Discrimination against Women – What’s With Our Country??

Pick up any article describing the cultural heritage, traditions and society of ancient India, and chances are that you will encounter scattered references of how in the ancient world, women were treated as equals, how they wielded power and had a say in society and in government. It’s a remarkable fact that while on one hand we laud our glorious history as being gender neutral where women were treated on par with males while on other, these are the very same issues we are fighting for in the modern and progressive 21^st century India!!

Alas!

It’s a unique dichotomy probably exclusive only to Indian society where some of the most brutal and grotesque murders and rapes are committed in the Capital. In spite of the tradition of goddess worship, the most glaring cases of gender discrimination happen blatantly. India is known as the fourth most dangerous country in the world for women with grim but astonishing rising graph of crimes such as acid attacks, rapes, dowry-related deaths, domestic violence, sexual harassment and variety of other cases.

The Truth!!

There can be no denying the TRUTH that in modern India, women are treated as second class citizens. No matter what steps the government may take, what some of its most elite politicians may say and how much we may get aware of the sad reality, the fact is that women are lagging far behind not only in the society but even in the collective psyche of Indian remains a persistent fact.

Need of the Hour!

For the reasons most obvious to everyone, women empowerment is one of the most hotly discussed topics today in our country. But unfortunately, there seems to be no concrete solutions looming over the horizon except some sporadic efforts here and there. Challenges remain. Fight continues. People are rising to reality. We can definitely hope positively for some day where gender equality will be a reality of Indian society rather than some phony, make-believe issues scripted on paper. What we need is to redouble our efforts and continue to target all the sources of ill-will and violence against women.