The practice of purdah among women in India exists in different forms of ‘ghunghat’, ‘pallu’, ‘dupatta’, ‘burqa’, ‘hijab’ and so on. It must be clarified at this stage itself that Hijab, which is a traditional scarf worn by Muslim women to cover the hair and neck and sometimes the face,
is different from Burqa, which is a tip to toe gown covering the entire body. Both, however, are types of veil worn by some Muslim women. Second, since all the above forms of purdah are comparable, it must also be stated beforehand that the article discusses about the practice of veil by Indian women in general, whichever form it may be.
What proportion of Indian women comply with the purdah system?
In a 2019 study by Lokniti, a programme under Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), conducted among 6,348 women of 18 years and above in 11 Indian states, respondents were asked if they practiced any kind of purdah.
Overall, about two in every five Indian women concede practicing it in these three situations one-thirds in front of male members of their family, two-fifths in front of their relatives, and nearly the same proportion in public places (Figure 1).
