This tale is of one complete century. In 1996, American author Lee Rutledge’s book “When My Grandmother Was a Child” got published. The author wrote an overview of the cultural, social, and economic disparities of the United States at the dawn of the twentieth century. The United States of America even today is not at the epitome of human rights, or economic and social equality. And according to various indicators, it still does not hold a high rank among civilized nations, but the United States of a hundred years ago was a completely strange land.
It’s hard to believe that a hundred years ago, blacks and whites could not legally marry in more than fifteen states in the US. The same law also applied to Christian and non-Christian couples in some states. Women did not have the right to vote. Women studying in university or college were highly stigmatized. In many states, women did not have the right to own property. The labour class had no working rights. There were no constitutional minimum wage standards. Blacks and whites could not attend the same school. They could not drink water from the same tap. They could not use the same restroom.
Violence against the black community was a routine affair. Racist organizations like the Ku Klux Klan were not only legal, but their supporters were in the House of Representatives. Governors of some states were regular members of this organization. In many states, blacks and non-Christians did not have the right to vote. Homosexuality was legally a crime and homosexuals were subject to the most severe social ostracism. Women did not have the right to abortion even in medical complications. Women’s salaries were legally lower than men. Women were not allowed to work in most sectors. Women did not have the right to participate in most sports, even marathons. Neither were they eligible for state or federal representation in the House of Representatives.
Domestic violence was not considered a crime. Women were not allowed access to contraceptives or such methods. Allegations like marital rape were laughed off. Children worked in factories. Religious freedom for minorities wasn’t really a thing. One can go on reading about such facts and the list won’t end to surprise most of us.
Now, raise your head, and look at today’s America, you will not believe how this country was plunged into deep darkness only a hundred years ago in terms of human rights and personal freedom. Even more so, that every law of oppression and abuse had legal, social, and religious protection.
If I think of my country, it didn’t exist 100 years back, but 100 years from today if it exists, maybe a writer, a researcher, or a historian will open the door of the past to examine our world today. Just imagine how he would describe it.
He will write that not too long ago, a hundred years back in 2022, the situation was grim. 70% of the country’s population was illiterate. 60% of the people did not have access to clean drinking water. Unemployment was on the rise. There was zero participation in international intellectual property rights. There was no balance between exports and imports. There was a steady depreciation of the rupee. There was neither any scientific invention nor any theoretical development, the collective wisdom of the nation was ignorant of all these things and confused in the works.
Minorities were persecuted to such an extent that their only option was to escape from the country. Hindu girls were abducted and converted to Islam, and when there was a question of banning the conversion of minors, all the Mullahs would come out with swords drawn against it.
These blood-thirsty Mullahs would often give fatwas in the same breath that there can be a conversion to Islam, but there can be no conversion from Islam. Inhumane laws were practiced with religious backing. Beating for marrying outside the community was common. Honor killing was a daily occurrence, even government ministers used to protect it in the House. Men were shamed and women were buried alive for something like ‘hanging out together’ in the name of family honour.
Muslim women did not have the right to marry non-Muslims. However, there was a special exception for Muslim men. The House of Representatives could decide the faith of the people and decide which group could be stopped and which group could be excluded from which circle. The methods of population control were considered Satanic. The majority of students were studying in religious madrasahs which did not allow flexibility, co-existence, pluralism, freedom of expression, and freedom of thought.
Religious hatred spread like wildfire. The organizations which the world considered terrorists were given special protection by the rulers. People voicing against the draconian laws were exiled or labelled conspirators rather than heroes. Electronic media was a tool for fascist propaganda. Marital rape was not considered a crime. The bill against domestic violence was dismissed as anti-religion.
Education on sexual awareness was prohibited in schools, but religious education was emphasized to such an extent that the ‘Theory of Evolution’ was considered a myth in the biology textbook and ‘The Big Bang’ in the physics textbook. Often women’s participation in business life was negligible. Sending girls to college and university was considered a holy sin.
The veil for women had gone beyond a social constraint to a social identity. The justice system was home to a myriad of flaws, but the death penalty was not banned. More faith was placed in the ‘peers’ than in the medical doctors. Prayer was considered better than medicine. It was a common practice to seek the opinion of religious clergy for the formulation of laws. For charges like blasphemy, people were not only hanged but also beheaded and those who supported this act roamed freely in the streets.
Religious freedom was absent. It was impossible to propagate any unofficial religion, let alone atheism and skepticism. Recreational opportunities were not available and those that were available were banned fourteen hundred years ago. The business of manufacturing puppets under the veil of democracy was in full swing. Some institutions were considered sacred and above the law. Their critics were not only put to the sword in the darkness of night but also in the broad daylight. Voting was based on community, money, and religion. Women had the right to vote, but their participation was not more than twenty percent.
Men were allowed four marriages and no family laws fettered their feet. Rape and consensual sex were the same crime. The state was convinced of every tactic to interfere with personal freedom. Women used to get a maximum of half of the inheritance, but this half of the share was often usurped, and no one really bothered. Girls were often married off against their will. Child marriage was prevalent even with the laws banning it. The various religious sects labelled each other as infidels fuelled by the venomous propaganda of the clerics on the pulpit. Those who spoke of reason were condemned and those who spoke of freedom of thought were taken to task.
There are many other things that will be written after a hundred years. But think of it like this, a sane mind should get surprised, worried, and ashamed even in this day and age. He does not need to wait a hundred years. These dark laws and practices are beyond imagination in a civilized society even today. We are breathing in a bygone century where there is poison in the air. This toxic atmosphere is the message of death that we are breathing in. If this continues, I fear that there will be no comparison after a century, only the history of an annihilated nation will be written.
