Gujarat Community Bans Unmarried Girls From Using Cellphones & We Can’t Believe It’s 2019!

With every step that we take forward towards women’s rights in the country, something happens which takes us 10 steps back. Sometimes it’s difficult to believe that we’re about to reach 2020 and we still have to fight for basic human rights.

Gujarat’s Thakor community has banned the usage of mobile phone for unmarried girls. According to sources, the decision was made “unanimously” by the top leaders of 12 villages in Banaskantha district.

According to the new rule, if an unmarried woman is caught using a mobile phone, her family will be held responsible and they will be imposed with a hefty fine. This new rule is to apparently help young girls focus on their education without getting distracted by social media. The community is, however, willing to provide laptops and tablets for college-going girls to help them study.

“The rule is valid for all college-going youth from the community as they use mobile phones to create videos and waste time”, said Suresh Thakor, a member of the governing body.

The community has also banned inter-caste marriages. Another report revealed that if a Thakor girl falls in love with and marries a boy from another community, the family will have to pay a fine of Rs 1.5 lakh. If a Thakor boy marries a girl from another community, the fine is Rs 2 lakh.

They have also allegedly banned “excessive expenditure” at weddings and have ruled out DJs, firecrackers, elaborate processions on vehicles, and horse-riding for grooms, suggesting that the money could be used for better education.

Alpesh Thakor, a prominent leader and lawmaker from the community said:

“Some decisions like curtailing unnecessary expenditure on marriages, DJ, etc. is good. As far as using mobile phones is concerned, I would say this should be gender-neutral. Keeping young boys and girls from using mobile phones will help them focus on their studies.”

Even if one tries to argue that this new order is for the betterment of a woman’s education, keeping her safe from the ills of technology, it breaches a very basic human right – a woman’s ability to make a choice for herself. Can we please stop making decisions for women and start considering them sensible enough to make the right judgements?