The ritual of kanyadaan has been questioned by many men and women. Though the tradition is centuries old, it has been recently criticized for promoting women as objects of charity that have to be given away.
The age-old ritual was also questioned by IAS officer Tapasya Parihar, who recently got married in Joba village, located in the Narsinghpur district of Madhya Pradesh. Tapasya, who had an all-India rank of 23 in the UPSC examination tied the knot with IFS officer Garvit Gangwar.
As per Aaj Tak, IAS officer Tapasya Parihar refused to let her family members perform kanyadaan. She told her father, “I’m not a thing of charity. I am your daughter.”
As per reports, it has been revealed that since childhood, Tapasya questioned such patriarchal and regressive traditions. She often questioned society on how can someone “donate” their daughter against her wish. While it was inspiring that she stood against this regressive tradition, but the fact that her family members and groom agreed with her made it even more special.
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IFS officer Garvit Gangwar too questioned the kanyadaan tradition and asked why should a girl completely change after marriage.
“Why are the rituals not applicable to the groom? We should try to remove such beliefs gradually.”
As per News18, Tapasya’s father believes that such rituals are nothing more than a “conspiracy” to “evict” the girlchild from her father’s house. He further added that the word “daan” or donation should not be used in relation to daughters.
At IFORHER, we are in awe of IAS officer Tapasya Parihar’s determination to take a stand against such regressive tradition. We hope many more would seek inspiration from this marriage and won’t promote the practice of donating their daughters. Because daughters are not the objects to donate!
