All entries for Tuesday 28 February 2006

Will we ever be equal?

Researching my essay on Islam in the sub-continent made me think about the position of women in India — a country in which Hindus worship her as a God, mother earth etc, and Muslims accord her equal status in the Quran. Yet, all these years after Independence, and we are still not equal, there are still dowry deaths, female infanticide, malnutrition, degradation, eve-teasing, you name it. And why? Because we dont put a stop to it. We arent forceful enough. We accept it.

My grandmother discriminated between me and my cousin brother, simply because I was a girl. I always got less food, less love and attention, and more than my fair share of punishments. She would scold me for something I hadnt done in his presence, and somehow that meant that he 'would get the message'. I still cant comprehend it. I hated her for years, for every cruel reminder of my plight to be born as a girl in a country that punishes you everyday for it. But more than that, I hated my family for not standing up for me, for not preventing it. I guess the circumstances were such that my mother couldnt, so I cant blame them. But now, as my grandmother is dying of cancer, I think, I cant possibly hate her anymore, she didnt know any better. More so, blaming her wont help, but standing up for women's rights will.

We in India have to speak up, and not just assume that we will be treated unequally. Well make that all over the world. It is everyone, men and women, that have to unite — feminism isnt about men v women, its about justice v injustice. A country and culture that doesnt respect women can never prosper, and neither can its people.

: 28 Feb 2006 10:18 |  Tags: India Women |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem