BENGALURU: 'We The Women', an event celebrating women who’ve stormed male bastions in music, sports and have challenged set patriarchal norms, was held here on Sunday. Curated by journalist Barkha Dutt, it was organised by Facebook, United Nations (UN) Women, and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and served as a platform for discussions on various current women’s issues.
Debating the discrimination women faced in the name of religion — be it Hinduism, Islam or Christianity, were Bhakti Pasrija and Zakia Soman, petitioners in the Sabarimala case and the triple talaq case, respectively. Indulekha Joseph, a social activist with Kerala Christian Reformation Movement, who’s fighting to get justice for the Kerala nun, allegedly raped by a bishop, was also present.
Acknowledging the fatal potion that religion and patriarchy creates, women’s freedom versus faith was discussed as Indulekha spoke about taking on the clergy. “Nuns enter the convent at a tender age of 16. She’s told not to speak and is sworn to silence. She’s not there to act according to the whims and fancies of the priests and bishops. No church authorities took action in this case,” she said. “They have nowhere to go and stand the risk of being thrown out of the convent if they protest. Even their families are not accepting of them,” she said on her struggle for getting justice for the nun.
Bhakti Pasrija Sethi, General Secretary, Indian Young Lawyers Association, the lead petitioner in the Sabarimala case, said, “Women of menstrual age not being allowed to enter the temple was not a religious practice to begin with. We will fight the review petition too, if it is filed... We filed our petition in 2006 when we saw an article that the temple was purified after Jayamala (now the Women and Child Development Minister of Karnataka) visited it and touched the feet of Ayyappa...Why are political parties interfering? We don’t know.”
On the battle to end triple talaq, Zakia Soman, who walked out of her abusive marriage in the early 2000s with her son, said, “Allah never said abandon your wives suddenly and leave them on the streets. This is patriarchy masquerading as religion. There has been criticism for criminalising triple talaq, but it is there in the laws pertaining to dowry, polygamy, etc.”
First ghatam artist: Sukkanya Ramagopal
As Sukanya Ramagopal grazed her fingers across seven ghatams (clay pots) in the blink of an eye, an arrangement she calls Ghata Tharang, she gave the audience many jaw-dropping moments with her all-women instrumental ensemble -- Stree Taal Tarang. Even at 61, she says, the men aren’t welcoming of women sharing the stage, but she couldn’t care less. She said their discrimination is what led her to forming her own team with percussion instruments in the first place.
She's got spunk: Saxophone Subbalaxmi
Draping a silk saree and wearing gold jewellery did not deter Subbalaxmi from playing the saxophone. She sent a message to her detractors that women too have the lung power to play the instrument with sass. After playing the classical version of Ed Sheeran’s song ‘Shape of You’, she said she was discouraged by her male counterparts. Undeterred, she never let it get to her.