https://reasonstobecheerful.world/india-women-covid-civic-engagement/
"It was the event of a lifetime for the residents of Mandkola, a village with a
population of 10,000 in the north Indian state of Haryana. In early March 2022,
a couple hundred women and young girls set aside their daily chores to march to
a nearby government school with two common goals: empowerment and justice.
As everyone came together, an elderly woman in a bright red saree spontaneously
rose to address the crowd. “We have gathered here to kickstart [Mandkola’s]
first women’s panchayat,” she said. “With this we mark the beginning of a new
movement in our village.”
Traditional panchayats are assemblies of male elders — usually from the Jat
community, Haryana’s largest caste group — which meet every few weeks to
determine the rules governing their village or a number of nearby villages.
They also exist to settle disputes between members of their community. Although
they have no sanction under the law, the centuries-old form of local government
dominates how many village communities in northern India function.
Panchayats are generally considered regressive and extremely patriarchal,
passing strict rules dictating things such as what women are and aren’t allowed
to wear, what they can and can’t learn at school, and who they can marry — all
at gatherings local women are not allowed to attend. Those who fail to follow
the rules dictated by their panchayats put themselves at risk of harsh
punishments, including orders to rape or kill.
But a growing movement of female-led, or “lado” [daughter] panchayats is
emerging across northern India to challenge the toxic aspects of the
traditional panchayat model and reinvent it as a force for progressive change."
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*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
