By Rajdeep Pathak
Two news items – one recently shared by a senior journalist friend on a social media platform on 15 women who helped draft the Indian Constitution’; and the other infamous ‘Kathua’ rape case left me wondering how a nation where women have risen to the pinnacle of success since the Independence can also tolerate and suffer brutality on them. I am also reminded of another photograph that was widely circulated in both social as well as mainstream media platforms on March 8, 2019 (the International Women’s Day), of the former Defence Minister of India Nirmala Sitharaman addressing all male Defence personnel at a round table meeting with the top brass of the Army, Navy and Air Force. The photo was so much in circulation as it projected not just a transformative and progressive society of giving woman the place they rightfully deserve, but that photograph was intended to inspire many others.
The women I mentioned who played a key role in drafting the Indian Constitution included: Ammu Swaminathan from the Palghat district of Kerala; Dakshayani Velayudhan, the leader of the then titled ‘Depressed Classes’ from Bolgatty in Cochin; Begun Aizaz Rasul of Malerkotla; Durgabai Deshmukh, the founder of the ‘Andhra Mahila Sabha’; Hansa Jivraj Mehta; Kamla Chaudhary, who went on to become the vice-president of the All India Congress Committee in its fifty-fourth session; Leela Roy from Goalpara Assam; Malati Choudhury from East Bengal (today Bangladesh), who married the then Orissa Chief Minister Nabakrushna Choudhiri; Purnima Banerjee; Rajkumari Amrit Kaur the founder of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS); Renuka Ray; Sarojini Naidu; Sucheta Kriplani; Vijaylakshmi Pandit and Annie Mascarene.
It is noteworthy to quote Ammu Swaminathan, who on November 24, 1949 during a discussion on the motion by Dr. B R Ambedkar to pass the draft of the Constitution said: “People outside have been saying that India did not give equal rights to her women. Now we can say that when the Indian people themselves framed their Constitution they have given rights, equal rights to women equal with every other citizen of the country”.
What Ammu Swaminathan couldn’t anticipate was that even after seven decades of Independent India, the nation has struggled to place in Parliament a considerable number of women representatives. In fact the nation is still struggling to amend its laws given the heinous crimes women are subjected to. A small example – which is just the tip of the iceberg – to justify this point is the data from the National Crime Records Bureau which estimates that more than 1,000 cases of acid violence takes place every year in the country. While the Delhi Government’s move – towards protection of women – by making rides in public transport free, seems to be a populist move for gaining votes, the safety measures have not been taken seriously enough though.
It was also heartening to hear the Hon’ble President of India in his address to the Joint Session of Parliament on June 20, 2019 when he expressed his happiness that the grand electoral festival saw a large number of women voter turnout this year.
This is indeed correct to the extent of the ratio of the women’s participation in the electoral process as voters; and women who actually get a chance to voice their opinion. As the saying goes, a thin line separates fantasy from fear. For whether it is an eight-old-year girl belonging to a nomadic Muslim tribe being sedated, tortured, gang-raped and finally bludgeoned to death inside the devasthanam or temple in Kathua, Jammu; or the death of a minor girl from Assam at the residence of an MLA in Arunachal Pradesh under mysterious circumstances – these incidents send bizarre warning signals of whether – despite the trumpet blowing investments by state and central government for ensuring women’s safety – women and children are safe in this country anymore? Though justice was delivered in the Kathua rape case, thanks to the soundness of the Judicial Institutions, but the incident itself is gruesome and speaks of sheer brutality and the savagery of the crime.
The incident at the residence of the legislator in Arunachal Pradesh further speaks volumes of denial of justice to the victim’s family (and this isn’t the first time) who in many such cases are in a vulnerable position because of the socio-economic factors such as poverty and illiteracy. Girls and women from such families across the nation are compelled to work as domestic help and this is one of the factors of their growing vulnerability.
This brings us again to a vital question of education. Sarojini Naidu (one of the tallest women figure of the Indian National Movement), while arguing that women should be educated says: Therefore, I charge you, restore to your women their ancient rights. …Educate your women and the nation will take care of itself; for it is true today as it was yesterday, and will be to the end of human life. The hand that rocks the cradle is the power that rules the world.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Independence Day address from the ramparts of the Red Fort cried his heart out appealing citizens to respect women and stop violence against them. His clarion call for making India completely open defecation free (ODF) was intended towards providing women per se their dignity and the country responded overwhelmingly.
The then UN Secretary General Kofi Annan in 2001 categorically remarked: “Violence against women is perhaps the most shameful human rights violation. It knows no boundaries of geography, culture or wealth. As long as it continues, we cannot claim to be making real progress towards equality, development, and peace.”
Former U.S. President Barack Hussain Obama, on the occasion of the International Women’s Day in March 2013 said: “Empowering women isn’t just the right thing to do – it’s the smart thing to do. When women succeed, nations are more safe, more secure and more prosperous”.
The stories of Nirbhaya who was brutally raped inside the heart of Delhi in a moving bus in December 2012 and her subsequent death; or for that matter of tribal women, in the Malwa district of Madhya Pradesh who are exploited into live-in relationships by men (middle-aged businessmen, traders, public or private sector employees) and then abandoned for life – like the tales of the British regime of sahib debaucheries (when men from the East India Company would exploit ‘native’ girls, father children and then heartlessly sail back home to their wives) – is seriously harming the society and destroying the social fabric and impeding progress.
One must understand that empowering women in the development context is to a greater extent, the recognition of the dignity of human life. The whole idea of sustainable development – the concept of which stems from a state of diverse variables pertinent to human life and all its socio-cultural and economic activities – is the sum total to maximize individual and societal development in the background of the environmental protection and progress.
Kamla Nath in her book “Education and Empowerment of Women: A Case Study of India,” states, ‘Empowerment’ as one sees, its is, both a process and a result, that cannot be measured, nor can it be taken by some individual or institution/organization and given to somebody else. A woman can only empower herself; organizations (through logistic support) and, governments (through their gender just policies) can play a role in supporting the journey and providing an enabling environment. Women are empowered when they become aware of the unfair power relations they face and are able to take the challenge to overcome inequality. Empowerment enables women to take control over their lives and build self-confidence and self- reliance.”
For Kamla and many others, stories of “Sheroes’ Hangout” a café in just a half mile away from Taj Mahal run by the survivors of acid violence will be a reason to celebrate. The café opened in December 2014 in Agra in the North Indian state of Uttar Pradesh started as a crowd-funding project by ‘Stop Acid Attacks’ (SAA), a group committed to ending acts of violence against women through its Facebook campaign since March 8, 2013. Its “pay as you wish” contributions go toward the rehabilitation of survivors of acid violence in India. Sheroes’ Hangout also provides skills training in the subject that each survivor is interested in learning. SAA has been collecting data through its volunteers across the country and has information on 430 survivors, 350 of who were attacked in the last two years. It has assisted 70 of them so far.
Many other such institutions and campaigns have helped thousands of women, young girls and children come out from their traumatic conditions and have given them back their lost confidence.
More important is to extend the boundaries of education which by no means is a panacea, but can reformulate by engaging young men in questioning and challenging harmful gender norms with the goal of reducing sexual violence and dating/relationship abuse. This education as Maryjo Oster in her write-up: “Preventing sexual violence starts what we teach our boys,” in the Blog “Child Trends” says, should start early. “It should go beyond what girls can do to prevent being victims, to the attitudes that boys have about women and about masculinity, and the actions that men can take to promote mutual respect and egalitarianism”