A sexist, misogynist social order needs a proactive Government to effect change and give women a sense of security. We must, as a society, set ourselves higher standards
Disheartening does not begin to describe the past two weeks. It has been a week where the Thomson Reuters Foundation came out with a perception report that ranked India as the world’s most dangerous country for women. This was also the week in which a young girl who had not even seen her tenth birthday was abducted and brutally raped in Madhya Pradesh. All of this has been interspersed with the now almost daily dose of disheartening news on some form of assault or violence against women. These however are just symptoms and we as a country must recognise that we have failed our women. It is therefore imperative to place a greater emphasis on ensuring that the women in our country irrespective of caste, colour, creed, religion or nationality feel that India is a country that not only respects women but also allows them to thrive.
This raises the important perceptional question of how the Government views women; and why we have to start demanding better of our Government and ourselves. Not one to adopt a subtle approach or letting its actions speaks for itself, the BJP is unsurprisingly of the view that it has excelled in dealing with issues relating to women empowerment. Union Minister Smriti Irani, on International Women’s Day, wrote an opinion piece where she said: “The need for empowerment of women is an idea that everyone acknowledges as important. However, following up ideas and ideals with actions is of prime importance. In this, Prime Minister Narendra Modi leads the way.” But the question is whether the BJP really leads the wayIJ To help answer this question, instead of getting distracted by catch phrases and key words,we must examine what the Prime Minister and the BJP have actually done in relation to the issues of importance to women.
Thomas Reuters Foundation report and the reaction of the BJP: As I mentioned above, the report released by the Thomas Reuters Foundation ranked India as the world's most dangerous country for women. There was some shock that this report ranked India to be worse for women than war-torn countries like Syria. A large part of this criticism came from the BJP where the report was received with cries of an “agenda” against India. This is all the more surprising given that the same people who criticized the report such as Amit Malviya, the head of the IT Cell of the BJP, and party MP Rajiv Chandrashekhar, relied on the same report in 2014. In my opinion, to focus on whether India stand fourth or first is missing the woods for the trees.
What cannot be debated is the fact that India is among the worst countries in the world for women and the BJP would do well to dispel that notion by reigning in trolls, focusing on women safety, encouraging discussions in schools about the importance of protecting women rather than talking up the idea that there is an “agenda” against India.
Attack of the trolls: If you have had a chance to see my twitter handle or go to my Facebook page, you will know that similar to millions of people on social media, trolls love to heckle, abuse and threaten me for the opinions I share on social media. As a former police officer, I have had to deal with a number of criminals, goons and dacoits but I must say that women on social media face threats and encounter abuse that would make these criminals, goons and dacoits recoil with disgust. While social media has been present for some time now, the sheer volume of abuse suffered and the vitriolic, sexist messages against women have increased manifold. A clear example of this was the manner in which a number of such trolls have been attacking our Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj. It is significant to note that these trolls who threatened and abused Swaraj are “followed” by 41 BJP MPs and the Prime Minister himself follows eight such troll accounts. It was also telling that the Congress party condemned the attack on Swaraj before the BJP did and that the Prime Minister has maintained his silence on the issue. It is this kind of silence which the vicious trolling army takes as acquiescence even if that is not what is intended. When Irani said that the PM is leading the way, I am sure that this was not what she had in mind.
Casually inconsiderate: In addition to these specific issues, there is, in my view, a casual attitude towards women that emanates from the BJP. The obvious example of this attitude is the lack of fervor in any condemnation of the BJP MlA from Unnao, who is a rape-accused, or the BJP ministers who participated in a rally demanding a CBI probe into the Kathua rape-and-murder which was seen as supporting the accused. This lack of consideration by the BJP is also reflected on issues like GST slabs where sanitary napkins are taxed at 12 per cent.
In terms of the schemes that the Government has come out with to improve the status of women, there is a distinct feeling of disappointment at the lack of attention to actual implementation. The ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’ (BBBP) is a clear example of this where the Comptroller & Auditor General (CAG) reports found a fall in the sex ratio at birth in various districts of Haryana and Punjab due to the lack of policy implementation, diversion of funds and a weak monitory mechanism. While the BJP says the BBBP is a visionary scheme to improve the status of women, the report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Human Resource Development found that out of a total amount of Rs 43 crore that was set aside for BBBP in the fiscal year 2016-2017, only five crore rupees has been correctly utilised.
Unfortunately, as history has shown, it is unlikely that the BJP will pay heed to any of these warnings. It is just as likely that the Prime Minister will continue to remain silent on these pressing issues. Irani rightly said that, “The nation will benefit from women’s qualities like excellent management abilities, communication skills, ability to multitask. It will also give a more caring and compassionate edge to the often impersonal realm of governance.” However, the manner in which women’s rights have been set back over the past few years suggests that India too could do with a Government that tries to incorporate these values.
(The writer is Jharkhand PCC president, former MP and IPS officer. Views expressed are personal)
