Rabi'ah.
24-08-04, 13:13
Women of Lakshadweep
Let's pay a visit to Lakshadweep — India's territory of tiny islands off the coast of Kerala. The Dravidian population was converted to Islam centuries ago by a Sufi named ‘Ubayd Allah. These islands are a place where — by a happy combination of Dravidian tradition and genuine liberal Islam — women's rights are advanced more than most other parts of South Asia.
The women don't have to wear burqa‘s because, as one of the natives put it, everyone respects women there and nobody molests them. Their society follows the ancient Dravidian matrilocal system whereby the son-in-law stays with the wife's family, so there is continuity of mothers and their daughters. The islanders value education for girls just as highly as they value education for boys. Lakshadweep's women have a voice in public affairs: they are guaranteed four out of ten positions on the dvipa-pancayat, the island village councils.
Among the islander peoples, the Manikfan, the Raveri, and the Thakrufan, the essential unit of society is the gothu, a matriarchal clan organization in which the senior woman is the leader. Each of their villages is governed by a headwoman (bodudatha), as well as a headman (bodukaka). Lakshadweep is notable among traditional societies for gender equality in political life as well as matriachy in social organization. The ancient matriarchal heritage of Dravidian civilization, along with the reverence for the Feminine inherent within Islam, has resulted in Lakshadweep preserving an admirable level of equality and high status for women.
People on the mainland may think of these islands as backward and underdeveloped, but, frankly, their attitude toward women's rights is far more developed than in the rest of South Asia, and Indians, Pakistanis, and Muslims everywhere would do well to learn from these people in uplifting the status of Muslim women and South Asian women.
http://www.penkatali.org/lakshadweep.html
Let's pay a visit to Lakshadweep — India's territory of tiny islands off the coast of Kerala. The Dravidian population was converted to Islam centuries ago by a Sufi named ‘Ubayd Allah. These islands are a place where — by a happy combination of Dravidian tradition and genuine liberal Islam — women's rights are advanced more than most other parts of South Asia.
The women don't have to wear burqa‘s because, as one of the natives put it, everyone respects women there and nobody molests them. Their society follows the ancient Dravidian matrilocal system whereby the son-in-law stays with the wife's family, so there is continuity of mothers and their daughters. The islanders value education for girls just as highly as they value education for boys. Lakshadweep's women have a voice in public affairs: they are guaranteed four out of ten positions on the dvipa-pancayat, the island village councils.
Among the islander peoples, the Manikfan, the Raveri, and the Thakrufan, the essential unit of society is the gothu, a matriarchal clan organization in which the senior woman is the leader. Each of their villages is governed by a headwoman (bodudatha), as well as a headman (bodukaka). Lakshadweep is notable among traditional societies for gender equality in political life as well as matriachy in social organization. The ancient matriarchal heritage of Dravidian civilization, along with the reverence for the Feminine inherent within Islam, has resulted in Lakshadweep preserving an admirable level of equality and high status for women.
People on the mainland may think of these islands as backward and underdeveloped, but, frankly, their attitude toward women's rights is far more developed than in the rest of South Asia, and Indians, Pakistanis, and Muslims everywhere would do well to learn from these people in uplifting the status of Muslim women and South Asian women.
http://www.penkatali.org/lakshadweep.html