Hindus urge UNESCO
to deny Japan’s Okinoshima Island heritage status unless women allowed
on it
Press
Release
May 8, 2017
Hindus are urging the UNESCO
World Heritage Committee, whose 41st session is meeting in Krakow
(Poland) on July 2-12, not to endorse Okinoshima Island of Japan for
the World Heritage Site status, unless women are also permitted on
this Island.
“Okinoshima Island and
Related Sites in Munakata Region”, where the women are not allowed to
set foot and which is on the Tentative List under Japan in the UNESCO
World Heritage Convention since 2009, would reportedly be on the
agenda of this Committee session for nomination to World Heritage
List.
Hindu statesman Rajan Zed,
in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, urged Committee Chairperson
Jacek Purchla (Poland); Rapporteur Muhammad Juma (Tanzania);
Vice-Chairpersons Angola, Kuwait, Peru, Portugal, Republic of Korea;
and the rest 14 States Parties to either not include Okinoshima Island
on the agenda or to reject it during the meeting; unless Japan ensured
that women would be permitted in the same status as men on this
Island.
Zed, who is President of
Universal Society of Hinduism, stated that women deserved equal rights
and opportunities and this gender discrimination at the Island needed
to end right now as it was highly inappropriate and out-of-line.
Moreover; the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), where
“Gender Equality” is one of the two “Global Priorities”, should not be
in business of rewarding the monuments/sites which refused to treat
women with equality and respect they deserved; Rajan Zed noted.
UNESCO, which “considers
gender equality as a fundamental human right, a building block for
social justice and an economic necessity”, should be embarrassed of
its actions of placing this Island even on its Tentative List of
heritage sites. It seemed that UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova
and Executive Board Chairperson Michael Worbs needed to re-read and
re-grasp the priorities and goals of the organization, Zed indicated.
Rajan Zed, quoting
scriptures, explained that ancient Manusmriti said: “Where women are
revered, there the gods are pleased; where they are not, no rite will
yield any fruit.”
Men and women were equal in
the eyes of God; Zed said, and urged His Holiness Pope Francis and
other world religious leaders to strongly speak on this gender
equality issue. How could the “men-only” island be on the UNESCO World
Heritage List? Zed wondered.
The Committee has the final
say on whether a property is inscribed on the World Heritage List. The
21 States Parties of the current World Heritage Committee are: Angola,
Azerbaijan, Burkina Faso, Croatia, Cuba, Finland, Indonesia, Jamaica,
Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal,
Republic of Korea, Tunisia, Turkey, United Republic of Tanzania, Viet
Nam, Zimbabwe.
A description of Okinoshima
Island on UNESCO website includes: “where from the fourth to the tenth
centuries national religious rituals were conducted to supplicate the
gods” and “where gods descended to live in this world”. A “Nomination
Dossier” was prepared by Japan’s Agency for Cultural Affairs for this
site in January 2016.