Widows of Vrindavan

September 22, 2014 01:05 am | Updated November 16, 2021 07:05 pm IST

In drawing attention to the plight of the widows of Vrindavan, the BJP’s Member of Parliament from Mathura, Hema Malini, got hold of the wrong end of the stick. Many of the Vrindavan widows are without any means of sustenance, and forced to beg to supplement their meagre earnings from singing bhajans. But the solution thought up by the actor-turned-politician was for the widows to go to temples in their home-States, and not take the train to Mathura. On a visit to Mathura, >she had this to say : “If they are not from here, then there is no need for them to come here from other States. There are many famous temples in Bengal and Bihar where they can stay.” The way she saw the situation, Vrindavan had a problem with the widows, a problem that would go away if only destitute widows from other places stayed away. But in the first place, the destitute widows ended up in Vrindavan because they had no other place to go. Many of them were abandoned by their families, and they would be worse off in any other town or village. It is not religion but poverty that forced them to Vrindavan. Their problems would not vanish if they left Vrindavan or stayed at home. In subsequent tweets, the MP sought to clarify her statement: that she was saying the sons and daughters could not discard their duty toward their widowed mothers. None could have objected if she had merely called for the invoking of the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007, which puts the onus on adult progeny to provide for food, clothing, residence and medical attendance of their parents, in the case of the Vrindavan widows. But she framed the issue as a problem of Vrindavan, and not as one the destitute widows.

The 40,000 widows in Vrindavan are only a fraction of those in need of help. Instead of articulating what she as an MP or the Central or State government can do to help, Hema Malini seems to have placed the burden on the widows themselves and on the governments of their home-States. Other than asking any intending newcomers to stay back, the MP had no concrete suggestion to improve their lot. Worse, she appeared to be peddling a parochial view intended mainly to appeal to the voters of Mathura and directed against the poor widows who have no political constituency of their own. The MP seemed to be questioning the constitutionally guaranteed right of the widows to reside in a place of their choice — in this case, Vrindavan. The poor conditions of the Vrindavan widows recently came to the attention of the Supreme Court, which called for adequate food and improved hygienic conditions in the shelters housing them. The widows of Vrindavan need urgent help, but the last thing they want is their elected representative to push for their eviction rather than providing them some relief and dignity.

Top News Today

Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.