Lakshadweep, where Dravidian matriarchy survives Meghalaya: Where Women rule

[Guest guest]

The women of Muslim Lakshadweep don't have to wear burqa`s because,

as one of the natives put it, everyone respects women there and

nobody molests them. Their society follows the ancient Dravidian

matrilocal system whereby the son-in-law stays with the wife's

family, so there is continuity of mothers and their daughters. The

islanders value education for girls just as highly as they value

education for boys. Lakshadweep's women have a voice in public

affairs: they are guaranteed four out of ten positions on the dvipa-

pancayat, the island village councils.

 

Among the islander peoples, the Manikfan, the Raveri, and the

Thakrufan, the essential unit of society is the gothu, a matriarchal

clan organization in which the senior woman is the leader. Each of

their villages is governed by a headwoman (bodudatha), as well as a

headman (bodukaka). Lakshadweep is notable among traditional

societies for gender equality in political life as well as matriachy

in social organization. The ancient matriarchal heritage of

Dravidian civilization, along with the reverence for the Feminine

inherent within Islam, has resulted in Lakshadweep preserving an

admirable level of equality and high status for women.

 

People on the mainland may think of these islands as backward and

underdeveloped, but, frankly, their attitude toward women's rights

is far more developed than in the rest of South Asia, and Indians,

Pakistanis, and Muslims everywhere would do well to learn from these

people in uplifting the status of Muslim women and South Asian women.

 

 

, "Devi Bhakta"

<devi_bhakta> wrote:

> In much of India, parents pray for a male child. Daughters are

seen

> as a burden and the killing of female foetuses is widespread.

>

> But in the country's remote north eastern state of Meghalaya, the

> situation is very different. Here the local Khasi and Jaintia

> tribesmen value their daughters who inherit all their ancestral

> property. Khasi women make all the major family decisions.

>

> Much of the property goes to the Ka Khadduh - the youngest

daughter -

> who becomes the centre of attraction.

>

> "There is no scope for a dowry because women inherit all property

> here," says David Syiemlieh, who teaches history in the state's

> Northeastern Hill University.

>

> In Meghalaya, women run family businesses, dominate the households

> and take all key family decisions.

>

> "Nothing happens in the family unless we want it," says housewife

> Julia Lyngdoh. "My husband leaves it all to me and same is the

case

> throughout our state."

>

> According to India's National Family Health Survey, Meghalaya is

> where parents have shown the least interest to have a male child -

> 73% less than the national average.

>

> In Meghalaya, the sons get nothing. But Meghalaya men who have

> travelled to other parts of India and seen how the males dominate

> there are beginning to resent their role back home.

>

> "We have been reduced to baby-sitters or housekeepers. We have no

> role in our society except fathering babies," says Enoch

> Kharkhongor, a shopkeeper in the state's capital Shillong, now in

> his mid-twenties.

>

> Six years ago, Meghalaya's angry men formed a Male Liberation

Group -

> called Symbai Rimbai Tongbai (SRT). Ablemann Swer led the group

> until his death two years ago. The SRT demands equal property

rights

> for the male child and a greater role for men in the family.

>

> "You know why our men are taking to liquor and drugs in such a big

> way. They feel they don't count," says John Lyngdoh, who now runs

> the group.

>

> But the group is beginning to collapse.

>

> "Nobody took us seriously. I now realize this is not going to work

> here in Meghalaya," says John's colleague Nicholas.

>

> But Angela Rangad of the North East Network - a Meghalaya-based

non-

> government organisation - says although the Khasi and Jaintia

> society remains matrilineal, the patriarchal values are gaining

> ground.

>

> "Domestic violence against women is increasing in Meghalaya. It

may

> not be as bad as Bihar but we are worried at the way it is

> increasing," says Ms Rangad.

>

> She has a point. The number of cases of rape and sexual abuse

> against women has been rising in Meghalaya.

>

> There was outrage when a stepfather raped his daughter recently in

> the state's capital Shillong and also when a pregnant woman was

> raped in the city.

>

> Residents say Meghalaya's matrilineal society is already being

> challenged.

>

> The influence of the rest of India and its culture, carried

through

> Bollywood films, is all beginning to have an effect.

>

> "These Hindi films, full of women-beating, dowry fights and all

> that, are affecting our values. Our males are getting upset," says

> Roshan Wajri, a former woman legislator of the state assembly.

>

> One of the reasons the demand for change in property laws is

gaining

> ground in Meghalaya is because many Khasi and Jaintia women have

> married people from outside the region - Dhkars, as they are

known.

>

> "Our property may be lost to these outsiders. We cannot accept

> that," says Mick Bareh. That is the sign of changing times.

>

> Source: "Women's Domination Under Threat," by Subir Bhaumik,

> BBC correspondent in Meghalaya

> URL (with Photos):

> http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/3015838.stm