Social evils cropped up in due to Islamic invasion: RSS's Krishna Gopal

New Delhi: Social evils, such as child marriage, "sati pratha", a ban on widow re-marriage, cropped up in the Indian society, leading to subjugation of women, due to the Islamic invasion, a senior RSS functionary said on Sunday.

In the medieval period, various kinds of restrictions were put on women and girls to protect them from invaders, senior Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) functionary Krishna Gopal said while addressing an event titled "Nari Shakti Sangam" organised at the Delhi University.

Stating that the medieval period was a very "difficult" time, he said, "The entire country was struggling with subjugation. Temples were demolished, big universities destroyed and women were in danger." "Lakhs of women were abducted and sold in markets the world over. Be it (Ahmad Shah) Abdali, (Muhammad) Ghori, (the Mahmud of) Ghazni, all of them took women from here and sold them in markets across the world. It was an era of great humiliation," Gopal said.

Hence, to protect women and girls, several restrictions were imposed on them by "our society" and "as a result, they stopped going to schools, gurukuls ... and became uneducated", he added.

The RSS leader also claimed that the practice of child marriage started as people used to get theirs daughters married off at a young age to protect them from invaders.

"There was no sati pratha in our country.... But jauhar (self-immolation) started happening, women started becoming sati. Restrictions on remarriage of widows were imposed with a large number men getting killed in wars, resulting in a shortage of men," he claimed.

Before the Islamic invasion, women used to participate in "shastrath" (scholarly debates) and even gave verses to the Vedas, Gopal said.

The RSS leader said over the years, the situation has changed, with girls outperforming boys in board exams today and women making huge contributions in various fields.

He, however, cautioned women against being influenced by the western culture and exhorted them to remember the Indian values to pass those on to their children.

"The women of our country have to be careful against western influence.... Use technology, fly airplanes, work in the ISRO, become a scientist, doctor or engineer -- do whatever you like, but remain a woman," Gopal said.

"A woman is the pivot of her family, remember that," he said, adding that it is a woman who imbibes values in her children.

The RSS leader also said taking care of the family and managing the kitchen at home are as important as having a career in a desired field.

"Do you know that Indiraji (former prime minister Indira Gandhi) used to manage her kitchen herself when Nehruji (Indira Gandhi's father Jawaharlal Nehru) was the prime minister?" he asked the gathering.

"In our country, women are in respectable positions. We must see our past, look at the present, retain what is good, rectify what is not right," he added.