LOLIEM: Following the example Dhargalim and Corgao, Loliem-Pollem Village Panchayat has unanimously resolved to honour the widows at par with other married women.
The resolution has appealed to stop the ongoing unjust customs practiced in the society in case of widows. The council decided to honour all the widows on par with the other married women.
In response to the ongoing State-wide movement started to stop discrimination and ill-treatment meted out to the widows, Sarpanch Sachin Naik moved the resolution at the last meeting of the panchayat council held on June 15. It was seconded by former sarpanch Ajit Lolayekar. All the nine members supported it.
Recently, by resolving to ban the age-old regressive widowhood rituals, the villagers of Dhargalim and Corgao have certainly presented a modern outlook.
Not only this. The resolution passed by the two village panchayats will actually set the women free from the restrictions of widowhood make women feel empowered in real sense.
The two panchayats in Goa have now aim to end these archaic rituals to start a new chapter in the State’s history.
The inspiration for this of course came from Herwad gram panchayat in Shirol taluka of Maharashtra’s Kolhapur district which passed a similar resolution banning practices associated with widowhood.
The resolution passed unanimously by the Herwad gram panchayat stated, “Henceforth in our village no woman would have to undergo the painful rite of widowhood. In case her husband dies, the woman is forced to remove her mangalsutra, shatter her bangles and remove the sindoor from her head. This process is painful for her and a widow is also not allowed to attend any religious or social programme. This cruel and redundant process is hereby banned from our village.”
After the resolution passed unanimously by Herwad gram panchayat in Kolhapur, a group of people from Pernem taluka, including head of a forum name Navchetan Pernem, sub officer of Pernem fire station and others, including two journalists, visited the Herwad village and congratulated the Herwad village. After returning home, they created awareness about this revolutionary resolution in Pernem Taluka.
