On 21 August 2026, Hindus across India and the world celebrated Varalakshmi Vratham where Goddess Mahalakshmi is venerated.
But ultra-woke leftist self-styled feminist Chinmayi Sripada had to calm her itch to comment on the festival, given that she calls herself a ‘feminist’.
On her X handle, a day after the festival, she wrote, “Varalakshmi Pooja / Vratham post. I usually end up getting DMs from women about how a pooja ended up being either an emotional harassment or an instance of menstrual segregation. If your Pooja for a FEMALE Goddess like Mahalakshmi is made impure because of menstruation or make it about not including a woman because her husband is dead – The HUSBAND IS NOT THE ONE WHO GIVES TURMERIC AND KUNKUM to a girl – she is born with and it is not something that a man who comes in between takes away. Women need to not be such valiant gatekeepers of patriarchy and do better. Menstruation is not impure Neither is a widow – amangalam. In contrast – all those women living with abusive partners in horrible marriages are not really the epitome of being a sumangali. End.”
It has been a very distinct pattern like all feminists for her to criticise and abuse Hindu festivals in the name of ‘patriarchy’, taboo and what not.
But if it is a festival of any of the Abrahamic religions, Chinmayi, despite being a Hindu herself, would be the first in line to praise the festival and send her love and cheer.
Here is an example of how she behaved during Ramzan.
Back in 2012, she wrote, “If you have friends fasting for Ramzan lets be compassionate to not eat or drink in their presence until they break their fast.”
Muslim women are not allowed to fast during their periods, they observe segretation and so many other restrictions – much more than Hindu women who she seems to be very worried about.
The issue is how her outrage is singularly applied only to Hindu rituals and festivals. Chinmayi readily portrays Hindu practices around menstruation, widowhood and marriage as evidence of “patriarchy”, yet her concern appears to disappear when discussing practices within Islam. A woman who is menstruating (experiencing Hayd) or undergoing post-natal bleeding (Nifas) is religiously forbidden from fasting or performing the ritual daily prayers (Salah) during those days.
No other patriarchial practices in Islam would be visible to her at any point in time. It is always the Hindu rituals. The rights of a Muslim woman are much lesser when compared to a Hindu woman but Chinmayi will always choose to downplay those facts – because they are not convenient for arguments.
That does not make Islamic practice illegitimate, nor does it justify attacking Muslim women. It simply exposes Chinmayi’s double standards: if religious rules affecting menstruating women are inherently “patriarchal” when found in Hindu practice, why does the same feminist scrutiny disappear elsewhere? A genuine feminist critique would apply the same standard to every religion. And Chinmayi is not a genuine feminist; she is a fake feminist.
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