This Article is From Mar 22, 2010

Once God's women, now God-forsaken

Raichur district, Karnataka:

The Devadasi system in India was officially abolished by the government in the eighties, but the plight of women given up by their families in the name of tradition and religion continues to be deplorable.

Over 500 km away from Bangalore in Karnataka's Raichur district, Vasanthi Hariprakash discovered many of these women struggling to keep their dignity intact despite being in dire straits.

Huligamma has no idea how old she is; what she does remember is that she was eight when she was ordained by her father to be a Devadasi. That meant she had to remain unmarried, take responsibility of her parents in their old age and stay with the stigma, for life.

"If only I had a husband, how nice it would have been. And now no matter how 'correct' we are, they taunt us 'devdasi'. Am I right? That is no matter how virtuous we are. But those who are married, no matter what they do, there is a screen that protects them," she said.

Before the system was abolished, the Devadasis in this region of Karnataka were mostly Dalit women, often from homes where there were no sons. To this day, many of these women commit to and stay with a single partner, but when it comes to the children they beget, there are no property rights, no secure future.

"'Why don't we have a father Ma?' my children ask me, 'Who is our father?' The man we live with, we show that this is the father, but since they come and go, they don't feel he is their father. They think 'is this how our ma is?' said Yellamma, former Devadasi.

Of course, in the school, they put my name with the children, and in the father's column, they usually put the name 'Hanumantha', she added.

The Devadasi Rehabilitation Plan, which promises them subsidies and home loans, is mired in red tape.

"The government schemes are only giving rise to naqli devdasis who manage to get certificates. For example, in the CM's Devadasi sammelana, we have seen many upper caste and middle-class married women going forward to claim benefits saying 'we are devdasis'," said Mansiah, an activist .

"As of now, all schemes are directly focussed only on the Devdasis, whether it is housing, income or health campaign. But specifically for children there is no focussed or targeted strategy that is yet made out. But if people working in this field can come up with some suggestions and can interact with us, we can certainly formulate a plan," said Sameer Shukla, Deputy Commissioner in-charge, Raichur district.

Once Devdasis, these women are victims of gross social injustice. Of course, there are rehabilitation schemes, but all that these women ask for is the support for their children in education and employment so that they don't pay a price for a crime they never committed.

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