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Just flipping through the pages of the newspaper and reading the
various issues relating to women does not mean that we care for the issue. This
actually means that we are just entertaining ourselves by reading about these
issues to break the monotony of daily life... Also, putting forward a view
about these issues in a tea stall among friends or at the dinner table among
family members does not mean that someone is contributing anything to bring
about a change.
Written by Priyanka
Majumder.
“WE
SHALL OVERCOME, WE SHALL OVERCOME,
WE
SHALL OVERCOME SOMEDAY;
OH,
DEEP IN MY HEART, I DO BELIEVE,
WE
SHALL OVERCOME SOMEDAY.”
-------------
Mahalia Jackson.
This
famous song just plays in my mind whenever the issue of “WOMEN EMPOWERMENT” is
touched upon.
We
have a 100 miles of travel to get there, but we shall surely get there someday.
Swami
Vivekananda once said, “Arise awake and stop not until the goal is reached.”
Thus our nation should strive on towards the goal of women empowerment until
women are truly empowered and we can revel in the glory of a goal achieved.
To
understand the true meaning of “women empowerment”- there needs to be a sea
change of mind set of both men as well as women themselves.
Just
a simple question--- “Are we actually working towards empowerment of women? Do
we actually care for it in true sense? Have we ever contributed anything, no
matter how small, to bring about the change? -----------Let us ponder upon
these questions for a while and then we shall discover the real truth.
Just
flipping through the pages of the newspaper and reading the various issues
relating to women does not mean that we care for the issue. This actually means
that we are just entertaining ourselves by reading about these issues to break
the monotony of daily life.. Also, putting forward a view about these
Today
the exploitation has just become more subtle. Earlier exploitation of women
took a different form. Today the manner in which it is done has changed but the
mindset remains the same.. Take a simple example. Earlier the groom demanded a
lot of money and jewellery from the bride’s family during marriage. Today money
or jewellery is no longer demanded overtly.
But
if we think over it closely then we understand that still the scenario is the
same. Now, the groom demands a working bride and it is expected that after
marriage the brides income ‘belongs’ to the bride’s family rather supporting
the girl’s parents in their old age. It is just like the fixed deposit where
the fixed rate of interest is counted every year. So, this is the way the
society has changed.
We
think that the politicians and media are bringing to our attention the various
issues relating to women so as to achieve the goal of “women empowerment” but
actually they too are using this issue for their own benefit. The media always
highlights cases of rape, molestation, dowry demands and child marriage The
entire details of the victim and her family is published in the papers but what
about the details of the culprit---No one cares to publish those.. Politicians
promise to create a country with empowered women and so enact various laws and
policies. But they overlook the most important and basic necessity of women---
sanitation.
Still
today, when each and every village has television, radio and mobile phones,
proper toilets are lacking which is a basic necessity for health and sanitation
of women. We need to start with the basic alphabets and then move gradually
towards the sentences. But, we forget about learning the alphabets and straight
away move to framing sentences which seem to have many grammatical as well as
spelling mistakes.
Just
in the same way when we think to bring about “women empowerment” we overlook the
basic change that needs to focused on. We forget that this basic change if
brought about, can catapult us to achieve the goal of “WOMEN EMPOWERED NATION”.
***************
Priyanka Majumdar. Trainee Officer, Rural Development
E mail: priyankassc.90@gmail.com
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