[Reader-list] Women Of The World: Unite!

[Asit Das]

* Women Of The World: Unite!*

*By Dr. Vivek Kumar Srivastava*

30 May, 2014
*Countercurrents.org*

India is sad today. The ghastly killing of two teenage dalit girls really
horrify the society. The more saddening point is that policemen are
involved in this inhuman act. Facts emerge that girls were alive when they
were hanged, diseased father says if timely help would have arrived, his
daughters could have been saved.

What a sad happening when we have a constitution, so many laws, civil
society organizations and high level discourses on the rape and gender
specific crimes. This is not time to lament, time is to act and the key
role will be played by the girls themselves. They need to organize on
gender specific issues.This sad event also brings out three major issues in
the focus.

First the girls belonged to vulnerable section of the society. They were
easily picked due to the caste they belonged to. The vulnerable castes are
still fighting for their equality and due share in the country. Though many
efforts have been made but caste system in Indian society with its cruel
evils persist and girls are its easy prey.

Second, National Women Commission in India has not performed to effective
level. Its major task is to investigate, examine the safeguards provided to
the women, present annual report to the government, to recommend the
effective implementation of the safeguards, to take suo moto action on
deprivation of women rights, to look condition of women in prisons etc.
These functions are more academic .

NWC is not n a position to carry on any deprivation to logical conclusion
because of its handicap in dealing the real conditions. It needs to be
provided with police power, with capacity to constitute the women courts,
fast track courts where in quick manner the justice is distributed. It must
be made so much powerful that local authorities take it seriously.

Third, the condition of women in whole world is similar in many respects.
In Pakistan a pregnant woman was stoned to death in the public eyes. No one
came for help, even many newspapers did not highlight the gruesome killing.
The Dawn , respected Pakistan newspaper wrote an effective editorial which
surmises the realities faced by Pakistan women. It stated “Those who shake
their heads over the grotesque attacks on women in the name of some
antediluvian notion of ‘honour’, tend to raise the point that these are
dark crimes usually committed behind closed doors — that the victims are
quietly erased from the public memory and the perpetrators, mostly close
relatives, remain unprosecuted and unpunished.

The most shocking aspect of this killing, however, is that all the people
witnessing the crime, even the law enforcers, were silent spectators as a
woman was bludgeoned to her death. They turned their backs as she screamed
for help. How are we to understand this? Was it because the victim was a
woman, and the attack concerned ‘honour’, and the spectators were
overwhelmingly male and saw the murder as some internal ‘family matter’
where no intervention was due? Did they shut out her cries and think this
was what she deserved? Had it been a man, would people have intervened? Or
has society become so brutalised that all human compassion has vanished?
Whatever the case, all indications are that a twisted psyche dominates, and
that society is no longer willing or able to look at itself in the mirror
because what it would see there would be nothing short of
frightening.”(Published in Dawn, May 29th, 2014,
http://m.dawn.com/news/1109205/death-of-compassion)

In Nigeria more than two hundred teen age girls in the age group of 16-18
years were abducted by militant Islamist organization Boko Haram, parents
searched in the Sambisa forsests, Nigerian military took search operation
in hand, Obama too voiced concerns about it but so far girls are not freed
, though four girls have escaped from the hands of their perpetrators. This
shows that self efforts helped these girls. This also shows that girls and
women in the whole world are not safe. They experience discrimination,
suppression, exploitation almost in every country. India can pride at least
that in so much conflictful South Asian society where archaic cultural
values persist, many efforts were made for the upliftment of the girls and
at least in big cities girls are more empowered and at equality level than
their rural counterparts. The credit goes to early nation builders, Nehru
like greats helped to establish a democratic structure in the country.
Still much needs to be done.

These realities shows that women of the world come together because “women
of different ethnicities, nations or cultures are not different from each
other. They are first women than anything else. Their identity is primarily
at the gender level, the rest are subordinate to it. orthodoxies are on the
rise in South Asia, and thus many neighbouring countries are under stress.
India is democratic society but such elements are in abundance here too
even if they are lying low at present. They are waiting for the right
opportunity to strike at the root of democracy and liberty. Women are the
easiest objects of their attacks. Therefore the need to learn from this
event that a collective force is needed to fight them. Women must learn
that they are always under threat and collectiveness and fearlessness will
save them from such elements. “(Message from a Lady of Exceptional
Courage,Vivek Kumar Srivastava ,Mainstream, VOL LI, No 40, September 21,
2013)

Hence not only at the government level efforts are required but at the
level of women a collective efforts are needed to save themselves from
dangers of societal evils. Women should be given not only the full
protection and equality but they must collect, organize and fight for their
rights.

*Dr. Vivek Kumar Srivastava *has twenty years University level teaching
experience, presently Assistant Professor in CSJM Kanpur
University[affiliated college],Vice Chairman CSSP, email:
vpy1000 at yahoo.co.in