We all have seen various women in our society wearing veil or in our words “ghunghat”. A ghoonghat is also known as ghunghat, ghunghta, ghumta, odhni, laaj, chunari, jhund etc in various parts of India. It is basically headscarf which is worn by some married Hindu, Jain and Sikh women to cover their head, and often their face. Usually aanchal or pallu are the loose end of the sari which is pulled over the head and face to act as a ghunghat.
In India, ghunghat is a very dignified thing for a woman as it so called classifies their characters or in other word Laaj and these can be seen in rural areas mostly. But how a fabric can describe a character of a woman, this is a big question. We all grew up seeing this in our surroundings or even in our homes.
It’s a high time for everyone to understand the need of a woman in every field. If a woman can take the responsibility of her home she can also take responsibility of anything whichever you hand over her. We as young generation can bring these change in our society just like the Haryana khap leader who encourages women of thousands of villages to stop this practice and to live free without any burden.
Khap panchayats have a social recognition in Haryana and are essential pillars of its culture and society. Many villages in Haryana follow them and over the years, some of the Khap panchayats members have been connected with a few decisions that have established public criticism.
But as the leader of the largest khap in Haryana, he believe that he should bring some change as our country is witnessing the progress and why should our villages leave behind. He has seen the ghunghat pratha from his childhood in his village and wanted to change this thing from then only. When he became the leader of Khap and got this power to change it, then he better utilized it.
Every year in February 19, he convince to gather more than 1000 of villagers that fall under his khap across Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. The main objective of this gathering is to bring awareness and to abolish the social evils in the society. The Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao campaign is also a significant emphasis area for our khap.
This year, he announced that the women should no longer need to cover their faces with the veil. He told the gathering to reject the veil. In support of his decision various women have abolish this tradition which covers about 700-800 villages. Women from these villages have also thanked him for taking such a bold decision in such a big gathering.
Well, with the passage of time and coming up of new generation these things are constrained to a great extent but mostly in urban areas, you can still widely observe these practices in rural areas. In Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan you can still observe the women in ghunghat when they are in front of their elders, while they are cooking, while they are cleaning or taking care of their children, in short they are always covered in ghunghat for most of the hours in a day.
We should understand that the world is changing, now women are in top positions and leading our country same as men. Can you imagine a woman leading our nation behind the veil? The answer would be no most probably; exactly the point is to open your mentality regarding this topic. A woman can’t lead in a society if you kept her behind the veil, trying to give certificate of her character by hiding behind a piece of cloth.
Women now days are doctors, teachers, scientists, Army officers and so on. They are now on every field and that change we can’t deny as women now days are much stronger and outspoken. A nation can’t move forward if the women in their nation is not treated equal or are forced to follow some old traditions which really doesn’t matter if they are not followed. We all should bring out the change just like the Haryana khap leader did.
