International Women’s Day, like every year, was celebrated with great pomp across India on March 8. It’s a day dedicated to honouring the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. It’s a day when suddenly the nation wakes up to women’s rights and gender equality enshrined in the Indian Constitution and talks about their fundamental rights.
The discourse among political leaders and policymakers continues to be about empowerment. However, there’s no clarity on how this is to be achieved. The hype around Women’s Day is about celebrations and political rhetoric.
In a symbolic gesture on women’s day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi signed out and handed over his twitter account to “seven women achievers” to share their life journey to the world. It is indeed an honour for the seven women to be bestowed the privilege of sharing their stories of courage and achievements. However, is this about women empowerment? Or is this Modi’s one of many attention-seeking ways, like the famous Donald Trump India visit?
The government is going chest-beating on women’s rights and their security, when the truth is there are increasing cases of crimes against them, including sexual harassment, abuse and rapes. In fact, there is very little done for women’s security and tackling crimes against them. The gruesome Nirbhaya gangrape case is a classic example showing the endless agony and pain that women and their families endure when it comes to seeking justice, leave alone the hundreds of such cases that never got justice.
Modi goes around the world proclaiming that India is the fastest-growing country (let’s not discuss GDP growth here). But we all know he is in no position to talk on the safety of women in India. The system has failed, and women continue to remain vulnerable. Our political class needs to understand that ensuring the safety of women is the prime responsibility of the State.
Leaders are paying lip service to women empowerment. The truth is that the subject has been pushed to the back burner for over a decade. The Women’s Reservation Bill or The Constitution (108th Amendment) Bill, 2008, remains a pending bill in the Parliament. The bill proposes to amend the Constitution and reserve 33 per cent of all seats for women in the Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha and in all state legislative assemblies. What’s the hitch when the government has successfully managed to push through controversial bills like the Citizenship Amendment and abrogation of Article 370.
The importance of women’s freedom cannot be a single day tokenism and has to be a sustained effort round the year. Instead of political leaders tom-toming and giving speeches on women’s empowerment, they need to hear the voice of the women express themselves of feeling empowered and liberated. The government must engage with women across different communities and social sectors to bring about a meaningful change in their lives.
