On 10 April 1998 the fourth Akhil Bhartiya Sadhwi Shakti Sammelan was held at the Santoshi Mata Ashram in Kankhal just outside Hardwar. This was a meeting for sadhwis, women sadhus, that was organized by a group affiliated with the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (the V. H. P.), a Hindu nationalist religious and cultural organization. The speakers included several women Mahamandaleshwars, some of the most important Hindu women religious leaders in the area, perhaps in India. Three proposals were approved in the meeting. The first resolution was in favor of the construction of a temple at the supposed place of the birth of the god Ram in Ayodhya. Then there was a cow protection resolution. This included an appeal to the government to ban cow slaughter and also an appeal to open cowpens. Finally, here was a resolution against the pollution of the Ganges, which included opposition to the construction of the Tehri Dam.
One of the more interesting speeches in this meeting was delivered by Uma Bharati. She is a sadhwi and politician, one of the most visible figures in the rise of the Bharatiya Janata Party (the B. J. P.) in the late 1980s. She is a member of Parliament, and was just recently appointed minister of state for human resources by the central government.
The topic that was assigned to Uma Bharati was "Cultural Pollution." She began by saying that she sometimes thinks that as much damage as the Mughals and British did to India, television may be doing even more. "If a temple is torn down, it can always be rebuilt, but if a person's character is ruined, that cannot be replaced." When it comes to the character destroying messages that children are exposed to, it is primarily their mothers that must protect them. This is one reason why Bharati said that "Only this country's mothers can stop this cultural pollution."
Bharati said that work on the Ram temple soon will begin soon, but she also supported the government's position that this will only be undertaken with the support of the general public. For this reason nongovernmental organizations have an important role to play in developing that support.
When it comes to "cultural nationalism," Uma Bharati said that this was not invented by the B. J. P. or the V. H. P. On the contrary, she insisted, "This nation was a Hindu nation. This nation is a Hindu nation. This nation will remain a Hindu nation." She emphasized, "We don't want to force anyone to convert to Hinduism." But she added that everyone must realize that the bases of Indian culture are things like the Ganges and the cow, and these must be protected. This is the kind of message that the sadhwis who attended the meeting should be preaching, Bharati said.
UMA BHARATI DEPARTING THE MEETING
Bharati mentioned that she had spoken out against the Miss World beauty pageant that was recently held in India. When people accused her of being too square, she explained that it was as if women's bodies were being bought and sold in a meat market. She said that people were convinced by this argument. She doesn't want women to be forced to stay at home or to be denied education. She wants them to be educated and to play a role in society, but she doesn't want Indian women to blindly ape western culture. She said she wants women to become like Rani Lakshmi Bai, with a sword in her hand and child in her lap. They should commit themselves to fight for what is right in society, and take care of their family duties as well. At the conclusion of her speech Uma Bharati said that there would be no improvement in India if women take part in public life, but become as aggressive and violent as men. Rather, women must find a way to play a role in society without surrendering their sweetness, gentleness, simplicity, and peaceful nature.
Source: My own observations of the Sadhwis' Meeting at the Santoshi Mata Ashram in Kankhal, 10 April 1998.
Copyright J. E. Llewellyn 2001. Updated 4 September 2002.