The death of the Delhi gangrape victim has taken everyone by shock, more so the top historians who are present in the city for the 73rd Indian History Congress being held at the Mumbai University campus at Kalina.
Throwing light on the status of women in the history of the country, Prof. Shireen Moosvi, Centre of Advanced Study in History, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh said that when the carvings dating back to 6000-8000 BC are seen, inferences can be made that women shared the same status as men.
To prove it she said that one of the carvings showed two men and a woman holding a spear hunting a boar together.
“It can be deduced from history that as the country became more civilised the discrimination against women increased. The Vedas elucidated the duties of both men and women, thus making the differentiation more apparent,” said Ms Moosvi.
She added that this trend has continued since then as it has been accepted and implemented by all cultures regardless of whether it was during the Hindu or Mughal rule.
As a solution, to the problem of the crimes against women, Prof. S.Z.H. Jafri, vice-president of the IHC said that the need of the hour was to change the mindset of the people. “More often than not women are treated as an object of lust and hence incidents of rape, molestation and harassment abound.”
“Men need to view women as equals and unless this happens crimes against women will keep on increasing,” said Professor Jafri.