If you were to ask an Indian women, to prefer between living in North India or South India, imagine what would her answer be? Most women would prefer to live in South India. And it shouldn't come as a surprise. In South India, women marry late, live longer and are more educated. The gender gap in education is 26% of the north and while for the south it is only 9%. Other than economic and social benefits, safety is another factor that could explain the woman's preference. Compared to North India there could be less crime against women in the South. It could be possible even in the states like Kerala, have high crime rates against women( According to data). But it is not clear why the crime rate is higher in Kerala. We are well aware that the family of a sexual assault victim doesn't lodge a complaint in India. Around 99% of the sexual assault cases go unreported. Due to many socioeconomic indicators, women of South India live better lives than that of North India. But what is the reason? Is it because South India is richer/more educated? It is very interesting to find an answer to such questions. Because this difference didn't arise in the past 70 years. It dates back to the 19th century. Around that time the sex ratio of South India was better compared to the North.
Before discussing the factors that could explain this difference, let's first understand the factors that can't explain it. One such factor is Poverty. Many might think South India has more female empowerment given how rich the state is. But it is not necessarily the truth. According to the GDP, Punjab and Haryana are one of the richest states in India. But these states have the worst sex ratio too. Other factor that can't explain the difference, is the marriage custom or traditions. In North India, women are generally married into other villages. When they go away from their families, the chances of them getting their share of inheritance of property becomes nil. In South India, women are most probably married into the same village. When a woman marries into the same village, she is more likely to move freely, and earn more cash. And the logic behind this is that in an intra-village marriage, you get more freedom as you live within the security of your parents and a community with whom you have grown accustomed. But can this norm of intra-village marriage explain the gender difference? Not exactly. As we can see the examples of cousin marriages in the Middle East and North Africa. Even though after marriage the women live among their relatives, the cases of women empowerment weren't reported in these regions. The third reason is that of colonialism. British have governed different parts of India. They governed some regions for more than 200 years and on the other hand, they scarcely governed some regions at all. Given this, we never saw much difference in the terms of women empowerment. UP and Tamil Nadu are one such region where British governed equally. But there is a huge difference in the female literacy rate of UP and Tamil Nadu.
Now let's discuss the factors that can better explain the difference. And one of the factors relied largely on the British administration. Looking at a broader level we won't sense the difference that the Britishers created in the women empowerment between North and South India. But we dig deeper, it becomes clearer. According to Hindu law, there are two types of property inheritance rights. One is called "Mitakshara" and another is called "Dayabhaga". Dayabhaga originated in Bengal region. According to Dayabhaga, women could inherit property. Mitakshara operated in Madras and Bombay presidency. According to this law, women had no inheritance rights. Looking at the surface level, you might think that the Bengal region should have more women empowerment given it had Dayabhaga law, which ensured property to women. What is happening? If Bengali women held more rights, why didn't they have a better position? According to research, the district governed by Dayabhaga saw an increase in the practice of Sati Pratha( widow immolations) too. Instead of improving a women's position in society, inheritance rights led to an average increase of between 115 and 437 widow immolations in Dayabhaga districts. This law was enacted at the time of extreme elite patriarchy. That suggests women were subjected to torments. This positive law actually backfired. Many joint families argued that by implementing Dayabhaga law they would tarnish their traditions. Due to this, the district where women were given the rights of inheritance, saw an increase in the practices of sati too. The second factor that can explain this difference is the tradition of Ghunghat(veil). This system originated in the Arabic region and was introduced to India during the Islamic invasions. This was a mode of ensuring status. The families that belonged to higher status wanted their women to practise purdah(veil) to maintain status of superiority. The caste system in India was already had several restrictions for women. If a women from an upper-caste married a mon belonging to a lower caste, the family of the woman lost its honour. And the purdah system got added to that. This was common among the Rajput families belonging to North India. This practise severely affected the way the women lived their lives. This affected the women's ability to earn a living. As researches have shown that due to purdah or ghungat, women become more dependent on men for financial support. The third reason is the difference in the agricultural practises between North and South India. In India, crop cultivation has two patterns. One is the cultivation of wheat by ploughing of fields as seen in North India. Another one is the wet and intensive cultivation of rice in South India. If we take wheat for an instance, the intensive ploughing isn't carried out by women. And cultivation of wheat isn't labour-intensive. This lowers the demand for female labour in the field. Whereas cultivation of rice is labour-intensive. Here women are required to contribute to the workforce. That's the reason why women in South India are better empowered as compared to their North Indian comparators.
But we need to let go of the delusion that women living in South India are leading a perfect life. They too have to face problems of their own. Our government shouldn't have an objection that they should somehow provide North Indian women the quality of life as that of South India women. If you consult the rankings, India is further low in gender issues. In the UN's gender inequality index, India ranks 131, even lower than Iraq. We dreamt of becoming a super power in my previous blog. But it would never become a reality until Indian women are given opportunities to contribute too.
Nice
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