Indian civilization, undeniably, is one of the oldest civilizations in the world. From the dawn of its civilisation, India has advocated for gender equality. In fact, Indian society has always revered women. Furthermore, Indian history is full of evidence showing its great social and cultural ethics where both man and woman represent the two halves of the divine body. Henceforth, men had no superiority over women and vice versa.

On the other hand, there is a stark reality that India has been traditionally a patriarchal society in which males are superciliously assumed to be the official heads of the households and a girl is always under the tutelage of her parents, as an adult of her husband and as a widow, of her sons, brothers or in-laws. For centuries women, in general, have received unequal treatment in almost all spheres of life.  The 19th century has witnessed several reformists who took up the cause of injustice against women. As a result, it had seen the enactment of social legislation by the British government which included abolition of sati, widow remarriage act, and various significant attempts for the education of women. 

Women’s emancipation 

India after independence, took women empowerment and gender parity as one of the focuses of developmental planning. Indian constitution gives concrete shape to uplift the status of women. For instance, Article 14 gives equality before law; Article 15 prohibits discrimination on the basis of religion, cast, creed and gender; Article 16 guarantees equality in opportunity and Article 19 provides freedom of speech and expression to all its citizens including women which guarantees that women like men have equal rights and freedom.

Besides, several laws and welfare schemes were started that include dowry prohibition act in 1961, the equal remuneration act of 1976, the formation of national commission for women in 1992, the national policy for the empowerment of women in 2001 and Domestic Violence Act of 2005 etc. in order to empower women.

Women continue to be oppressed even in 21st century

Profusely tangible examples of defilements and crimes against women have always caught the attention of media headlines. One can never forget Nirbhaya who had to endure the horrendous gang-rape and the most excruciating death in December 2012. The most recent example in this context is the Hathras case of September 2020 where a 19-year-old Dalit woman was gang-raped and later succumbed to her injury. Both incidents merely shook the nation raising a big question before the people - Is it a crime to be born as a girl? 

These cases further brought out some weaknesses of the system as well by showing inability to take instantaneous action that could act as a deterrent for others.

Egregiously the continued oppressions, ill-treatment, exploitation, violence, and gender discrimination are increasing year after year. It is noteworthy that some common forms of violence against women include acts such as dowry death, domestic violence, sexual assault, honour killing and harassment at the workplace, etc. According to National Crime Records Bureau, there were 378,236 cases of crimes against women in India in 2018 at the rate of 58.2 per lakh and rose to 62.4 in 2019.  

According to the National Crime Records Bureau 2015, 20 women die every day as a result of harassment over dowry alone. In 2019, the report shows 88 rape cases every day. Many cases of unabated violence against women are reported almost every day by print and electronic media.  Women have immensely contributed - be it in India’s freedom struggle or now in the 21st century - equally in nation building. Women at all times in history have been in the forefront along with men and actively participated in India’s struggle for independence. For instance, Rani Laxmi Bai, Begum Hazrat Mahal, Sarojini Naidu, Aruna Asaf Ali, Anne Besant, and Vijaya Laxmi Pandit etc shone during national movements. Despite the fact that violence against women in the country is so alarming yet there are umpteen examples of women outshining in many areas which were considered to be men-dominated fields. 

Women are contributing equally or even more professionally and efficiently than men invigorating the nation substantially in almost every sphere of life.  It may be surprising for many that according to Forbes magazine India has the highest number of women pilots in the world. As per media reports, there is one female out of every four male journalists in India. Women have risen from household work to community leaders and according to statistics of the Panchayati Raj Institution report, women account for 1.3 million in local gram panchayats. Further, women in India are rendering excellent services in the health and education sectors. 

If women can do wonders under such a male-dominated society, they surely will contribute more if they are treated equally in a true sense. Had there been more freedom and support from society, their participation would have increased a lot more.

There have always been debates whether the available laws to protect and empower women are sufficient, or women are suffering due to the deep-rooted patriarchal system where men are given all decision-making power. Most importantly the question that needs to be revisited is -What’s the role of the civil society and every individual to bring out the reforms to change the stereotype for providing a better society “where the mind is without fear and the head is held high” where women feel encouraged, supported and dignified? There should be some common responsibilities of civil society as well rather than just depending on the policies and strategies from the establishments.

Plight of women 

Can a country progress well if half of its citizens are left behind?

The abysmal situation of women is obviously not due to the constitutional provisions or lack of laws but the deep-rooted patriarchal system and lack of proper education etc. Since independence, many policies and measures have been adopted to improve the condition of women. 

Despite all this, the situation of women has not improved much. It is a proven fact that the complete development of a country requires the maximum conglomerated participation of both men and women in all fields. Swami Vivekananda once said, “There is no chance of the welfare of the world unless the condition of women is improved. It is not possible for a bird to fly on one wing.”

Likewise, a country cannot progress well when half of its population is left behind. It is time for both men and women to come out of the traditions and false notion of superiority of gender by joining hands for a happier and more harmonious personal, family, and social life and contribute positively to build a stronger nation. 

(The writer is an educationist and faculty member of King Abdul Aziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The views are personal. He tweets at @asiframeez and can be contacted at asiframeez@gmail.com)