Despite all laudable achievements, women continue to face ignominy, abuses, insults, and exploitation, writes ZAKIA KHAN
With right opportunities, women of India and across the globe, have risen phenomenally to make inerasable mark of successes with their determination, courage, conviction, and resolute performances in all walks of human endeavor. Their role has been formative in shaping all-round evolutions of human progress. To begin with, women in world sports, the recently concluded Tokyo Olympics, won more medals than men that brought glory to the nation. In the process, they broke the deep-rooted patriarchy, misogyny and subjugation and crossed all such boundary walls. In the strides made in over 41 years, the contribution of the Odisha Chief Minister’s infusion of 150 crores has been onerous in bolstering Hockey, our national game, and not of the Central Government which curtailed the national budget by 230 plus crore in the current fiscal year 2021-22. Odisha government not only propped up the national game but also revived the much-neglected Hockey that has brought glory to India.
Indian women, like their counterparts worldwide, have already made their mark playing onerous all-pervasive multi-tasking roles as mother, wife, homemaker, grandmother, sister, daughter, daughter-in-law, teachers par excellence, so in politics as lawmakers, corporate managers, as thought leaders, in science and technology, armed forces, policing and for that matter, women outshine in every human endeavor. In every era in the totality of human progress, women’s role has been epoch-making and leaving a distinctive footprint in the history of human evolutions. In every era, women have been multi-tasking star performers. History is witness to the great women like Razia Sultan, Rani Laxmi Bai, SuraiyaTyab, Azizan Bai, Abadi Band Begum, Mother Teresa, Indira Gandhi, Lata Mangeshkar, Subhu Lakshmi, Kalpana Chawla, P.T.Usha, Mary Kom, Anna Chandy, K.G.Bal Krishan, Anandi Gopal Joshi, Amrita Shergil, Sarla Thakral, to name a few, and countless others, who left an indelible mark and raised the bar for dignity, independence, gender justice as equal partners with men and so on.
It is rightly said that all men who made history in their outstanding successes, there have been women behind shaping them, enabling them in their march to the successes galore. All such women have had proven instinctive ability, determination, grit, and resolute perseverance and made their own space as they broke the boundary of patriarchy, subjugation, social taboos and mythological misperceptions. They are indeed great inspirational achievers in history worth emulating by generations for all time to come.
Coming to politics, the country has witnessed how a frail lone woman in Mamata Banerjee, fought an all-out war against all odes and obstacles by patriarchy and mighty BJP electoral machinery with unfathomable money and muscle power waging all-out war against her in the West Bengal State Assembly Elections- 2021 with an unprecedented victory that upheld secular polity of India of diversity, plurality, co-existence, tolerance, coming out as unquestioned leader that not only defeated the march of communal divisive fascist forces to uphold the very idea of India but she, in fact, saved India and her pristine Constitution. She saved India from imminent disasters, civil unrest, and frayed toxic social infarctions. This together with women athletes winning more medals than men in Tokyo Olympics have ushered India into a bright era exuding confidence and hope that the current era of divisiveness and toxic social fabric that are under deep strain will pass away as a temporary phase as has been the case in past with all authoritarian fascist governments across the world. All such women deserve our salute.
Despite all laudable achievements of our women, the stark reality is that our women face the ignominy, abuses, insults, exploitations, domestic violence, desertion, inflicted miseries, penury, destitution, rape, prostitution, bullying, and life of indignity at all stages by men. True to themself, women have been loving, caring with unhindered self-sacrifices, never leaving the family behind. It is in this context that I wish to see all-round development of India with 50 percent of total seats in all elected bodies like parliament, state legislative assemblies, civic organizations like the Panchayati Raj System by women. As I can visualize political class as such dominated by men folk fear women power as women in every field has proved themselves to be the best and can easily hijack the pole position in society to upset the apple cart of male dominance, and, therefore, not liked by men. I am hopeful with all-round strides made by women, a time will come when women will not only achieve gender justice but march over men to usher India in all-round development and prosperity!
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