Odisha: 40 members of ST woman’s family undergo ‘Shuddhi’ ritual after she marries a SC man, viral video misused on social media to blame ‘Manuvadi’ casteism, BJP-RSS
In Odisha’s Rayagada district, 40 members of a tribal community, all from the same extended family, underwent a ‘Shuddhi-karya’ or purification ritual after a woman of the family eloped to marry a man from an SC community.
All 40 members are from the women’s family and extended family. The incident occurred last week on Thursday, 19 June, in the Baiganaguda village under Gorakhpur Panchayat in Rayagada district’s Kashipur Block.
The 40 members of the women’s family tonsured their heads and sacrificed chickens and goats in front of their tribal deity as per their customs. The purification ritual was mandated by the leaders of the tribe because the young woman had gone against the tribe’s mandate and married outside the tribe.
The woman’s extended family was facing social boycott from other members of their tribe since the wedding, as per reports. The entire extended family had to undergo the purification ritual to be accepted back into the tribe, local reports stated.
The woman and her early 20s was in a relationship with a man from the SC community. As per her tribe’s customs. No member is allowed to marry outside the tribe.
The video clip of the purification ritual went viral online. The video clip showed dozens of men sitting with tonsured heads, and some people performing religious rituals in front of a shrine.
After the video went viral and enquiry was launched into the incident, Kashipur BDO Bijay Soe was ordered to conduct a probe into the matter. The BDO has stated to media that a team of block level officers was sent to the Baiganaguda Village to investigate the matter.
The members of the women’s family have told government officials that they underwent the purification ritual out of their own volition to be accepted back into their tribe, and there was no compulsion involved. The BDO has stated that his office would initiate government assistance to be provided to the woman and her husband for their Inter-caste marriage.
Video circulated online with misleading claims
The clip of the video, however, is being circulated online with a malicious motive. There are some social media handles who are using the video to peddle the narrative that the purification ritual is another example of caste operation, hinting at ‘upper castes’ for the alleged act of oppression.
A handle named Tribal Army shared the video and blamed ‘Manuvadi casteist superiority’ for the humiliation that the tribal family had to undergo. They handle wrote that the tribal woman’s family was forced to undergo the purification ritual and was humiliated just because a tribal woman married out of her caste.
Screenshot from X
The handle insinuated that the purification ritual was ordered by some upper castes, ignoring the fact that the ritual was undertaken by the family to appease their own tribal community and no other caste group made them do so.
“This incident shows that even today, some people abide by the orthodox ideas of Manu Smriti and attack the freedom and dignity of other groups, forcing them to humiliation. This is not just an attack on one family, but an attack on India’s democracy that is based on the values of equality”, the handle named ‘Tribal Army’ posted on X.
The handle obfuscated over the realities of the incident, where the family had to undergo the rituals put in place by their own tribe and that no other caste or tribe made them do so, to peddle its divisive agenda, while passing the incident as another example of casteist ‘oppression’, hinting at the involvement of ‘superior’ castes.
Some other handles jumped in to blame BJP and RSS for the tribal community’s own internal customs, insinuating that somehow, it was the BJP or Sangh that made the family members undergo the purification rituals.
Screenshot from X
Some media portals like The Lallantop also shared the report of the incident with misleading headlines. The language in their reports highlighted the ‘forced’ angle, wrongly insinuating that the woman’s family members were forced to undergo the ritual by some other caste group.
Conclusion
The family members of the woman who underwent the rituals and tonsured their heads have confirmed that they did it to be accepted back into their own tribe. Contrary to the claims made on social media and unclear headlines used in some media reports, the ritual was a part of the tribe’s own customs and no outside caste group was involved. Though the incident is sad and displays the extent to which casteism exists in some communities, it is wrong to portray the incident as an example of oppression or coercion by some other caste.
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