Skip to main content

Delhi's 75% young Hindu women practice ghughat; it's 90% in urban Rajasthan and UP: Pennsylvania univ survey

By Rajiv Shah
While the Narendra Modi government may want to fight gender inequality by passing the triple talaq bill in the Lok Sahba, a recent study has revealed that Delhi’s 75% of young Hindu women in the group 18-25 practice ghunghat. Based on high profile Social Attitude Research, India (SARI) survey, the study also finds that, in this young age, whopping 98% women in rural Rajasthan, 90% in urban Rajasthan, and 91% in rural Uttar Pradesh, and 90% in urban Uttar Pradesh practice ghughat.
The SARI survey was carried out in 2016 by the Center for the Advanced Study of India (CASI), University of Pennsylvania. Its results have been published in November 2017 as a paper by the Research Institute for Compassionate Economics (RICE), “Explicit prejudice: Evidence from a new survey”, authored by Diane Coffey, Payal Hathi, Nidhi Khurana and Amit Thorat.
The study claims, it is a “representative” sample of adults in Delhi, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, and SARI “dataset is unique”. Done by “using low-cost phone survey methods”, responses from 753 men and 658 women were sought in Delhi, as against 791 men and 808 women in Uttar Pradesh, and 1611 men and 1749 women in in Rajasthan . Between 18% and and 29% respondents agreed to be interviewed.
Calling ghunghat as one of the three indicators of “prejudice against women”, the study says, the other two SARI captured were on whether respondents think women should not work outside the home, and whether men eat meals first.
The study defines ghunghat as the “practice of women veiling their heads or faces with the end of a sari or a dupatta”, insisting it “reinforcing women’s unequal position in families and in society”, agreeing that ghunghat has “a different social meaning than pardah, the practice of women’s seclusion common in Muslim households.”
However, it underscores, “Hindu women who do not practice ghunghat report having say in more decisions related to their own lives than women who do”, with women who do not practice ghunghat are “12 percentage points more likely” to report having at least some say in household decision making.”
Providing age-wise breakup in Delhi, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, the study says, “Although urban areas show some age gradient in the practice, rural areas show little, and overall the age gradient is less steep than we expected. This may be because ghunghat can be practiced more or less intensely.”
Refusing to identify age-wise intensity of ghunghat according to age, the study says, while a “younger woman might practice ghunghat by covering her whole face, while an older woman covers only her hair, our data do not capture these differences.”
Claiming that the SARI survey results are similar to those of the “nationally representative 2011 India Human Development Survey (IHDS)”, which was carried out in 2011, the study says, “There is also less of a difference in the percent of women who practice ghunghat between rural and urban areas than we expected, though again, we have not measured the intensity of the practice.”
Providing data for other age groups, the study says, 63% of Delhi women in the age group 26-40 and 44% in the age group 41-60 practice ghughat. The respective percentage for rural Rajasthan is 99 and 89; and for urban Rajasthan it is 89 and 84. As for rural Uttar Pradesh, 94% and 93% women in the age groups 26-40 and 41-60 respectively practice ghughat, and in urban Uttar Pradesh, the percentage is 63 and 39 respectively.

Comments

Uma said…
Wonder if we ever get UCC this and other archaic practices will be done away with.
raul2407 said…
While majority of Muslim women in India are married before they are adult, 99% of them are forced to wear Burqa/Hijab, Some foreign funded leftists are busy in targeting Hindu women on 'Ghunghat', Look at their targeted agenda.
Anonymous said…
Government is busy in vilification a community and the evil supporters spreading the hatred against a community while themselves living in a such a social backwardness and bearing unholy lows

TRENDING

Reducing emission? India among top nations whose coal as energy source going up

By NS Venkataraman*  The State of the Global Climate report by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) confirmed that the year 2023 was the warmest year on record, with the global temperature of 1.4 degree celsius above pre-industrial 1850-1900 base line.

Lockdown 'total failure' of science more than of politics: Open letter on 4th anniversary

Counterview Desk  In an open letter to fellow academicians, scientists and medical practitioners in India, marking the fourth anniversary of India's lockdown (25 March 2024), the Managing Committee* of the Universal Health Organisation (UHO) has insisted on the need to "repair two years of immense damage to science".

Insider plot to kill Deendayal Upadhyay? What RSS pracharak Balraj Madhok said

By Shamsul Islam*  Balraj Madhok's died on May 2, 2016 ending an era of old guards of Hindutva politics. A senior RSS pracharak till his death was paid handsome tributes by the RSS leaders including PM Modi, himself a senior pracharak, for being a "stalwart leader of Jan Sangh. Balraj Madhok ji's ideological commitment was strong and clarity of thought immense. He was selflessly devoted to the nation and society. I had the good fortune of interacting with Balraj Madhok ji on many occasions". The RSS also issued a formal condolence message signed by the Supremo Mohan Bhagwat on behalf of all swayamsevaks, referring to his contribution of commitment to nation and society. He was a leading RSS pracharak on whom his organization relied for initiating prominent Hindutva projects. But today nobody in the RSS-BJP top hierarchy remembers/talks about Madhok as he was an insider chronicler of the immense degeneration which was spreading as an epidemic in the high echelons of th

Magnetic, stunning, Protima Bedi 'exposed' malice of sexual repression in society

By Harsh Thakor*  Protima Bedi was born to a baniya businessman and a Bengali mother as Protima Gupta in Delhi in 1949. Her father was a small-time trader, who was thrown out of his family for marrying a dark Bengali women. The theme of her early life was to rebel against traditional bondage. It was extraordinary how Protima underwent a metamorphosis from a conventional convent-educated girl into a freak. On October 12th was her 75th birthday; earlier this year, on August 18th it was her 25th death anniversary.

Savarkar 'criminally betrayed' Netaji and his INA by siding with the British rulers

By Shamsul Islam* RSS-BJP rulers of India have been trying to show off as great fans of Netaji. But Indians must know what role ideological parents of today's RSS/BJP played against Netaji and Indian National Army (INA). The Hindu Mahasabha and RSS which always had prominent lawyers on their rolls made no attempt to defend the INA accused at Red Fort trials.

'Flawed' argument: Gandhi had minimal role, naval mutinies alone led to Independence

Counterview Desk Reacting to a Counterview  story , "Rewiring history? Bose, not Gandhi, was real Father of Nation: British PM Attlee 'cited'" (January 26, 2016), an avid reader has forwarded  reaction  in the form of a  link , which carries the article "Did Atlee say Gandhi had minimal role in Independence? #FactCheck", published in the site satyagrahis.in. The satyagraha.in article seeks to debunk the view, reported in the Counterview story, taken by retired army officer GD Bakshi in his book, “Bose: An Indian Samurai”, which claims that Gandhiji had a minimal role to play in India's freedom struggle, and that it was Netaji who played the crucial role. We reproduce the satyagraha.in article here. Text: Nowadays it is said by many MK Gandhi critics that Clement Atlee made a statement in which he said Gandhi has ‘minimal’ role in India's independence and gave credit to naval mutinies and with this statement, they concluded the whole freedom struggle.

A Hindu alternative to Valentine's Day? 'Shiv-Parvati was first love marriage in Universe'

By Rajiv Shah*   The other day, I was searching on Google a quote on Maha Shivratri which I wanted to send to someone, a confirmed Shiv Bhakt, quite close to me -- with an underlying message to act positively instead of being negative. On top of the search, I chanced upon an article in, imagine!, a Nashik Corporation site which offered me something very unusual. 

'Wrong direction': Paris NGO regrets MNC ArcelorMittal still using coal-based steel

By Rajiv Shah  A new report by Paris-based non-governmental research and campaigning organization, Reclaim Finance, has blamed the MNC ArcelorMittal – formed in 2006 following the takeover and merger of the western European steel maker Arcelor (Spain, France, and Luxembourg) by Indian-owned Mittal Steel – for using use “climate destructive” metallurgical coal for its projects in India.

Attack on foreign students: Gujarat varsity's reputation, ranking at stake, say academics

Counterview Desk  Expressing anguish over the attack on international students in Gujarat University hostels, a letter claimed to have been signed by 122 current and former academics has asked the Gujarat Vice Chancellor, Dr Neerja Gupta, to provide emotional support to the attacked students and to ensure their physical safety.  

Poor private sector engagement 'impacting' carbon pricing policy in Global South

Counterview Desk  The joint report by Environmental Defense Fund and Observer Research Fund, "Navigating Carbon Pricing: The G20 Experience and Global South Prospects", delves into the complex landscape of carbon pricing, examining its application within the G20 nations and the potential implications for emerging economies in the Global South.  The report claims to provide insights and recommendations for effective carbon pricing strategies in diverse economies.  A note: The Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and Observer Research Foundation (ORF) have launched the Navigating Carbon Pricing: The G20 Experience and Global South Prospects” report. The report delves into the complex landscape of carbon pricing, examining its application within the G20 nations and the potential implications for emerging economies in the Global South. The report offers a comprehensive analysis of various carbon pricing instruments currently in existence, providing valuable i