A cluster of photos printed in a major English daily, the day after the week long rituals began in Ayodhya’s new Ram temple, confirms that our ‘Beti Padhao‘ and ‘Stree Sashkteekaran’ and various ‘Matru Kalyan Yojanas’ notwithstanding, the traditional gendered hierarchies remain firmly in place both on the streets and in the temple in Ayodhya.
In the 15-member Ram Janmabhoomi Trust, there seem to be no female trustees. In the sanctum sanctorum (garbh griha), women are absent from the team of male priests. When the wife of the main yajman performing the ultimate ritual sits with him on January 22nd, her role would be that of a helper to assist and be guided by a band of male priests. One of the photos in the daily shows an all-woman crowd bejewelled and dressed in fine traditional clothes, carrying pots of holy water outside the temple in a kalash yatra. Another one shows a cluster of basic rituals, to sanctify the garbh griha, being performed by priests in the presence of members of the Trust – all men.
A pink daily covering the 54th annual meet of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos carried an agency report how the Ram temple in Ayodhya has created a buzz even in the posh Swiss ski town and that India’s Union Minister for Woman and Child Development attending the meet told the agency that her party had waited patiently for a long time for the lord to return so it (the temple consecration) is “a reason for celebration and joy” not only in India but also among all Indian communities around the world.
A day earlier, while addressing the WEF delegates, the same minister had also talked glowingly of her visionary prime minister’s “transparent approach” for “women-led development”. It shall be propelled by gender justice and gender inclusive infrastructure that will shift the focus from looking at women merely as contributors to the labour market and treat them as potential entrepreneurs she had said.
While all this was resonating between Delhi and Davos, an important report has surfaced. Titled Beyond Basics, the Annual Status of Education Report 2024 (ASER), is a comprehensive survey that has for two decades provided vital information regarding the state of India’s primary and middle level education. Brought out by the Pratham group, the meticulously crafted ASER reports have pointed out gender differences as also deficiencies in basic skills among India’s school children at the primary level. The latest report shows that although 85% children are enrolled now, more than half the primary school children surveyed still lack reading skills and can not do simple divisions…
https://thewire.in/gender/what-happens-in-ayodhya-doesnt-stay-in-ayodhya
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