Mehsana: State Education Minister Jitu Vaghani forced the first elected woman sarpanch of Rantej village in North Gujarat’s Mehsana district to lift the veil when she stood on stage to hand over a souvenir to the minister.
As Meenaba Zala got on to the stage with the sari veil covering her face the minister insisted that she removed her veil before he accepted the souvenir as part of his felicitation. The woman sarpanch was presenting the souvenir to the minister at the launch of the annual Shala Praveshotsav (school enrolment) and Kanya Kelavani (bringing up of girls)–the state government initiatives to ensure maximum enrolment of children, especially girls, in primary schools and arrest the drop-out rate.
To the surprise of Meenaba and the scores of villagers at the event, Vaghani insisted Meenaba to come out of this riwaaz (tradition) and reveal the face. A man from the crowd opposed the move saying, “Saheb, ame darbar chhiye (Sir, we are Rajputs).”
Responding to it, the minister said, “What does caste have to do with this? Darbar, Patel, Vaniya or Brahmin… see how happy the women are and the blessings they will give you.”
Insisting that all other women in the crowd reveal their faces, Vaghani said “Maan maryaada (respect and modesty) is alright but when you are a Sarpanch you have to come out of these traditions. Let the village decide. Look around, where the world has reached… by doing this (removing veil) we do not lose our maan maryaada. Follow everything but at home. I do not say this riwaaz is bad but we have to change as per the time and come out of this so that we can move forward.”
Ironically at the function where the minister was giving the lecture on women’s empowerment, women attendees were made to sit on the floor on one side while the men from the village sat on plastic chairs.
When the woman sarpanch got on to the stage, an extra chair was also arranged for her on the stage, albeit in a corner.
After one of the village elders agreed with Vaghani, Meenaba reluctantly pulled back a part of her saree and revealed her face.
Later Meenaba agreed that the minister was right. “We should keep our ghunghat at home and need to come out of this (tradition). We are anyway behind our veils at home but we need to move forward with time.” The Indian Express quoted her as saying.
