BACKWARDS: Instead of studying what goes into the making of maternal health, BJP educationists and governors like Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan now want pregnant women to read the spiritual scriptures and narratives of Ramayana to learn about childbirth!

By Rajan Narayan

High Court judges and BJP governors are asking pregnant mothers to ”read the Ramayana.” Shockingly, the chapters on citizenship and freedom fighters have been dropped from the 9th, 10th and 11th standard syllabus. The top priority of the Modi government seems to promote Hindutva and wipe out all record of Congress rule in the country …..

GUJARAT High Court Judge Samir Dave claims that the Manusmriti permitted marriages and birth of children below the age of 17. Legally under the Indian Constitution and the Criminal Procedure Code the minimum age for marriage is 18 and above throughout the country. Giving birth to children below the age of 18 is also considered illegal. The only circumstances under which the birth of children before the age of 18 can be permitted is in the case of rape victims.
It is absurd that a judge should cite the Manusmriti as justification for his judgement. Should we now consider the Manusmriti a very profound legal document? It has never been before and cannot be the basis for cases decided in a modern court of jurisprudence. For instance, the Manusmriti has very old and rigid codes of conduct also about caste hierarchy. It endorses the four castes of Brahmins as priests and scholars, the Chatriyas as warriors and guardians of the kigndoms, the Vaishayas as traders and people of commerce and the Shudras as of a lowly order at the bottom of the rung of society who deal with cleaning up sewage and garbage and keep public spaces clean.
So strict is the Manusmriti code that indeed, if a Shudra touches a Brahmin by accident it is seen as a crime and punishable apart from the Brahmin and his family forced to have a bath afterwards to cleanse themselves of the “caste” of the lowly Shudra.

BACK TO `MANUSMRITI’
THE “Manusmriti” may have been relevant in times dated 3500 BC. The society than was totally different. What could have been rigidly imposed and relevant in an ancient period of Indian history cannot be applicable in the present era – because the modern law codes have been revised and refined over time to be provide just legal judgements to all people of a nation.
THE minimum age for marriage and childbirth now is based on medical grounds. The logic behind a minimum legal age for marriage is to ensure that the girl child is mature and strong enough for childbirth and raising a family. Also there has been a growing concern about the exploding population in society when too many children in the poor strata of society is perceived as a handicap without financial support systems.
In theory a girl child reaches puberty at 12 years or so and nowadays even earlier. Some say let nature decide what is best for the physiology of the woman’s body. The moment she starts menstruating it means she reached the age of child bearing by natural law. However, it has been proved that below 16 mothers are at risk of and childbirth has to be monitored.
In the past traditional mid-wives took care of miscarriages and deliveries in villages where there were no modern healthcare systems in place. If a normal delivery is not possible a haphazard caesarean in a small clinic may result in fatal consequences. Studies have suggested that at 18 years the young woman is more able to psychologically handle childbirth and this of course means her time span for childbirth is shortened, and hence fewer children are born.

POPULATATION BOOM
THE huge increase in the growth of population earlier was because couples got married at the age of 14 to 16 and early marriages resulted in children annually and this was ruinous for couple, family and society. Even in Goa in the olden times there were generations of eight to nine children or even ten and those times it was considered normal. The explanation perhaps is that due to the high mortality rates couples were not convinced that every child would survive. Also, it could be due to the fact that there was no entertainment or distractions and the matrimonial bed was seen as the only pass-time.
As if the Gujarat judge citing the Manusmiriti is not enough, now in Goa we hear the visiting BJP Governor of Telangana Tamilisai Soundararajan telling media people that pregnant women should start chanting “Sunderkand” and read epics like the “Ramayana” to ensure mental and physical wellbeing of mothers and their babies.
If reading the “Ramayana” can ensure healthy children why not the reading of the “Quran” and the “Bible” too? As far as we know the “Ramayana” is the saga of warfare between siblings and not about the health of anybody. It is, therefore, absurd for anyone to suggest or recommend the reading or reciting of the “Ramayana” for healthy children. It is clear that the BJP wants to take the country backwards instead of forward into the future for its followers.
On one hand Prime Minister Narendra Modi talks of double-engine development and bullet train infrastructure. Boasts of buildings tall enough for the biggest army transport plane can land and takes pride in number of highways and expressways built, the large number of airports – the Konkan region along now has three airports, Dabolim, Mopa and Chiplun. Modi takes pride in India making its own helicopters and fighter planes. Surely to claim that India developed the capacity to build planes during “Ramayana” times is a little farfetched? The BJP continues to confuse myth with facts and reality, how much can you stretch reality to build up a pleasing but fraudulent narrative?

SHOCKING DEVELOPMENT
THE most shocking development is the last seven years is the gradual saffronisation of the NCERT books in the 9th, 10th and 11th standards. The three notable chapters that have been deleted from the new textbooks are chapters on democracy and diversity, on popular struggles and movements and challenges to democracy. This comes amidst the row over the removal of the periodic table from Class 10 textbooks. ‘
Clearly all this is aimed for the upcoming 2024 parliamentary elections. Young Indians who turned 18 in 2024 when parliamentary elections are due will not know anything about the Constitution on the freedom struggle of India. This history has been substituted by BJP propaganda glorifying obsolete ancient Indian texts such as the “Manusmriti” and “Arthashastra” and other text books rated as fountain of wisdom on the subject of economics in the 12th century during the reign of Chandragupta Maurya.
In the run-up to the parliamentary elections, the BJP is glorifying its political brief for Hindutva or its own idea of Hinduism – at the expense of the other religions of the country. Will it work in brainwashing Indians across the country? That’s left to be seen.