Root cause of our social and national degradation is our treatment of women.

It was a bustling Sunday morning. As a daily routine, I grabbed a cup of tea and sat down with the newspaper in my other hand. The front page had something that caught my eyes. In Sikaar, Rajasthan, doctors have thought of starting a unique practice. When a baby girl is born in the hospitals of the district, they’ll reduce the hospital fee by 50%, gift the mother and provide concessions to baby’s check up till she gets ten years old. But, should I be happy regarding the step taken by doctors in a state where girls and women go through hardships or should I mourn at the ills present in the society?

India, at present enjoys a fine position on international platform. When it speaks, the world stops and listens. In the near future we’ll become a superpower. But, we cannot ensure holistic development in true letter and spirit unless and until the women of our nation are ill treated. Our Indian society won’t be labelled as a PROGRESSIVE SOCIETY unless we let our women proceed in all spheres of life.

One might think, that the sorry state of women has continued since forever. But it is not so. In ancient India, during Vedic age, women were considered as the incarnation of Goddess. They held respectable position in the society, enjoyed freedom of all types. Be it freedom to get educated or choose their life partners. They never observed purdah! Widow remarriage existed. Moreover they were called ‘Ardhanganis’ (better halves) and they were treated as the same. Now wait for a second and think. How smooth is widow remarriage in the current society? Is it ‘acceptable’ when a girl chooses her life partner? Instead what we see are Khap Panchayats and honour killing!

By the end of Vedic age, some changes started taking place. Those changes became the ills of the society. Women were not allowed to pursue education. They were not allowed to be a part of sabha and samitis which earlier marked presence of women in political arena. Medieval age saw increase in heinous crimes against women. Practice of JAUHAR, purdah system degraded the social condition of women even further. The “first law book” of India, ancient text, MANUSMRITI carries rules of life. But the texts degrade women to a large extent. On one hand it describes women as bearers of blessings and no less than the goddess of fortune and on the other calls them fickle minded, lustful and untrustworthy.

Towards the end of medieval age, when Indians were exposed to modern education, when they felt bad on the condition of women, renaissance took place, changes were brought in. Revolution began to give the lost respect and dignified position to women. Torch bearers for this were Raja Ram Mohan Roy who went against the customs and rituals to fight against SATI PRATHA. Pandit Ramabai, Savitribai Phule who fought all odds to stand for women education, Dayanand Saraswati who supported widow remarriage. Swami Vivekananda greatly remarked that a family cannot prosper where it’s women are ill treated! Gandhi stood for women empowerment. He used to say that a woman’s moral power is far superior than that of a man’s!

Then too, what went wrong? One might think that if such great personalities worked for societal change and women empowerment, then why do we see women still struggling for their rights, their dignity, their security? Why is a woman scared to walk on the streets during night? One thing is for sure, no change can be brought unless a person himself wants to change. And changes should be behavioural and attitudinal. As Gandhi has aptly quoted, “Be the change you wish to see in the world.” The mindsets of people need to change, if we want to see women at par with women!

When we look at the current status of women, we see girls going to schools, getting educated, securing jobs and working, earning name and fame! But the social stigma linked with a working women is what is worrisome. Patriarchal society is not fully ready to adjusted with working women. Moreover the harassment they face in work places, sexual assault, gender discrimination takes us back to centuries old way of living.

Women who earn their livelihood are paid much less than what they deserve, their pay slip is much less than the amount of work they do. This pay gap is wide enough to put our ‘Fast developing India’ under bad light. Imagine, in the second most populous country, half of the population is struggling to get fifty percent reservation in state local bodies and parliament. And we talk about getting permanent seat in UNSC! The objectification of women, where a woman is considered nothing more than an object, results in sexual abuses, and create a blot on nation’s image on international platform. Marital rapes, domestic violence, female foeticide, prove that India still has a long way to achieve something known as WOMEN EMPOWERMENT.

The condition of women has seen ups and downs since the very beginning. But one should think deeply to understand the impact it leaves on various spheres. What VALUES does a father pass to his young boy when he raises hand on his mother? Will such a father want such treatment to be reciprocated over his daughter by her would be husband? The sickening condition of women be it social sphere or political or economic, creates a poor image of India in global scenario. When we look at the world, we find, women ruling the corporate world, women leading their countries, women reaching space and bringing names to their nations. Where does India stand in such a bright picture?

The World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap report 2015 ranked India at 139th position out of 145 counties on economic participation and opportunity gap! It has dropped from 35% in 1991 to 97% in 2014 which is far below the world’s average! If India really wants to bring massive changes in such reports and indices, it needs to nurture the true potential of women. As IMF had pointed out, increased women labour force participation can increase the GDP by 27%! This is the power of gender equality.

The need is for another round of RENAISSANCE like the one which took place during freedom struggle. This time, along with eliminating degradation of women, changes have to be brought in the mindsets of people. The humane qualities of RESPECT, EQUALITY and JUSTICE are to be inculcated in the hearts of people.

Government initiatives like Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, SABLA have been successful in bringing girls to schools. Unique initiatives like ‘Selfie with daughters’ are aimed to make people feel proud in having daughters! Ira Singhal and Tina Dabi have become trendsetters that education can take girls right at the top of the lists! They have become role models for the young generation. This is the beginning of attitudinal change. Olympians like Sakshi Malik, PV Sindhu, Deepa Malik have shone at a time when the men of India failed their nation! The women of the country came forward and gracefully saved the pride of India!

If we need our society to progress, if we need India to emerge out as a world leader, we need to give enough strength to the women of the nation. We need to provide them with wings so that they can fly high, feel secure, respected and worthy!