The President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind visited Krishna Kutir at Vrindavan, Uttar Pradesh today (June 27, 2022) and interacted with the inmates.
Addressing the gathering, the President said that in our culture, women have been called Goddess. It has even been said ‘where women are respected, there the Gods reside’. But over a long period of time, many social evils have arisen in our society. Like child marriage, sati and dowry, widow life is also a social evil. This social evil is a blot on the culture of our country. The sooner this stigma is removed, the better.
The President said that it has been seen that after the death of a woman’s husband, the attitude of not only that family but of society changes towards that woman. We have to come forward and awaken the society to stop the neglect faced by widows. From time to time many saints and social reformers have made efforts to improve the difficult life of such despised mothers and sisters. Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar and Swami Dayanand Saraswati got some success in their efforts but still, much remains to be done in this area.
The President said that the establishment of shelters like ‘Krishna Kutir’ is a commendable initiative. But, in his view, there should be no need for the construction of such shelter homes in the society. Instead of this, efforts like remarriage, economic independence, share in family property and protection of social and moral rights of destitute women should be encouraged. And, through these measures, self-reliance and self-respect should be promoted in our mothers and sisters.
The President said that such a large and important section of the society cannot be ignored. Together, we all have to raise social awareness towards these despised and neglected women. Social evils, religious beliefs and discrimination related to inheritance rights have to be removed. The problems of discrimination in the distribution of property and the denial of women’s rights over children will have to be addressed. Only then, these women will be able to live a life of self-respect and self-confidence. He appealed to the responsible citizens of the society to make efforts for including these women in the mainstream of the society.
