Recently I watched this excellent discussion with Neha Srivastava, founder of Shaktitva, on Hindu Framework for feminism. It was hosted by the Hindu Students Council:Texas Chapter. I recommend that everyone watch it fully as there are so many great insights in this video. Here are some key points made by Neha as to why a clear Hindu Feminist Framework is necessary.
1 — Hindu Feminists are going to essentially have different priorities than Western White Feminists. Western Feminism was a response to women in Western societies always lacking power due to gender roles dictated by Christianity. Hindu Feminism is about regaining what has been lost thru colonization as Hindu Dharma has always had strong centering on Feminine Divine. There is no tradition within Hinduism that denies the feminine divine or Shakti.
2 — Hindu women are often not consulted in policy decisions, even when those policies are targeted towards their improvement and hence miss the mark. Hindu women are often sidelined in feminist circles and issues like the abduction and forced conversions of Hindu girls in Pakistan are ignored and even suppressed by organizations claiming to help women.
3 — Even in India, where Hindus are the majority, feminists do not take up the cause of Hindu Women as the feminism they have learnt comes from the west. The recent case of the murder of Nikita Tomar is demonstrative where Feminists in India falsely claimed that the state was policing consensual relationships.
4 — Hindu women in the US face many pressing issues as well, that are being ignored by the larger feminist organizations in the US. For example Shaktitva is working to empower Hindu Women in the Bhutanese Refugee community. These women are being targeted by Christian missionaries, who push a very colonized interpretation of the ritual segregation practiced during menstruation by the women in their community, to convert them into Christianity. Another pressing issue is domestic violence that some Hindu women face when they come here as wives of NRI men. Due to their dependent status, these women lack financial independence and resources to exit abusive situations.
As someone who is a Hindu and a Feminist, I am very excited to see these issues stated so succinctly as I have often felt that issues facing Hindu Women are either ignored or actively suppressed by the mainstream feminist movements. The case for a Hindu Feminist Framework is clear.
