Question

chhaupadi is the result of ignorance and superstition . clarify this statement

Answer 1

Answer:

Yes. Chhaupadi is the superstition in Nepal and other parts of the Himalayas that menstruating women are impure. Therefore they are forced to live alone in huts or mud cowsheds for seven days, away from family members. They are exiled from their homes to live in unsanitary and unsafe conditions, where some have died, end up with pneumonia, get attacked by or get raped by villagers. They also smother from lack of ventilation.

“In the last ten years in Accham district alone, nine women have lost their life while living in the huts during their menstrual cycle,” Menuka Dhunaga, a local journalist, said in a report published in Nepal’s vernacular daily, Kantipur.

“Despite the announcement of destroying such huts to end such practices, women continue to die and practices go unchecked,” she reported.

There is a strong superstitious belief that if women are allowed to stay inside the home during their menstrual period it brings misfortunes to members of family. They falsely believe that family members will fall sick if the women stay inside the house. Male members of the family believe the custom must be followed to avoid bad luck.

Senior members of families and village elders are firm in this tradition, while the young, educated generation cannot gather the courage to challenge this custom. And it is not based on any fact, any scientific findings, anything except pure ignorance, superstition and fear. It is also based on selfishness, while the poor women are out in the freezing hut suffering, the rest of the family is saving their skins. The woman is allowed to get sick and die, so they won’t. That is what superstition is: Ignorance and fear blended together into a dreadful result.