Entire North-East India is a “Dowry Free Zone”

Dowry system that prevails in Indian society is not just an evil but the mother of all social evils. It is a very old practice that has been going on in the country, giving birth to several other social evils such as female feticide, girl child homicide, domestic violence, dowry deaths and the list goes on. Every year, a huge number of death and violence against women are recorded, which is caused due to dowry. This social evil is mostly prevalent in North, South, West and some parts of eastern India. Dowry system in the entire nation has become a part of the rituals, customs and traditions that have been deep rooted in the society. Moreover, even though people talk about modernization, women empowerment, etc., women are still considered as a mere commodity. In India, having a girl child is like a curse for them owing to the prevalence of dowry system. 

#Fact about #Assam -- Entire North-East India is a “Dowry Free Zone”

Even though, female literacy rate has increased, the condition of women in Indian society is still the same. They are still victims of several social injustice, discrimination, social evils, etc. and very less has been done to improve the condition of women in the society. It seems that everything is just in talks. Recently, it has been reported that a village in the state of Kerala named Nilambur is the first dowry-free village in India. It has also been reported that the word “dowry” is the most hated word in this village. This is indeed an encouraging and motivating thing for the entire nation, however; most people are still ignorant of the fact that the entire North-East India has been a dowry-free region since the beginning.

Dowry system has never been a part of culture of North-East India, be it Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura or Arunachal Pradesh. The whole region has always been glorified for its egalitarian status and has remained free from this social evil as well as other social evils that are born out of it, for centuries. In this part of India, women are considered equivalent to their male counterparts and are conferred with equal status and respect. Women of this region are independent as well as have a say of their own as men have never considered women as a weaker gender or as a commodity. In one the previous seasons of ‘Satyamev Jayate’, Amir Khan had highlighted the fact that “no dowry system exist in North-East”. Instead, the bride is showered with gifts by the groom’s family and in the marriage system of North-East, the groom’s family gives respect and honor to both the bride and her family, which might be a bizarre for most Indians; however, this is completely true. It is a part of the culture of this region.

In North-East India, girls are not considered as a burden where cases of infant homicide, female feticide, dowry death or gender violence are very rare among the indigenous groups. North-Eastern women relatively enjoy more equality and respect as compared to other parts of the nation. In many provinces of North-East, the parents of the bride give her all the necessary things that are required to start her new home as per their capability. This should not be mistaken with dowry. This is rather stridhan, which is given to the girl and not to the groom or his family. However, North-Eastern people should remain alert about the fact that the custom of stridhan may at some point of time get converted into a social evil, like dowry.

With the influx of people from other parts of the country for various purposes, it cannot be said that dowry is completely absent in North-East, especially in Assam and ignoring this fact would mean overlooking the cultural diversity that is prevalent here. Although, it is not a part of the Assamese culture or any of the cultures of North Eastern states, with the coming of the non-indigenous communities, today, many cases such as “joutuk dabi” and “buwari hotya” have been reported. As exceptions are always there and idiots can be found everywhere, it is the duty of people of this region to prevent the non-indigenous communities as well as the locals, who practice this social evil, as the whole region have been resistant to this practice since centuries. In fact, the non-indigenous communities should learn from culture of North-East region and put an end to the long prevailing dowry system, completely.