Vice Chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit said on Monday, 22 August, that the implementation of a uniform civil code would be the "greatest tribute" to gender justice.
Delivering a lecture at the Dr Ambedkar International Centre in Delhi, she said that uniformity of laws was aimed at making people progressive and broad-minded, adding that Ambedkar had always desired the implementation of a uniform civil code.
"Goa has a uniform civil code which was imposed by the Portuguese so there also Hindus, Christians and Buddhists and everybody has accepted it, so why is it that it is not being done," she said, as per news agency PTI.
"Uniformity of laws, their accomplishment as per the Constitution, meant making people progressive and broad-minded to accept the laws put for the society," the JNU VC added.
'Most in Favour of Reservation for Women': Pandit
She made these comments while speaking on the topic of 'Dr BR Ambedkar's Thoughts on Gender Justice: Decoding the Uniform Civil Code.'
"It is pertinent you cannot have a minority having all the rights when the majority does not, sometime you will have a backlash that you will not be able to handle," she further said while delivering her speech.
Speaking on the need for reservation for women, Pandit said that most people would be in favour of it and drew attention to the fact that out of 54 universities in the country, only six have women VCs, among whom only one is from the reserved category.
"The importance of Babasaheb has not been given his space till very recently and it is very important that such leaders should be made a part of even our school education. Babasaheb has become even more relevant today because of gender-based discrimination," Pandit added.
'No God Is a Brahmin'
She further said that no God is a Brahmin and that "the highest is a Kshatriya."
"Anthropologically, scientifically, please look at the origins of our Gods. No God is a Brahmin. The highest is a Kshatriya. Lord Shiva must be a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe. Because he sits in a cemetery with a snake… they have given him very little clothes also to wear. I don’t think Brahmins can sit in the cemetery," she said, as per The Indian Express.
"So if you see, clearly, the Gods anthropologically do not come from the upper caste. Including Lakshmi, Shakti, all the gods. Or if you take Jagannath, very much a tribal. So, why are we still continuing with this discrimination, which is very, very unhuman," Pandit added.
She said that the Manusmriti had categorised all women as "shudras", which was "extraordinarily regressive."
Pandit also spoke about the recent death of a nine-year-old Dalit boy in Rajasthan, who was beaten by his teacher for allegedly touching an "upper caste" water-pot.
"Unfortunately, there are many people who say caste was not based on birth, but today it is based on birth... Recently in Rajasthan, a young Dalit boy was beaten to death just because he touched the water, didn’t even drink, touched the water of an upper caste. Please understand, this is a question of human rights. How can we treat a fellow human being in such a way?” the VC said.
(With inputs from PTI and The Indian Express.)
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