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Journalism of Courage
The sari veil covered her face as Meenaba Zala, the first elected woman sarpanch of Rantej village in North Gujarat’s Mehsana district, stood on stage. She was tasked to hand over a souvenir — a framed picture of Bahuchar Mata, the deity after which the taluka Becharaji gets its name — to state Education Minister Jitu Vaghani.
Meenaba got on to the stage from a bunch of women, all in similar veils, from her village who were sitting on the floor on one side while the men from the village sat on plastic chairs. What happened next was unprecedented.
To the surprise of Meenaba and the scores of villagers at the event, the minister insisted that she removed her veil before he accepted the souvenir as part of his felicitation.
“If the elders allow, I would request Meenaba to come out of this riwaaz (tradition),” Vaghani said in front of villagers who had gathered at the school for the launch of the annual Shala Praveshotsav (school enrolment) and Kanya Kelavani (bringing up of girls)–the state government initiatives to ensure maximum enrolment of children, especially girls, in primary schools and arrest the drop-out rate.
Soon came a voice of opposition when a man from the crowd said, “Saheb, ame darbar chhiye (Sir, we are Rajputs).”
“What does caste have to do with this? Darbar, Patel, Vaniya or Brahmin… see how happy the women are and the blessings they will give you,” the minister was quick to respond.
“Maan maryaada (respect and modesty) is alright but when you are a Sarpanch you have to come out of these traditions. Let the village decide. Look around, where the world has reached… by doing this (removing veil) we do not lose our maan maryaada. Follow everything but at home. I do not say this riwaaz is bad but we have to change as per the time and come out of this so that we can move forward,” Vaghani said insisting that all other women in the crowd reveal their faces.
Eventually, one of the village elders, who was also on the stage, agreed with Vaghani. Following the cue, Meenaba reluctantly pulled back a part of her saree and revealed her face. An extra chair was also arranged for her on the stage, albeit in a corner.
“The minister is right. We should keep our ghunghat at home and need to come out of this (tradition). We are anyway behind our veils at home but we need to move forward with time,” Meenaba, who defeated four male candidates to get elected six months ago, later told The Indian Express.
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A mother of two–a 10-year-old son and a two-and-half-year-old daughter–Meenaba hails from Ahmedabad. “I really wanted to join the police force but could not as my brother was strict. So, I was made to drop out of college in the first year of B.Com” she said.
On the villagers’ resistance to the minister’s suggestion, Meenaba said, “There is resistance from elders because they lack education. But things are changing slowly. Now, girls are getting educated. Look at my brother only… his daughter is now in the police force.”
More than 60 per cent of the village, which has 3,200 residents, is from the Zala community. As per Census 2011, Rantej has a male population of around 1,650 as against 1,552 females. It has a literacy rate of 71.59 per cent, including 80.99 per cent literate males and 61.66 per cent literate females. Becharaji taluka is still weighed down by patriarchy as most of the women in the villages have to still cover their faces with a long veil using their sarees.
Incidentally, during the enrolment drive at the Ruppura government primary school in the same taluka, the village elders made a demand before Vaghani–to include Classes 9 and 10 in the school. “…because in our community, we do not allow girls to move out, even for education,” a member of village school management committee told the minister.
“It becomes a problem for the family and community when a girl gets into an affair. So, girls are not allowed to travel to other villages or cities even for education. This is still prevalent in this community. They have to go as far as 8 kms for higher education. Girls here do not study after Class 8. My daughter dropped out one year ago, after Class 8,” the the school management committee Chairman Manoharsinh M Zala told The Indian Express.
As per Census 2011, Ruppura has a total population of around 2,900, including 1,410 males and 1,453 females. The literacy rate is at 49.67 per cent with that of males at 65.18 per cent and females at 34.62 per cent.
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