Vedic Veils

<p>Women in India have been suffering for ages. Hindu scriptures treat women as commodities and often equate them to animals. Even a Brahmin woman is considered equivalent to a Shudra according to these scriptures. Hinduism deprives women of their basic rights. For instance during Karva Chauth only the wife is required to fast-never the husband. The wife has to wear a mangalsutra and apply sindoor to signify that she is the property of someone much like how a board is placed on a piece of land to indicate ownership. However the husband is not required to wear any such symbol.</p><p>If a girl is born in an inauspicious month she is labeled as Manglik. Due to this superstition it is believed that her husband will die early and as a remedy she is sometimes married off to a peepul tree or even a dog. According to Hindu scriptures a wife must either live a life of celibacy after her husband's death or mount his funeral pyre (sati) while there is no such obligation for a husband. A man is free to marry another woman after the death of his wife and in many cases even while his wife is still alive.</p><p>Only a son is allowed to light the funeral pyre of his parents; daughters are barred from performing this final rite. Hindu culture is male-dominated-men are portrayed as assertive and powerful while women are expected to remain submissive.</p>