Dowry: The Blot on Rising Kerala

 More than 125 years have passed since Swami Vivekananda called Kerala a ‘lunatic asylum’. This was in relation to the abhorrent caste system prevalent in the erstwhile state of Travancore, which is now a part of present-day Kerala. Back in time, when Travancore was an independent state, one of the taxes imposed on the lower castes and untouchable Hindu women till 1924 was the Breast Tax ( ‘Mulakkaram’ in Malayalam), if they wanted to cover their breasts in public. The baring of breasts by the lower caste and untouchable women was a longtime Travancore tradition and a sign of respect to the upper castes.

While today, in modern Kerala, we might agree that Swami Vivekananda was right in calling this outrageous tax as symbolic of insanity, the fact remains that Kerala – the most literate state of India and the state with the highest sex ratio -  has a sordid underbelly in yet another blow to womanhood, the dowry system.  While the dowry system, despite being declared illegal by the Dowry Prohibition Act of 1961 continues to be widely prevalent all over India in some guise or the other, the nature of its existence in the progressive and socially aware state of Kerala with its high development index, continues to baffle critics and historians alike.

The recent spate of deaths of young women - all aged below 25 years - over alleged cases of dowry harassment, has thrown the lid off the loathsome yet sensitive issue of violence against women, specifically domestic violence due to insufficient dowry. The dowry system has become the bane of a state like Kerala that places high emphasis on the development of the female child from early on. While women’s education is of high importance in Kerala and girls often outscore boys in class 10 and 12 Board Examinations, there is also the disturbing fact that the female unemployment rate is one of the highest in Kerala. The average Malayali family might get both their son and daughter educated and even ensure employment for both but a girl’s economic independence is often given low priority after her marriage. Most of the time soon after marriage, she is coerced either willingly or otherwise into leaving employment. It is this sacrifice on the part of the women after marriage that becomes the foundation for them being targets of violence and abuse later on.

Another social dimension to the practice of dowry is the average Malayali’s fascination for the yellow metal (Gold) and all things expensive, often resulting in vulgar displays of wealth as a sign of social standing. The more dowry the bride brings, the higher is the standing of her family in social circles. However, the fact that the parents of the bride gave a large dowry is secondary to the greed of the groom’s family and the demands only get bigger for more and more dowry.

Sociologists all agree that the detestable dowry system can only be weeded out from society at large through grassroots inclusion of the ideas of gender equality and female emancipation. Whatever changes we expect from society need to be started from the basic units of family and schools. Inclusion of gender education in the school syllabi and teaching boys from a young age to respect and value girls are the stepping stones for a society built on progressive and developed moral and social outlooks. Only then can we call ourselves as truly modern and a rising state in the socio-economic index.