Today and yesterday, in almost all Hindu households girl child is worshipped as Kanjak. An even bigger irony is that these very households curb the independent thinking, behaviour and movement of these girls as they grow into women. As a daughter, sister, wife and then mother the society shackles them in the disguise of tradition and security.
And by those very men who worship Parvati, Lakshmi, Saraswati, Durga, Annapurna, Kali and many other avatars as deity.
Today’s newspaper had shades of red going in most parts of the country based on atrocities against them in various states. There is not a day in newspaper without a single story on dowry, rape or female infanticide – and either the incidence or their reporting are only increasing day by day.
In a country , where constitution gave voting rights and right to be treated equally years before many other countries, their fate still gets decided by men in their families. While some women do get to break through the glass ceilings in their chosen profession, a very big percentage still struggle to go through their daily lives hoping for a harassed free day.
We do not ask to be worshipped. All we ask is to be treated as independent human beings – to choose ourselves what to wear, what to eat, what to study, whom to marry and where to go without any fear by our families or society at large.
Will we every see a day in this country when women make these choices independently – that will be the day when kanjak-pooja or the worship of girl child will be truly celebrated.