We as a society – from mythology to government policy – are responsible
for the plight of the devadasis.
Life three of William Dalrymple’s
Book Nine Lives is about daughers of
Yellamma, the devadasis who are dedicated to the Goddess Yellamma. In her own
story, the Goddess herself was mistakenly for infidelity and cursed harshly by
her husband, to live without love and protection, lifeless and ugly.
In the present day, her daughters
(those dedicated to her) still live in despair – physically and mentally - but
draw comfort from their faith in the Goddess. They feel that they are better
off compared to their Goddess. This gives them a sense of emotional strength, as
their families instead of protecting the girls, are the ones who push them into
the dhanda (sex work). There is also
a rational dimension to it. If not for this work, the devadasis have no
alternative. This is the way they fight poverty. The most surprising thing is that they see their work to be different than that of other sex workers, as their's has an 'auspicious' status.
Governments with good intention
of “social reform” abolished devadasis system and criminalised it. The dedication
of girls to the Goddess is illegal all of a sudden. The Brahmins who usually
perform the needed rituals for dedication, started disengaging themselves out
of fear of punishment.
Though the devadasi system varied
across regions, in general, in the medieval times the dasis enjoyed a special
and respectful status in the society. They were usually the most educated women
in the society. Changing circumstances and colonial interference slowly brought
down the whole system into simple legal issue. The independent India’s
government outlawed the dedication and threatened priests with harsh punishment.
(Eg: Karnataka Devadasi (prohibition of dedication) Act 1982).
As always, the enactment of a law
was seen as a panacea for all evils. But lack of opportunities and alternative
means of livelihood, ill treatment meted out to their children, degraded social
status and not to mention of the killer diseases, make their lives miserable.
We as a society – from mythology
to government policy – are responsible for the plight of the devadasis. How
much ever we talk about glamorous words like – globalisation, inclusive growth,
liberty, equality, fraternity etc, we fail as a society if we are not able to
extend a helping hand to the viticms of the history. The recent case of a tribal
council punishing a woman with gangrape in West Bengal, is manifestation of
ignorance, failure of society and continuity of uncivilised behaviour in the
name of God.
A few small steps like – one,
creating awareness through inclusion of the relevant historical roots in the
school curriculum, atleast in the areas where such practices are still
continued. Two, provision of alternative means of livelihood by making use of
Self Help Groups (SHGs), vocational training etc. Three, making public goods
and services easily accessible to them like – bank account opening, ration
cards etc.
As a democratic, responsible
society we need to do much more to wipe the insecure feeling among the victims.
The NGOs are doing their part, yet, a larger and deeper intervention by the
government and the society as a whole is needed.
