizes itself to a new beginning. In this issue, we have many writers from various walks of profession come together and write their views and experiences on various issues. The main feature of this edition has been that of Mrs.Ira Bhattacharjee, a commit- ted social worker in from North-Eastern India, in her article she analyses and traces the empowerment of women in context of North East India.. She amazingly startles with her insight as a referential backdrop position of women in ancient, medieval, colonial and modern India. She brings to fore her experience, dedication and com- mitment in having worked on the area within the region. The feature ‘21 st Century Woman’, by Ms.Sucheta Ray Chaudhuri. Ms Sucheta a software professional is ex- tremely evaluative and simultaneously as- sertive of ‘women’ and their abilities. In her opinion she brings to light certain miscon- ception that women are forced to succumb to and the ordeal they have had to face in the past and continue to do so. She has a certain quality to her views that brings to fore the inequalities that have been brushed beneath the carpet. The articles by the other contributors as Ms. Aditi Deshpande, Ms. Fathimath Shafneez or for that matter the sketch by Mr. Ibrahim Mbaga are light but packed with a powerful view. The views We have taken care to make this Newsletter an enjoyable experience but at the same time hope to strike a chord of seriousness in our commitment. We hope that you benefit from developing a view/opinion in context of the featured columns and other important infor- mation included within this edition. The New Beginning E D I T I O N : J U L Y 2 0 0 9 AdVitam FOR LIFE, IN ALLTHAT WESEEK TO ACHIEVE EQUALITY , LIBERTY , FREEDOM... “The world is like a passing shadow. Thus when the sun rises over an object, a shadow appears for a mo- ment then is dissipated. It is the same thing for this world in relation to its reality.” “To watch out for those faults which are hidden within yourself is better for you seeking out those mys- teries that are veiled to you. “ “The rivers are boisterous before they join the ocean, but when they do so, there are becalmed forever.” “There are four cardinal vir- tues of the individual self: (i) refraining from begging in the state of poverty; (ii) showing the attitude of being well-fed when feeling hungry; (iii) maintaining a cheerful- ness in the time of sorrow; and (iv) befriending the enemy.” ‘WHIRLING CORNER’ Civilization can only revive when there shall come into being in a number of indi- viduals a new tone of mind, independent of the prevalent one among the crowds, and in opposition to it -- a tone of mind which will gradually win influence over the collective one, and in the end deter- mine its character. Only an ethical move- ment can rescue us from barbarism, and the ethical comes into existence only in individuals. - ALBERT SCHWEITZER Ferro-concrete feminity photograph by Sergey Kushkin http://www.photoforum.ru/photo/78189/
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I t is a very wrong notion that the women in India have been
suppressed and tortured in the history of this country. Inmy work towards the empowering of women in the north-eastern part of India, I have had the opportunity of ventur-
ing into that history of India, where women were the pillars of the
society. My attempt today would be to draw a comparison of that woman, and the woman of modern India, as far as the scenario of thenorth-east is concerned.
The system of society in the hills of present Meghalaya has always been
matriarchal. Even today, Khasis andJaintias follow the same social
setup. In the past, these tribes weredivided into tribal groups, and theyhad their leaders, such as the Siyem
for the Khasis or the Daloi for theJaintias. They headed the people of
that particular group, but the headof that family was also the lady. It
has been found that the leaders have known to act on the aid andadvices of their partners, and though they were the head of the tribe,they did not qualify as the head of their family. Hence, the lady in the
family has always been the most respected member. However, it may
be argued that this is common in a matriarchal society.
However, in the hills of Tripura, women have also been known to be astrong member of the family. She might have not been the head of thefamily, but she had an important role to play. Tripura was a princely
state during the reign of the British, and has always been ruled by theroyal family. Presently, the city of Agartala, and the nearby land still
have the remains of the glorious reign. In that royal family, the ‘ family deity ’ or rather the ‘kul devata’ was rather the ‘kul devi’. The temple of
the goddess is a renound temple in Tripura, known as the‘TRIPURESHWARI TEMPLE’. She is visited by pilgrims from all
around the country, especially by the people of West-Bengal. Thisfactor triggered the consciousness of the family towards women andtheir status. Thus, the royal family has always known to be tolerant
and respectful towards the women in their kingdom. This also as-sured the respect of women in the Tripura state. However, the socialstructure has deteriorated in the present. Today, the due respect of
women in the state is found to be diminishing. Surveys show that men have become less tolerant towards women, as revealed from the
number of complaints of domestic violence at the Tripura Women’sCommission. It has also been found that the women folk have becomemore subdued by the men, and are bending in front of family pres-
sure and social responsibilities. It is lamenting to see that rather thana growth in the awareness in women in the state, the situation has
been worsening.
The history of the Manipur royal family is ancient. In the great epic
Mahabharata, there is distinct mention of the royal family of Manipur. The epic relates the love story of the great archer Arjun,
with the Manipur princess, Chitrangada. However, in that story, Chi-trangada has been shown to be a woman of valor and great fightingskills, who had been brought
up by her father as a sonrather than a daughter. She
was known to have all theskills of administration andgovernance, as is required by
a king. After her love for Ar- jun, she requests the deity of
love to give her beauty, so
that Arjun falls in love withher, but before their marriage,
she reveals her truth and marries Ar-
jun. This tale is an epic in itself in Ma-nipur, and the women of the state havea special role to play in the social
setup. The Classical Manipuri Dance is
also based on the love of Krishna andRadha, thus giving a special status toRadha in the state’s deities. Thus,women in the state have never been
under suppression or an invisible part of the social structure. It is important
to note that today also, Manipur doesnot find the social suppression of
women. My works across the regionhave introduced me to these states,other than Assam. I am yet to work in
the states of Arunachal Pradesh,Mizoram and Nagaland, but I look for-
ward to increasing my avenues to these states also.In Assam, the remains of the proud royal family can be seen in and
near Shibsagar of Upper Assam. The Ahoms, as would best suit thepronunciation of the royals, were known to be very proficient inguerilla warfare. History stands testimony that the Mughals and
many more of the emperors of northern India were unable to venture
into the north-eastern boundaries because of the stiff defense that was put up by the Ahoms. This problem was also faced by the British
when they tried to enter thenorth-east, as the territory of the Ahoms was the entrance of
the region, and they becamesuccessful only when the came
through present Bangladesh,and were able to defeat with
the aid of their advanced weap-onry. However, it is not a very
well known fact that the armieswhich were successful in put-ting up such resistance, also
had women in them. The kingsthat time were more tolerant tothe women folk. The Raj Mata
was also a very respectedmember in the royal family,
and her opinion was valued and, a t most instances, adhered to.
It would also interest my readers to know that the famous Maharaniof Chittor, Maharani Gayatri Devi, is the daughter of the royal family
of Kochbihar, in North-Bengal. It was this family that made the fa-mous KAMAKHYA TEMPLE in Guwahati. This family has also beenknown to be a very liberal and tolerant family. It can be understood
from the way Maharani Gayatri Devi was brought up. She educated inthe best of places, including Shantiniketan, and she is known to be
familiar with skills like horse-riding and archery.
This discussion is but only a drop in the ocean of Indian history,
which holds within itself the story of many famous and chivalrouswomen. Some names which we can remember even without straining
our memory, are names like Rani of Jhansi, Rani Lakshmi Bai, andRaziya Sultana. They are renound for the way they took the reigns intheir hands to control their families and their kingdom. With the
above discussion, I intend to draw the attention of my reader towardsto truth of the history of the Indian Woman.
Women have been known to possess the following rights in a truly Islamic society: The
right and duty to obtain education, The right to have their own independent property,
The right to work to earn money if they need it or want it, Equality of reward for equal
deeds, The right to express their opinion and be heard, The right to provisions from
the husband for all her needs and more,The right to negotiate marriage terms of
her choice, The right to obtain divorce
from her husband, even on the grounds
that she simply can't stand him. (Please
note that God deeply frowns upon di-
vorce as a solution unless there ishardly any other alternative but it does
not mean that men have more right to
divorce their wives than women do.)The right to keep all her own money
(she is not responsible to maintain any
relations), the right to custody of their
children after divorce, the right to refuse any marriage that does not please them.Starkly most of the Muslim community, in India reflect a contrastingly different pic-
ture altogether when it comes to living by the word of God, vis a vis treating womenwithin their ‘social structure’. The Qur'an makes no distinction between the Muslim
and the non-Muslim woman in terms of her status as a biological social being since
men are, on principle, in charge of women, and the male is not like the female (Sura Al
Imran 3:36). Yet it is true that a large section of women continue to suffer under un-ending violence and abuse. As a society which identifies more on a religious parameter
(Unity in Diversity) I personally see a failure in commitment while upholding a cardi-
nal rule of sense and sensibility. Rule of law has always encouraged us to establish andadminister institutions of our choice, ironically we continue to witness an institutional
failure towards a conscious effort on part of the religious institutions. The failure is in
terms of not establishing counseling/guidance centers at the grass root level to edu-cate society about safeguarding and protecting rights, for every society especially in
our country is a religious in nature. The issue at hand is primarily social at most an-
thropological and although it invariably calls for legal determination of parties about
their ‘rights’ and ‘wrongs’, a better solution can be found within the institutions we soregularly choose to be a part of. If for instance each religious institutions, within a cer-
tain area diameter could work towards setting up of counseling centers and function
within the mandate of the constitution, women would certainly receive the impetus to
rise beyond their imposed limitations and suffering. Consider the way co-operative
society's function on this premise, albeit in a different context (assisting and support-
ing the agriculturist economically, brings awareness to better farming methods etc.). Iwish to highlight the fact that human right abuse runs deep in every society, perhaps it
is just another element that goes in defining what kind of society we are or rather
choose to be. We need to remind ourselves that No God or Prophet has stood for vio-lence, hatred and destruction, religion has been in the clear all the time about such
dastardly activities. In the end it is men who have been led astray by wickedness, mal-
ice and institutions that we have established that act as platforms of contempt to pro-
gress and prosperity. We continue to justify our decisions under the fancy of Gods di-vine plan or The holy Prophets prophecy, with malice and a hidden vendetta to disturb
and bring disharmony in society we live in. We need to become conscious of the fact
that violence is an act of human choice and as a society that is committed to live in har-mony the onus is on us, members of such a society to address human needs so as to
encourage each other to make the better choice, one of Love, Respect and Brotherhood
of mankind.
Zul Kafeel
The Prophet said that women totally domi-
nate men of intellect and possessors of
hearts. But ignorant men dominate women,
for they are shackled by an animal ferocity.
They have no kindness, gentleness or love,
since animality dominates their nature. Love
and kindness are human attributes; anger
and sensuality belong to the animals. She is
the radiance of God, she is not your beloved.
She is a creator - you could say that she is
not created. - Jalal al-Din Rumi
One day John Marshall and hisfellow Supreme Court justices,having heard disturbing rumors
of their own excessive drinking,jointly agreed to abstain on theirweekly consultation day - unlessit was raining. The followingconsultation day, Marshall (theChief Justice) instructed JosephStory to go to the window andcheck for signs of inclement weather. Story soon reportedback: "Mr. Chief Justice, I havevery carefully examined thiscase," he declared, "and I have togive it as my opinion that thereis not the slightest sign of rain.""Justice Story," Marshall replied,"I think that is the shallowest and most illogical opinion I have
ever heard you deliver. You for-get that our jurisdiction is asbroad as the Republic, and by thelaws of nature it must be rainingsome place in our jurisdiction.Waiter, bring on the rum!"http://www.anecdotage.com/
index.php?aid=10972
*****
As a puisne judge, Bowen onceadjudicated in a memorable caseinvolving a burglar who, havingentered a house by the top sto-rey, was accosted downstairs inthe process, apparently, of steal-ing some valuable silverware.Incredibly, the accused pur-ported to be a harmless eccen-tric, addicted to 'perambulating'on the roofs of adjacent houses -and occasionally dropping in"promiscuous" through an openskylight. In his instructions tothe jury, Bowen caustically de-clared:"If, gentlemen, you think it likely that the prisoner wasmerely indulging in an amiablefancy for midnight exercise onhis neighbor's roof; if you think it was kindly consideration forthat neighbor which led him totake off his boots and leave thembefore descending into thehouse; and if you believe that it was the innocent curiosity of theconnoisseur which brought himto the silver pantry and causedhim to borrow the teapot, then,gentlemen, you will acquit theprisoner! To the incredulousjudge's great dismay, the juryobliged - and immediately acquit-ted the accused.http://www.anecdotage.com/