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So says Asmita Sharma, a student at Rajarshee Campus in Janakpur. “A lot has changed in the lives of women in the Madhes in the past few years,” Sharma opines. “The patriarchal society has opened up to the idea that men and women are equals.”
But, she says, as females, they have to prove their worth everyday to their families and society. Another girl, Sanjana Jha, believes that the youth have played a vital role in ending the discrimination based on gender amongst the Madhesi community. A student of science in grade eleven, Jha believes that their female elders have gone through the experience of the partiality, and so are more open now so that the new generation doesn’t have to go through the same ordeals as they did.
“Madhesi girls have become modern along with the society,” Jha told Republica.
Ranjana Jha, another science student in the same college, says that for a Madhesi girl to talk to any boy was a taboo until a few years ago.
“It was against the norms and values of the Madhesi society. But now, such social taboos have decreased,” Jha claims. She says that women in Madhesh were looked upon as helpers in the house whose “prime objective was to please and support the men.”
“When I was in my village school three years ago, I wasn’t allowed to go to any cultural programs, unlike my brothers,” Priyanka Thakur reminiscences. But now life has changed for her as she can choose to go to programs that she wishes to, and even can choose the subjects she wants to study. “There’s a difference in the treatment of girls in the villages and cities. We now feel more free, confident and liberated,” Thakur says.
The president of Nepal Teacher’s Association of Dhanusha, Meghnath Yadav, believes that the change in the attitude and behavior of young Madhesi girls is natural, if anything. “And it is high time,” Yadav told Republica. “The world is shrinking in the 21st century. Old ideas and norms don’t hold water in the society anymore,” Yadav adds. A teacher himself, he has experienced a bit of this change himself. “Girls who seemed weak and nervous now don a new level of confidence and feel free.”
Yadav believes that this is a positive change. “Until yesterday, a daughter-in-law was locked inside the house, and it was even seen as an indicator of value in a family. But now, they think otherwise,” the teacher of Saraswati School says. And he gives the credits to the Madhesh Movement in 2006. “The youth actively participated in the movement and are now open to each other,” Yadav says. He also opines that political changes have made possible the inclusion of more Madhesi girls to jobs, education and opportunities.
In a school which saw very few girl students even in the higher classes has started to see girls forming almost half the total number of students. The director of Rajarshee Campus, Shree Narayan Jha, supposes that opportunities have attracted Madhesi youth outside the household chores.
“The lifestyle has definitely changed along with awareness. Girls are leaving their homes for schooling and work which is a positive change in this part of Nepal,” Jha says.
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