Gender Discrimination

(A Lesson from & To Sikhs)

Jarnail Singh

http://www.understandingguru.com

Abstract

There is an apparent contradiction or a dichotomy in male attitudes towards women. On the one hand, women are the subject of their intense love and adoration; and on the other hand, they are the target of their hate and violence. It is really unfortunate that women are often subjected to unjustified subjugation, violence, and discrimination in society. To understand the rationale behind this irrational male behaviour, it is necessary to analyse it and understand its causes in depth. This analysis will also help us find out if religion is to blame for this. Or is it because of some cultural bias? Or is it something else? To understand the issue, it will be pertinent to trace the footsteps of this behaviour by dividing human history into four phases.

Tracing Footsteps

1. Evolution designed males and females with different physical structures and features to suit their requirements. Nature created males physically stronger than females. And usually, the female gives birth and nurtures the baby. These physical features determine their distinct roles and importance in human or animal life. These features are a contributing factor, but they were not designed to encourage men to be violent toward the fair sex. Nor they should be mistaken to mean that nature intended either of them to be inferior or superior to the other. And it is in no way a permission to one from nature to oppress or terrorize the other. Perhaps that is why nature has also created such creatures that are exceptions to this commonly found rule. For example, the male of a seahorse gives birth to their child. The female hyena is stronger than the male hyena. Therefore, the different physical structure of males and females is only an indicator of the roles assigned to them by nature, not any kind of permission for discrimination or oppression.
2. With the growth in the human population, different social communes came into existence along with different cultural setups governing their lives. These social and cultural setups also assigned different roles to males and females. It was not a planned or thought-out structure but something that sprung up inadvertently. Even when humans were living a life of hunter-gatherers, males would go out hunting, and females would take care of the babies and gather fruits and nuts for food. However, all these social setups created a male-dominated society. But the driving force behind this arrangement was the smooth functioning of the social setup and nothing else. That is why these roles are also changing with the change in social setups. For example, the traditional role of the male as the sole bread earner for the family has changed and now females contribute equally to the family budget.
3. With the advent of religion in human society, this disparity in roles not only persisted, but religion helped this disparity to take some of its disgusting forms. The society created by almost all cultures was/is male-dominated and religion has also put its stamp on this male-dominated society. Even God is said to be a male in all the Abrahamic religions. Eve, a woman, is blamed for the exile of Adam, a man, out of Heaven. In Islam, women’s rights in property are not equal to men, nor is the testimony of a woman considered equal to that of a man. Though Hindus worship goddesses, the status of women in Hinduism is at par with Shudras, the lowest rung in the hierarchy of Hindu society. The prohibition of widow marriage, the custom of “sati”, the self-immolation of the wife on the death of her husband, and many other rituals which were or are part of Hinduism were or are examples of atrocities on women. Just as in Islam, a woman considers her husband to be a “mizaji Khuda” or akin to a deity, in the same way, her husband is also called Pati-Parmeshwar or deity by a Hindu woman. There is no doubt that Hindu society is also male-dominated. It is said about Mahatma Buddha that he allowed women to join the “Sangh” only after much hesitation. Sikhism is perhaps the first or only religion in the world that gave a woman the same status as that of a man. The God of Sikhism does not have a gender and is addressed as female and male or mother and father. But despite this, women do not have equal rights even in Sikh society. The Sikh community is also a male-dominated society. We will try to understand the reasons for this later in this write-up.
4. We are now living in an era of science, reason, and democracy. This era is also not much different from the rest of the phases in human history. Women got their democratic rights very late. In Athens, the birthplace of democracy, only adult male citizens were allowed to vote.  The movement for women’s suffrage started in the 18^th century and now women do have the right to vote everywhere. Many laws have been enacted to protect women’s rights, but male-dominated society does find a way around to deprive women of their rights. Sometimes the dictates of the community prevail over the law of the land (that protects women’s rights). Society often shuts its eyes and keeps mum about this injustice. Even if a woman wins a position of power, in practice, that power is exercised behind the scene by a man (husband or father). In India, for example, if a woman becomes a sarpanch or village head, the de facto sarpanch is always her husband. If the figures are to be believed, there is no significant difference in injustice to women even at this stage of human history. No doubt, many laws have been made to protect women’s rights. But the fact that we need these laws proves that injustice has not stopped at all.

The Gravity of the Situation

From the above discussion, it is obvious that the distinction between male and female roles designed by nature has become a part of the development of human society. But this development took many a terrible form of discrimination, leading to injustice and atrocities on women. Unfortunately, religion also became a party to this crime. This discrimination often shows its terrible and horrible face. Here are a few examples.

• Be it a political war, a jihad or crusade in the name of religion, or communal riots anywhere in the world, unfortunately, women suffer the most in the form of rape and other atrocities. This reveals the mindset of men.
• Discrimination and sexual abuse of women at their workplaces are not uncommon. In fact, in many societies, a woman’s stepping out of the safe haven of her home, for work, or for some other reason, is often fraught with danger. This abuse is not confined to the lower depths of society. It is found everywhere and big names from religion, sports, media, and intellectuals in fact from every single stratum of modern-day society are involved in this abuse.
• Even when women are treated as their family’s honour, it does not result in a position of respect for them. Rather it translates into more rigid restrictions on what they can and cannot do. Sometimes they are even sacrificed and killed at the altar of this honour.
• In many societies (for example India), one common excuse for torturing a woman is her giving birth to a baby girl (instead of a baby boy) even though she has no control over it. The scientific truth regarding what determines the sex of the child is ignored and not accepted by these societies. A male-dominated society shows its horrible face when a woman is forced to abort her female foetus.
• Horrific incidents of rape make headlines daily in the newspapers. Even young children are not spared. All this is happening despite strict laws against rape. Swati Maliwal, the current chief of the Delhi Commission for Women, admitted how she was sexually abused as a child in a recent news break. (1)
• Women are also bought and sold like any other marketable commodity. At times, parents become a party to this trade. In most cases, it is driven by poverty. But criminal gangs are also into this trade. No wonder, these women bought from the market, are treated like animals.
• Domestic violence is common in every section of society. Often men resort to violence to satisfy their egos and to subjugate women as if they are second-class citizens.
• Call it an irony or whatever you like, but under social and cultural pressure, sometimes a woman herself instigates and participates in the oppression of another woman. This in itself is a measure of the gravity of this issue.
• Women are treated only as a source of procreation. Organizations like the Taliban deny women freedom of education and work and force them to stay imprisoned in the four walls of their homes for procreation. Taliban is not just in Afghanistan; its ideology exists everywhere under different names and shapes.

Understanding the Problem

There is not even an iota of doubt that gender discrimination exists in every section of every society. It may vary in scale but it is something universal. It is not confined to any particular religion. At the same time, it is also a fact that in every religion, and every society, there are people who have full respect for women. So, to find out the real reason behind this discrimination and oppression, we have to look for it somewhere else, not religion or culture. Similarly, we see that this discrimination and violence continues unabated instead of being strictly prevented by law. Why is this so?

Sikhism is a case in point. A good example to analyse this issue in depth.  Sikhism gave equal status to women in theory and practice for more than 250 years with great results but somehow lost its way and stopped practicing it and is now no different from other religions. Guru Nanak, the first Sikh Guru declares in a very scientific and logical way that there is no valid reason to treat and condemn women as an inferior specie.

ਭੰਡਿ ਜੰਮੀਐ ਭੰਡਿ ਨਿੰਮੀਐ ਭੰਡਿ ਮੰਗਣੁ ਵੀਆਹੁ॥ਭੰਡਹੁ ਹੋਵੈ ਦੋਸਤੀ ਭੰਡਹੁ ਚਲੈ ਰਾਹੁ॥ਭੰਡੁ ਮੁਆ ਭੰਡੁ ਭਾਲੀਐ ਭੰਡੁ ਭਾਲੀਐ ਭੰਡਿ ਹੋਵੈ ਬੰਧਾਨੁ॥ਸੋ ਕਿਉ ਮੰਦਾ ਆਖੀਐ ਜਿਤੁ ਜੰਮਹਿ ਰਾਜਾਨ॥ਭੰਡਹੁ ਹੀ ਭੰਡੁ ਉਪਜੈ ਭੰਡੈ ਬਾਝੁ ਨ ਕੋਇ॥ਨਾਨਕ ਭੰਡੈ ਬਾਹਰਾ ਏਕੋ ਸਚਾ ਸੋਇ॥ਜਿਤੁ ਮੁਖਿ ਸਦਾ ਸਾਲਾਹੀਐ ਭਾਗਾ ਰਤੀ ਚਾਰਿ॥ਨਾਨਕ ਤੇ ਮੁਖ ਉਜਲੇ ਤਿਤੁ ਸਚੈ ਦਰਬਾਰਿ॥ ਪੰਨਾ 473।

The text above is in Punjabi and can be found on page 473 of Guru Granth Sahib, (2) the religious scripture of the Sikh faith. To hammer home his point, Gur Nanak uses the derogatory term (Bhand) used for women in India at that time. “Bhand” in Punjabi means a utensil and was used for women as they were treated merely as a utensil to carry the baby or in other words a vehicle of procreation. It also means a buffoon or something to be laughed at. Addressing the male-dominated society, Guru Nanak challenges their prevalent viewpoint. There is no rationale or justification for this treatment given to women in society. In fact, they deserve our utmost respect. The logic that runs through this verse is under. Women deserve to be respected as they are the ones:

• Who nourishes (every child) in her womb before their birth.
• When this child grows up, he seeks a woman to get engaged and marry. Why would you marry a woman if she is so despicable?
• If somehow his wife dies young, the man seeks another one to prolong his progeny.
• A woman is the focal point of all the relations a man can possibly have.
• Women give birth to the kings that men revere and bow before.
• A woman gives birth to both male and female children. How can men disrespect someone born the same way as them?
• Only exception is God who is not born through a woman.
• As a matter of fact, being a man or woman, does not make you respectable. What makes you respectable is your good deeds and sober and rational thinking.

Sikhism walked this talk with astounding results. During the guru period (3) which spanned more than 200 years and a few years after that as well, women were given full respect and rights. For example, when Guru Amar Das appointed 22 preachers called “manjees” (3) for the propagation of Sikhism, four women were also given this responsibility. And most of the 52 assistants called “peehras” (4) adjoined to these preachers were women. The outcome of this dignity and respect accorded to women resulted in a significant contribution they made to Sikh history. It is worth noting these women preachers worked as elementary teachers ensuring that everyone can read and write. It was this initiative that resulted in a high literacy rate in Punjab. Unfortunately, as G W Leitner stated, the British dismantled this indigenous educational set up for political reasons. (5) History bears witness to the fact that Sikh women were also experts in horse riding and the art of warfare apart from being education providers. But then the question rises what happened to Sikhism that now it is no different from other religions in this regard? How and why did this change come about? The plight of Sikh women these days is no different from their sisters belonging to other religions or cultures. The reasons for this decline in Sikh society can point us toward the root cause of this issue of gender discrimination.

Apparently, it was the teachings of Sikh Gurus, now captured in Guru Granth Sahib, that motivated Sikh society to respect women. But the question is what is different or special about Sikhism that goaded its followers to respect women. Sikhism as a philosophy parts way with other religions as instead of promoting blind faith and miracles, it cultivates scientific temper and encourages questioning spirit and rational thinking.  And this deterioration in Sikh society is the direct consequence of the disobedience of these teachings. It did not happen overnight. It was a well-planned political and religious conspiracy. It was in the interest of political rulers, the British empire, and the religious rulers, the priest, to wean away the Sikhs from the teachings of their Guru. These teachings go against the interest of the priests. Even though Sikhism as a theory does not advocate any rebellion against the state or establishment of an independent state on the basis of religion, it does motivate and inspire people to fight against injustice. Injustice is inbuilt into the very nature of both political and religious rulers. So, to muzzle this source of motivation to fight against injustice, the politico-religious nexus followed and executed this action plan.

1. Indigenous education setup was destroyed rendering people illiterate by default. Sikhs were unable to read, understand and follow the teachings of their Guru.
2. A priestly class was created among the Sikhs to disorient them from the core concepts of their Guru. Illiterate Sikhs have no choice but to go to these priests for religious discourse. In a way, they were forced to rely on this secondary source of knowledge opening floodgates for misinterpretation and confusion about the content of Guru Granth Sahib. The state Sikhism is in now testifies and proves this point.
3. New literature in the name of their Guru was created using ghostwriters where required. Dasam Granth and Suraj Parkash are prominent among them. This literature contradicts the teachings of Sikhism. For example, while Sikhism gives full respect to women, Dasam Granth considers women as some kind of evil that corrupts everything.
4. Fake stories in the name of history were created and propagated about the life of Sikh Gurus. These stories appear to be written in praise of Sikh Gurus, but they have a sub-text message showing a dichotomy between what they preach and what they did in real life. For example, miracle stories and multiple marriages of Gurus. The truth is Sikhism rejects miracles and none of the Sikh Gurus indulged in polygamy.
5. The Sikh institutions like SGPC that control major Gurudwaras are being run by persons who are completely ignorant about Sikhism and have fallen prey to greedy politics busy reaping administrative and financial benefits. Truth is sacrificed at the altar of politics in whatever they do or say.

This modus operandi worked well. And Sikhism in practice is now totally different from Sikhism in theory. Sikhs have now shunned rational thinking. They believe in all the trash taught to them by these priests who, in fact, are shenanigans masquerading as torchbearers of Sikhism. The character of the leading people in gurdwaras has deteriorated drastically, due to which they are neither able to lead properly nor do they want to do so as they have a different agenda than spreading the true import of Sikhism. So instead of leading by example, they distract and disorient the average Sikh away from the true import of Sikhism.

The Root Cause

What exactly happened to Sikhs, can lead us to the root cause of this issue and why it is so urgent to uproot this root cause from human society. It is evident from the discussion above that the maltreatment of women in Sikh society started when Sikhs abandoned rational thinking, resulting in the loss of discriminating intellect to evaluate and decide, and started believing blindly in whatever they were told by clever priests controlling their faith who have their own nefarious agenda. This resulted in decadence in Sikhism. Injustice to women and decadence in Sikhism happened concurrently. In a way, injustice to women and decadence in society are linked to each other. So, the lack of rationality or a mindset driven by irrational impulses is the root cause of this malaise. Given his physical dominance, the absence of rational thinking leads to a life of impulses that provides a fertile ground for the blossoming of unjustified ego and arrogance in man. Blind faith in distorted cultural and religious memes fertilizes the growth of this mindset. And this mindset of arrogance and ego is the biggest motivation behind maltreatment and violence against women. Dispassionate reason and discriminating intellect help weed out the irrational impulses that drive a man to mistreat and subjugate a woman. Driven by this ego, man treats woman as his personal property and thinks that it is manly to mistreat or do whatever he likes with a woman. This is what ails the Sikh or any other society. If Sikhs had not abandoned the true import of Sikhism, rational thinking, and discriminating intellect, then scientific or balanced temper would have been running in the veins of Sikh society. Unfortunately, instead of a scientific temper, Sikh society is now deeply caught in a quagmire of miracles and blind faith. Sikh society is not the only one suffering from this malaise, every single human society on this earth is infected by this malaise.

It goes without saying that there is an urgent need to cure our society of this malaise. A healthy female is the prerequisite of a healthy human society. It is simple mathematics. If you suppress half of the population, you cannot expect society to prosper and be healthy and happy. Sikhs are a live example of this. How can we get rid of this ego and arrogance? Sikhism teaches us that this arrogance and ego can only be overcome when we internalize rational thinking and make it our way of life. We can structure our life on two paths. One is the path of uncontrolled passions. Sikhism calls it “Dhaat” or a mad race. The second path is the path of reason and rationality leading to a seasoned and measured mindset. Sikhism calls it “Liv” or a deep meditation and appreciation of the laws operating in this universe and living a life ensuring the welfare of all. “Liv” leads to the extinction of the self or ego as it helps us to realize our true importance in the cosmic scheme of things. Besides it is a must and beneficial to not only mankind but to all residents of this earth that uncontrolled ego and selfishness should be eradicated in all humans. And this will also ensure that gender equality also includes men because it does not take long for the boot to be on the other foot. Education in good science can go a long way to achieve this goal.

Feminism and Gender Discrimination

A question arises, is feminism a solution to this problem of injustice to women? The term “Feminisme” was coined in French by the socialist Charles Fourier and J. S. Mill explained it in English in his essay “The Subjection of Women” in 1869 wherein he advocated that gender discrimination “ought to be replaced by a principle of perfect equality, admitting no power or privilege on the one side, nor disability on the other.” (6). Feminism as a movement has been successful in winning voting rights and access to education for women by the early twentieth century. It was a great victory. However, feminism can win legal battles, which though a great achievement in itself, cannot ensure equality in practice in society. It is a kind of medicine for the disease but not a diet that makes your body immune to the disease. Feminism can force governments to enact laws against gender discrimination, but as they say, there is many a slip between the cup and the lip. That these laws are not having the desired effect is evident from the fact that despite strict laws and penalties rapes are happening every day everywhere. These laws are a must as deterrents, but they are not sufficient in themselves. We need a change in the mindset of men in particular and society in general. Also, sometimes these laws are also misused by none else than women themselves. For example, these laws have been misused to lodge fake complaints against men in regard to dowry and rape. In Islam, men use divorce as a threat to terrorize and subjugate their wives, while in Western countries women use divorce laws to their benefit as they get a lot of financial benefits in a divorce settlement.

The Solution

To summarize this discussion, let us put together a theory devoid of any logical absurdity regarding this issue.

• The difference in the physical structure of male and female bodies designed to serve the purpose of evolution has been misused to subjugate and abuse women.
• Culture and religion have also contributed their bit in perpetuating and justifying this abuse.
• With time homo sapiens became more and more knowledgeable, and they realized that this is not only wrong but also harmful to the progress of humanity.
• Many right-thinking people, from all walks of life, raised their voices against the atrocities inflicted on women.  
• It also gave birth to social and political activism and the legal protection that followed helped but did not eradicate the problem. Because legal protection works like a deterrent but does not eradicate the root cause.
• The root cause is arrogance, ego, and selfishness inbuilt into human nature. Probably it is the requirement of evolution as not only men and women, all species have this affliction.
• To eradicate this problem, we need to complement these laws by instilling rational thinking in the everyday life of society. Sikhism is a case in point here. As long as Sikhs followed rational thinking, they respected women. As soon as they shunned this, they were no different from anybody else.
• Rational thinking is the product of scientific temperament which need to be inculcated by formal and informal education at home and outside the home. It should not be confused with education in science. Scientists also succumb to irrational impulses.
• Gender equality must also include men to ensure that scales are not tilted to any one side.

Notes

1. You can read this news on this link. https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/delhi/dcw-chief-swati-maliwal-says-was-sexually-assaulted-by-father-when-she-was-a-child-487072

2. The English translation of this verse on page 473 is as under.

A woman nourishes the child in her womb and gives birth,

Grown-up as a man gets engaged to and marries a woman

Man falls in love with a woman, and through her, he prolongs his progeny

If the wife dies, he seeks another one, through a woman you relate to the world

How can you call her bad who gave birth to the kings you salute?

Like everybody else, a woman is also born to a woman

The only exception is God who is self-created

Being a man or woman does not make you respectable

Only those who appreciate and love God and its nature are respectable.

3. In Sikh history guru period starts with the birth of Guru Nanak in 1469 and ends with the death of the tenth guru in 1708

4. “Manjee” in Punjabi means a small cot. The preachers were given this name as they used to sit on them while talking to people. “Peehra” in Punjabi means a kind of stool.

5. G W Leitner, a British historian has written a book on the education system in Punjab. The book was published in 1882 about 40 years after the British took over Punjab from the Sikhs. The book is called “A History of Indigenous Education in The Pun jab Since Annexation and in 1882”, and was published first in 1882.   His very first statement in this book is a kind of confession. He says, “ I am about to relate-I hope without extenuation or malice-the history of the contact of a form of European with one of Asiatic civilization; how, in spite of the best intentions, the most public-spirited officers, and a generous Government that had the benefit of the traditions of other provinces, the true education of the Punjab was crippled, checked and nearly destroyed; how opportunities for its healthy revival and development were either neglected or perverted; and how, far beyond the blame attaching to individuals, our system stands convicted of worse than official failure.”

6. As quoted by A C Grayling in Ideas That Matter (W&N Paperback edition 2009) on page 212

Sydney

23/07/2023