Questions

Documents from Western India –Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra –record petitions sent bywomen to the village panchayat, seeking redress and justice. Wives protested against the infidelity of their husbands or the neglect of the wife and children by the male head of the household, the grihasthi. While male infidelity was not always punished, the state and “superior” caste groups did intervene when it came to ensuring that the family was adequately provided for. In most cases when women petitioned to the panchayat, their names were excluded from the record: the petitioner was referred to as themother, sister or wife of the male head of the household.

In January India will join China and Nepal, besides Pakistan, which were elected to the 47-member Council in previous years to serve three-year terms.India received 188 votes, the highest polled by any of the 18 countries elected in the voting.This is the fifth time India is elected to the Geneva-based Council, the main body of the UN charged with promoting and monitoring human rights.