International Women's Day Special, Progress On Gender Equality

Working Towards a Better World for Women: Dera Sacha Sauda

The whole world is celebrating International Women's Day by recognizing Social, Economical and Cultural achievements of Women. Realizing women's rights, gender and generation equality is always the highest priority for us. DSS has shown pioneering efforts in this field. Dera Sacha Sauda has become a household name when it comes to humanitarian welfare initiatives, thanks to their hundreds of initiatives to uplift and work towards the isolated, neglected and less fortunate members of our society. They are working in the field of 134 welfare activities, which include members from almost every section of society. DSS' efforts in the field of women empowerment have been phenomenal and have had a huge impact on changing the mindset of people even from rural areas.

International Women's Day 2020

This year the theme for 2020 International Women's Day is, Realizing and working towards Women's Rights. Dera Sacha Sauda has been working towards safeguarding the rights of women since its inception. The Masters have always given the message of equality for all. And women are no different as we perceive. What is remarkable is that with more than 50% of the followers from rural areas and more than 70% youngsters, DSS has started new systems for the betterment of women with a 90% success rate. And there has been next to zero resistance from these so-called rigid strata of the rural population. They have given their wholehearted support to every campaign initiated by Dera Sacha Sauda. DSS has achieved this through various mediums through awareness campaigns, Satsangs by the Rev. Master Saint Dr. Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Ji Insan and even though street plays, giving the message of saving the girl child. A Shahi Betiyan Basera is setup also called as Abode of the royal family, where such daughters who are unwanted by the family members are adopted by His Holiness Himself and raised with great love and respect. And similarly, various other path-breaking initiatives have found their names on this list. Here is a round-up of some of them.

Anti Prostitution Drive

This is one of a kind initiative by the reverend Master Saint Dr. Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Ji Insan. As part of this one, ex-prostitutes who are willing to come out prostitution, are provided every support right from taking care of their medical expenses up to their marriages with eligible bachelors who are called Bhakt Yodhas. These Ex-prostitutes are given the title Shubh Devi which means one who brings good luck. And good luck indeed it is for the families who accept this girl as their daughter-in-law by the sheer blessings of the reverend Master. More than a dozen such marriages are solemnized at Dera Sacha Sauda. Can there be any bigger example of equality? Or any philanthropist who can claim so? And what's more not just 50 -100 but a whopping 1500 such Bhakt Yodhas are awaiting in the list to marry a Shubh Devi. Unfortunately, the nexus of the middlemen and powerful mafias, who work in this prostitution racket is keeping those Shubh Devi's, out of the reach and therefore unable to take advantage of this system.

Promotion of Sports and Providing Equal Opportunities | Gender Equality

Dera Sacha Sauda has been a great supporter of sports-related activities for children for its obvious benefits. Sports bring mind-body harmony in a child and is also helpful in improving focus and concentration in children exhort the Reverend Master. Therefore the Schools and colleges set up by Guru Ji have given the huge emphasis on infrastructure for all kinds of sports be it swimming, tennis, lawn tennis, roller skating hockey, cricket, football, volleyball, throw-ball, archery etc. And there has been equal availability of these resources for both boys and girls. No discrimination whatsoever creeps in this setup that has been made available to the students. Now, this is true equality and the hundreds of medals that the students have got from both girls and boys are a testimony to this fact.

Crown of Lineage

It is an initiative that has been set up as an alternative to female feticide. As part of this initiative, the boy goes to the bride's house after marriage and lives there as a girl would have stayed with her in-laws after marriage. The groom or the boy follows every ritual and also the lineage of the girl's family and the same is their offspring. He is now a member of the girl's family and will share every privilege and responsibility as a girl would share in her in laws house. All this with consent and the blessings of both the families. As unbelievable as it sounds, more than 2 dozen marriages have already taken place under this initiative and the families are living happily. So as we mentioned in the beginning, the masses are totally happy with these path-breaking initiatives.

Giving Fire to The Loved Ones' Dead Mortal Bodies

This ritual followed by Hindus is strictly for the sons of the family. And the daughters or female members are not even allowed in a mortuary forget giving fire herself. But Guru Ji realized this initiative was keeping the society from giving birth to girls and giving rise to a lot of inferiority complex in women. What about those who don't have a son? Why not turn this around the thought. And we have hundreds of women who participate in the ritual and the villagers or city dwellers have welcomed the idea equally. Why not? When women can fly fighter jets, are they scared of mortuaries? It might be good to protect and safeguard them but when the world is changing so should be the mindsets asserts Reverend Master Saint Dr. Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Ji Insan. Also, another lovely feeling for the girls is that they will continue to be the daughters of their families and no "paraya dhan" word for them. Parents have stopped using this word, thanks to Guru Ji's guidance. And many such small advice and teachings by Guru Ji have come in handy for millions of followers who are slowly but definitely ridding themselves from age-old mindsets. And the biggest change for the society is changing mindsets. As it all starts from there. No laws are helpful unless the people themselves are ready for a change. And here we see, in spite of being no laws or customs, yet people are accepting new customs and traditions. Because they see a direct relation of the same to their lives and therefore open to change immediately. Change has to start from each one of us for it to be accepted widely. This would true equality in a world full of inequalities.