Historical Significance of Veil among Ethnic Communities

 

There are a lot of such trends going on in the communities that we can be viewing but may not be known about its historical significance. Among them, veil is one which has been practiced for the ages among the ethnic communities. Veil has been regarded as an ornament for the women in the ethnic communities for the ages. It creates a boundary between male and female, as well as, females and her elder in-laws in the community. Even there is a restriction of verbal conversation between younger female in-laws and elder male in-laws. The in-laws are also restricted from the physical touch through any medium.

            The practice of veil did not exist just so in those communities. It has a great historical significance. That links with the time of the Muslim emperors of India. During the time of the Muslim emperors, their armies attacked and looted the villages and raped the women. The ethnic communities which lived peacefully and happily were tortured frequently by the armies of the emperors. They were forced to leave their home lands and move to an unknown place. Even they began to live in the forest area. On those areas also, the ethnic communities were attacked and looted. Whatever they did, they did not get the ultimate shelter. The most unsecured were females. They were frequently raped and kidnapped.  The people were completely harassed. Eventually the women from the same Muslim community moved to the villages convincing that Muslims had had one infirmity.

            Those Muslim women told the gullible ethnic community that the Muslims did not accept the women with godna (tattoo). For that, those Muslim women told the ethnic community that they could help them save the females from the terrors of the Muslims. They began to carve godna (tattoo) in female bodies. The tattooed body was and is supposed to be impure for the Muslims and now also they do not accept any woman with tattoo in the body.  They also said that if the women put veil that would be a proper way to protect themselves from the Muslims.  The ethnic communities believed and began to put godna (tattoo) and even veil as well. It really worked in the communities and somehow females began to be safe from the terror of the Muslims. Later they came to face another trouble in the community within themselves.

            The adultery began to take place in the communities. The women began to be raped by their own family members and even other villagers. They tried a lot to control such acts in the society. But it came to be a useless act and eventually they called a mass meeting and formed certain rules. The decided that the females should keep the veil in front of senior males of their husbands and be away from them. They also decided that anyone who came in touch with the females of the junior males of the family, they would be punished or they both have to purify with pure water. It really worked and the adultery was controlled. Later it took as a form of practice among the ethnic communities. Females became confined within the veil and gradually they began to be regarded as the second graded members of the family. They were ignored from being involved in decision making acts in the family. It came to be a bane for the women and day by day they went backward.

            In most of the communities the veil practice is still in strong form. They do not want to remove it. In Tharu community, the veil is removed after some time of marriage and even after the birth of the first child. But to move the veil, the family must manage a feast for the villagers and during the time the woman is freed from the veil. That day onwards, she should not keep the veil. So far as Bantar community is concerned, in this community, the veil is still in strong practice. The C.A. member, Kabita Sardar, who belongs to the same community, says that the veil is the identity of the Bantar community and it should not be removed. But Tilai Sardar (65), an elderly member of the community says that the veil has dominated the females for the ages and to bring the females ahead, it must be removed and they should be given equal opportunity to express their status and that will bring them in the state of proper identity in the community. Until and unless they are brought forward, the community cannot develop because the society runs with the equal role of males and females.

            The veil was an obligation on those days for the females but as per the time changed, as the Tharu females are removing the veils, all the ethnic community should be able to remove it so that females will be able to identify themselves. If we go through the societies, we can find the women putting the veil everywhere. Only in the town effected area, it has been lessened. But in the remote areas of the Terai, this practice is still as a disease. They are forced to put the veil and whoever does not put the veil, they, in some places can be punished and penalized. Although the veil has bad history but it can be corrected by removing it from the females so that they could express and say something about their identity in the society.