Namaste,
As I have said again and again, Modern India is not representative of Hinduism. As it is not a Hindu nation, but a Western nation. I will repeat its government and economic systems are Western. Its education system is Western. Its legal system is Western. Its media system is Western. All of these ills you talk about are due to Western systems. These ills can also be found in Western nations, in fact proportionally to a greater degree:
In Britain, one woman is killed by a partner every three days, one woman in four experiences domestic violence and attacks on partners account for a quarter of all violent crime. Despite media campaigns and shocking statistics, domestic violence continues to be one of Europe’s most under-reported crimes.
According to the Amnesty report, one in every three women suffers violence in her lifetime. The statistics in Europe are as appalling as anywhere else. In France, six women die each month at the hands of men who profess to love them. In Spain, some 100 women are killed each year by abusive spouses or boyfriends with over 30,000 complaints of severe physical violence, while in Switzerland, one of the wealthiest countries in Europe where “direct democracy” rules supreme, the number of women who suffer physical and psychological abuse tops 20 per cent. In France, the subject became front-page news after the film actress, Marie Trintrignant, was beaten to death by her lover, singer Bertrand Cantat.
In Europe - Women earn less than men in all 27 European Union countries, according to a recent European Commission report. In 2005, the “pay gap” was 15% across the European Union. (source: Rich man, Poor Woman - economist.com).
They say those who live in glass houses should not throw stones at others.
Western culture has always maintained vast inequality between men and women. This is because in the Western mythos women have always maintained a lower position than man, because a woman is seen to be born from the rib of a man in the bible. In the bible she is depicted as a temptress and a baby making machine. In Victorian times a woman was expected to know her place and her main function was simply to look pretty. In the rise of industrial capitalism the woman was completely disempowered, as men took control of all jobs(mostly coal mines etc) and would work long hours, the only solace they would get is sex from their wives at the end of the day. This has been pointed out by many Marxist feminists. Although the conditions have improved today, the inequality still remains, because the system of capitalism is tipped against the woman. She is an object of exploitation, and even to this day, this continues to be true.
So lets be honest here the West are in no position to criticise the rights of women in other cultures. Was it Jesus who said, “Do not try to move the splinter from your neighbours eye, when you have a beam in your own”
In Hindu culture we have great respect for women and this should be obvious by the fact that we deify the woman and give her the status of “Shakti” meaning power. In Hinduism one entire branch is Shaktism which the worship of the female divine(as Kali, Durga, Chandi, Lakshmi, Paravati etc) and in all other branches the feminine is also glorified. In Shivaism for instance Shiva is depicted as half masculine and half feminine. In Vaishnavism maya is seen as Krishna’s energy. The masculine and feminine are two sides of the same coin in Hindu mythos(as opposed to Abrahamic mythos, where the woman is an expendable part, often required only for reproduction) In Yoga bringing together the masculine and the feminine by uniting the Kundalini(mother energy) with Shiva(the masculine energy) produces enlightenment. This can also be seen in the Vedas:
She is Language, he is Thought
She is Prudence, he is Law
He is Reason; she is Sense
She is Duty; he is Right
He is Will; she is Wish
He is Pity; she is Gift
He is Song; she is Note
She is Fuel; he is Fire
She is Glory; he is Sun
She is Motion; he is Wind
He is Owner; she is Wealth
He is Battle ; she is Might
He is Lamp; she is Light
He is Day; she is Night
He is Justice; she is Pity
He is Channel; she is River
She is Beauty; he is Strength
She is Body; he is Soul
In popular Indian drama this theme is most apparent. As almost all Indian drama is about uniting the masculine and the feminine. This is why most Indian dramas are romantic stories. This is because in Hinduism both the masculine and the feminine have to married to one another to complete one another. There is no such theme in Western drama, because the woman has always been considered to be expendable.
When Jesus speaks to his mother he says, “Woman, I do not know who you are” This is absolutely unthinkable for a Hindu. We are taught to respect our mothers, never to call them by their name, let alone address them as “woman” (Shock) Yet, we can see in Western culture calling your mother by their name is common place. It is amusing that such a culture could point fingers at Hindu culture.
Again those who live in glass houses should not throw stones at others.
