Smriti Irani, blood-soaked sanitary napkin doesn’t desecrate temple, regressive belief does 

There is this government of ours which has no time to respond on the serious issues like Rafale, there is this head of our government who constantly keeps quoting wrong data to harp on his ‘achievements’ and the ‘achievements’ of his government, then there are the ministers of this government who, without any sense of responsibility, without any ‘moral’ control, spit out whatever comes in their mouth (it would be preposterous to use ‘mind’ in place of ‘mouth’ because there is always this lingering doubt whether they have any). There is more, the condition is such that even the top officials of the government’s own intelligence agency are at loggerheads.

Had they stopped even on this, had they rested a little bit – it would have given us, the public could breathe a sigh of relief but alas, even that could not happen. And a union minister finally could not control herself and blurted out what she thought on the ban on women’s entry to the Sabarimala temple. And what she said will make all those taking part in the feminist movements all over the country and the world and those who are struggling to enter the Sabarimala temple even after the Supreme Court order, hang their head in shame and touch the minister’s feet in utter defeat.

The Union Minister (who coincidentally is a woman) said on the topic of women’s entry to the Sabarimala Temple that though she is “nobody to speak against the Supreme Court verdict as I am a serving cabinet minister. But just plain common sense is that would you carry a napkin seeped with menstrual blood and walk into a friend's house. You would not...And would you think it is respectful to do the same when you walk into the house of god? That is the difference. I have the right to pray, but no right to desecrate. That is the difference that we need to recognise and respect."

This government and its ministers are intellectually bankrupt- and it had already become quite apparent; they themselves have been proving this time and again very proudly. The members of our ruling party are the classic example of an empty vessel making too much noise and are ailing from the notion that they are the contractors and torch bearers of religion and morality. But never before had any minister spoken so blatantly against women’s rights and the Supreme Court. Obviously, the credit for this had to go to none other than the most vocal and deft- at- blabbering-minister Smriti Irani.

Now when such a favourite minister of the government has declared menstruation ‘unholy’ and thus have given women a secondary status, then the prime minister who is so fond of delivering speeches and who so frequently jumbles up the data and historical facts, should withdraw his ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ scheme aimed at the welfare and emancipation of women. When women and girls are not equal to men in your eyes then why did the government spend crores of rupees in advertising the scheme. Why did the ‘Pradhan Sevak’ keep chanting the mantra of women’s freedom, safety and equality?

Respected minister Smriti Irani should know (she is so well-trained in flaunting her knowledge!) that the menstruation blood is not unholy. Instead in Hindu religion in fact, this is considered holy and auspicious. That is the reason why the colour red is considered to be a symbol of prosperity and fertility. Minister, this menstrual blood is the reason that you have been blessed to be a mother. In our belief system, the earth and nature are considered ‘mother’, because they are giving and integral to the process of all procreation. What kind of morality and religion would say that the very children born of women should stop them from entering a temple! These regulations were formed by a superstitious patriarchal society to establish its supremacy. And no man of this country today who is educated and sensible believes in this useless and redundant tradition.

In fact, as a member of the Hindutva party, the lady minister should have highlighted those fundamental principles of the religion which make it a progressive and all inclusive way of life. But for that, it is essential to have some basic knowledge of the religion, which sadly, most of these so called torch-bearers of Hinduism do not possess.

But well, Smriti Irani has albeit proved one thing and for this the Pradhan Sevak should laud her—she is so loyal to her party’s half-baked, irrational and Neanderthal ideology that she completely forgot the fact that she is a woman herself!

Or maybe, she represents those women who are misogynists. And if that be, then it’s high time she learnt that times are fast changing now!