On the auspicious occasion of Akshaya Tritiya, a mass wedding ceremony was conducted with nearly 700 couples. The wedding took place in the Garhakota town in Sagar district of Madhya Pradesh.
The State Minister for Panchayati Raj and Rural Development, Gopal Bhargava came up with an eccentric gift to present to the brides. The minister gifted nearly 700 brides with a wooden bat known as ‘mogri’ that is traditionally used to wash clothes. Gopal Bhargava’s reason behind the gift is so the women can use the bat to set their husbands straight if they set off on a course of becoming alcoholics and refusing to listen to reason.
The bats gifted have a caption engraved on them that reads, ‘Sharabiyon ke sutara hetu bhent, police nahi bolegi’ which translates to ‘A gift for beating drunkards, police will not intervene.’ In an interview with Gopal Bhargava said, “Whenever I visit any rural or urban area in my constituency, women complain about their husbands’ drinking habit. They inform me that whatever little they earn is snatched away by their husbands for alcohol. They are also subjected to physical violence.”
The minister explained how he got the idea for this unique gift, “The idea of gifting mogri struck me when a woman asked me whether she should get her husband to stop drinking by beating him with this wooden plank.”
Gopal Bhargava has been organizing the mass wedding for a while now and he has asked the women to take charge and do their best to remove illegal activities in their villages and also plant saplings to promote an eco friendly environment. He advised the women to ensure their children are well educated. “An atmosphere is being created in the entire State against liquor but people need to be educated on the issue. It is essential before declaring prohibition,” he added.
