Indian civilisation gave due respect to women, treated them equally: FM

New Delhi, Jan 10 (PTI) Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday said Indians need to look at the role played by women in different spheres of life through the Indian prism and not from the point of view imposed by the West.

Indian civilisation has always given due respect to women and always treated them equally, unlike what has been projected by the West, she said at a book release event here.

Launching a book 'Shakti: Women, Gender and Society in India - Perspectives on Feminism', the minister elaborated on the role played by women in ancient India, citing epics like Mahabharata.

"If it was required to use woman's valour, it was accepted in our Dharma. Dharma doesn't deny women's role. It doesn't look at man or woman, it looks at Dharma to be performed. And many a times women have been brought to the forefront to perform that Dharma, which you don't see them doing very often...therefore, I would strongly recommend we should get out of this defensive mindset," she said.

Citing Mahabharata, she said despite the injustice done to Draupadi, she found her own course, proved herself and achieved what she wanted to achieve.

"Everything is recorded, nothing has been filtered. We didn't shy away from writing about it (injustice). Our civilisation never shies away from stating things as they were," she added.

Referring to the modern literature on women, she said that because of "the superimposition of the so-called Western feminism view", the terminologies have also become very much influenced by them.

"We use their terminology to define ourselves, which is a gross misfit. It just cannot be," Sitharaman said.

In her address, she also exhorted people to take pride in Indian cultural values, and the unique treatment of women. PTI DP NKD CS BAL BAL