After a College forced women students to strip to prove that they weren’t menstruating, a Delhi NGO responded by organizing a “Period Feast” prepared solely by women who were menstruating in Block A Central Park (Delhi) on Sunday.
A total of 28 women were deliberately chosen to cook the food as a response to a controversial statement made by Swami KrushnaswarupDasji who said, “If a menstruating woman cooks food for her husband, she will definitely be born as a female dog in her next life”.
According to the reports ShriSahjanand Girls’ Institute (SSGI), located in Bhuj, adheres to norms requiring menstruating women to avoid physical contact with other students, and stay out of the kitchen and a nearby temple.
The undergraduate students of SSGI and their parents approached the media and complained that the management of the institute ordered 68 girls to go out of a classroom, sit in a passage on the suspicion that students were violating the institute’s rules for women students during their menstrual period. While two of the students said that they were menstruating, the authorities allegedly forced the remaining 66 to go to a washroom one after another and strip to ascertain if they were menstruating or not.
DarshanaDholakia, incharge Vice-Chancellor of the university to which the college is affiliated, had earlier said the girls were checked because the hostel has a rule that girls having periods are not supposed to take meals with other inmates. The hostel authorities decided to check them after they came to know that some menstruating girls had broken the rule and taken the meal.
A seven-member team of the National Commission for Women (NCW) on Sunday met the girl inmates of the hostel.
“The incident clearly violates the basic rights of the young women and as per the law it outrages the modesty of the young women, causing them mental trauma and amounts to sexual harassment. While multiple activist groups are fighting against the taboo attached to menstruation, such incidents again reinforce the redundant and unscientific idea of women being dirty while they menstruate… The act violates the fundamental duties under article 51 A of the Indian Constitution,” the group said in a statement.
The feast, organized by NGO SachhiSaheli’s founder DrSurbhi Singh, saw a gathering of 300 people. It focussed on highlighting menstruating women who cooked the food. The attendees also signed a pledge to stand in solidarity and reject the myth that women are impure and impious during menstruation.
Manish Sisodia, Deputy Chief Minister who attended the feast as the chief guest said, “In today’s scientific day and age, there is nothing pure/impure about menstruation, it is a natural biological process that should be taken as it is.”
The event also saw a powerful play on menstruation called ‘Wo din’ presented by Asmita Theatre Group run by director Arvind Gaur who also acted in the play.
In India menstruation has been a taboo and several temples restrict the entry of women who are menstruating. The irony is that the temples are of goddesses who themselves supposedly menstruated.
