Woman Sarpanch Removes Ghunghat: How To Bring A Change Without Forcing Women

Over the years, the number of women who wear ghunghats to cover their faces or heads seems to gave reduced, however, the practice divides our society deeply. While many consider ‘ghunghat’ to be an archaic tradition, other's argue that it is a woman’s right to decide for herself, whether she wants to shoulder a tradition or not. So how can a person respectfully give women the option to remove their ghunghat without forcing them to comply? A woman sarpanch in Gujarat recently removed her ghunghat during a public event after a minister urged her to do so, without forcing his decision on her.

The Gujarat Minister for Education Jitu Vaghani requested that Meenaba Zala, the sarpanch of Ranjtej village in the Mehsana district remove her ghunghat while at a public event. Zala had come on the stage to present a memento during the minister’s felicitation.

The village had gathered to launch the annual school enrolment and ‘Kanya Kelavani’ schemes when the minister made the request to Zala, the village’s first female sarpanch. Reportedly, Zala had been seated on the floor with the other women, whereas the men were seated on plastic chairs next to them.

Referring to the 35-year-old sarpanch,z Vaghani said, “I believe that she should not cover her face at least at public events.” He added that it was just his request and was “up to the elders to decide”.

A member of the audience said that since they were Rajput, the women should stay behind a veil. Vaghani replied “This is not about any caste. I request Meenaba to remove the head covering. I am not against this tradition. But we all need to adapt to changing times.”

Zala said that “Without forcing anyone, Vaghani said the villagers need to decide on this”.  Zala, the woman sarpanch removes ghunghat after the minister's suggestion led to a conversation between the village elders.

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Woman Sarpanch Removes Ghunghat: A change in will rather than norm?

While societal and familial pressure may be the reason people adopt the tradition of ghunghat but forcing women to abandon the tradition is not the way forward. It is often seen that women are forced into making the choice to abandon ghunghat in the name of a progressive approach. Women from rural areas or conservative households even face shaming if they chose to stick to the practice in modern setups. But by shaming or forcing a woman, we are only going against the core of feminism, that celebrates every choice that a woman makes for herself.

So the only reason why a woman should give up the practice of ghunghat is because she wants to do so out of her own free will, and not due to peer pressure or shaming. If we want to motivate a woman to do so, then the motivation should be of positive kind, which encourages her to embrace the change, rather than forcing her to do so.

The conversation around practices like ghunghat is important, but the tone of it is equally important. When a person is robbed of a choice they might adhere to their beliefs in an attempt to safeguard their identity and culture. But when change is a choice, it could motivate them atleast think about the issue at hand.

Picture Credit: womenpla.net

Views expressed are the author’s own.