SAHIL KISHORE SHARMA
The subject and the issue of women empowerment has always grabbed the headlines since decades and this issue has always been in limelight during any election campaign. When we celebrated International Women’s Day on 8th March, it’s a reminder that still a lot has to be done on ground to really uplift this vulnerable section.
There is no doubt that any society which has flourished always had male dominance. Due to their biological strength they had easily suppressed the fade voices which began to blossom. So the dominance of male on society is both physiological and psychological reality, and the complexity of this problem folds many times when males are made coordinators to uplift the section which is deprived because of them. Masculine ego and grooming becomes the biggest hurdle to accept that they are equal or inferior to women which corrupts the intention to empower them. Hence before any laws are framed or any issues are dealt, mutual acceptance has to be generated, where instead of competitions or debates of “superior vs inferior” or “male vs female,” it has to be negotiated that both are humans and both have potential, because the moment competition arises conflicts are bound to mushroom.
Today the society is at the brink of collapse. The policies and Yojanas of government had always been exceptional but intention to dispose of the issues had always been dangling. The reservations for women would have temporarily given them recognition but there is a shrewd doubt about their empowerment because in most of the cases they are mere proxies or puppets in the hands of Male God Fathers. Reservations can create representations but the status of women can only be improved if society will allow themselves to accept their importance. In a society where the hard work of women is credited, where they are not bullied for someone’s ego, where not only proper opportunities are provided but appreciations are also generated, where their feathers are not cut just to satisfy some old rusted customs, where a mind which great Rabindra Nath Tagore Dreamt of is in reality without fear, and the biggest constraint in this is that no one form other planet will do it. This all depends on how flexible the males of the society are.
The reality of crimes against women are in stark opposite of the orchestrating women empowerment policies in India. According to the report of National Crime Record Bureau the comparison of various crimes between 2006 to 2012 have increased alarmingly foor example Rapes (Sec 376 IPC), Kidnapping and Abduction (Sec. 363 to 373 IPC) , Torture (Sec. 498-A IPC), Molestation (Sec. 354 IPC), Sexual Harassment (Sec. 509 IPC), Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956, Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961 have increased 3.0, 7.6 , 7.5 , 5.5 , 7.0 , 5.3 , & 36.5 percent respectively. The basic reason for the perpetual increase in these crimes is an issue of grave importance. The repeated failure of polices and laws is in issue of serious introspections
Women are really struggling to compete in reality to flourish their identity. Literacy , Health Care , Financial Independence are subjects which had to improved to give them a power start if government really wants them to move shoulder to shoulder with men. When our policies are framed and projected keeping in view the demography resource of the nation it is also important to note that we are losing huge potential in the form of women who are either not provided opportunities or forced to change their fields after marriage. Female foeticide rate is also a blot on Indian society, As estimated by one group more than 10 million female foetuses would have been illegally aborted in India since 1990s, and according to one survey India may be losing about 5,00,000 girls annually. MacPherson has estimated that about 100,000 abortions are being performed every year in India solely because the foetus is female.
Indian GDP may be growing at 7.5 per cent or India may be outperforming world on various parameters but to sustain this growth India will be requiring huge work force and it’s impossible to be totally dependent on males to generate this output, we have to subsume the living female potential which is created and we have to cultivate more potential to compete with the world. It’s high time and trend is changing worldwide. Its time males and females join hands not to compete with each other or clash for superiority but with only one aim and ambition to build a strong nation to stand together hand in hand for the need of nation, we can afford the lives of each others, we can afford losses of each others but our nation cannot. Let it be service before self. With a hope to see the real empowerment of women in coming days I would like to end here with a quote from father of the nation Mahatma Gandhi ” Empowerment is the magic wand that turns frog into prince, never estimate the power of the people, through true empowerment great leaders are born”.
