The practice of covering faces or the body parts in the patriarchal world still exists around us. From the breast tax (a tax paid by lower caste women to cover their breasts) to wearing a burqa in Islam, patriarchy in the very nature of society still continues.

There are hundreds of women forced to follow such customs in the society but only a few of them have enough courage to stand up against such practices.

Nangeli, one such woman, who belonged to Cherthala in the central region of Kerala protested against the breast tax or Mulakkaram which was practised and levied on the lower caste in the state during the 1800s.

Standing bare-chested was taken as a sign of respect towards those castes supposedly superior to them -- for both men and women.

About the local legend:

Nangeli belonged to the Ezhava caste in Kerala whose people were one of the victims of the heinous tax

Unlike other lower caste women, Nangeli rebelled and protested by cutting her breasts off against the practice of tax

According to local villagers, Nangeli died of excessive blood loss, while her distraught husband committed suicide by jumping into her funeral pyre

The suicide of Nangeli's husband is the first recorded instance of a man committing Sati.

Following the death of Nangeli, the breast tax system was annulled in Travancore. But unfortunately, the iconic hero has no mention in Kerala's official history records.

CBSE removed its section from NCERT textbooks:

According to The Wire reports in the year of 2016, CBSE announced its decision to remove a section entitled 'Caste, Conflict and Dress Change' from its social science curriculum for Class IX students, following an order by the Madras high court that directed it to remove objectionable content

The removed section of the NCERT textbook, used by the CBSE and 15 state boards, involves a discussion of the Nadar community, whose men and women were forced to keep their upper bodies uncovered

What was the breast tax about?

The breast tax meant that a woman was granted the right to cover her breasts only if she paid a fee to the government

The tax had been imposed by the king of the erstwhile state of Travancore; one of the 550 princely states that existed in British ruled India in the year 1803

Royal officials would travel door to door, collecting this heinous breast tax from Avarna (lower caste) women who had passed puberty

Surprisingly, the amount of the tax would depend on the size of the breasts

The purpose of the breast-tax was to maintain the caste structure

Social customs on clothing were connected to a person's caste status, which meant that they could be identified merely by the way they dressed

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