WOMEN IN INDIA

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WOMEN IN INDIA

SOMA DEBRAY

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH NARAJOLE RAJ COLLEGE

Vedic Indian literature speaks highly of women and tells us that women enjoyed complete equality with men; women participated equally in all walks of life --- administration, business, military, education, social, and religious. However, foreign invasion from the middle ages resulted in a complete change of status. Now women required physically strong male protection from assault at the hands of the brutal invaders from the Middle East. What began as protection evolved into subjugating systems like the Purdah and the Ghungat.

Women lost their social standing. Forced to remain inside homes they were deprived of education, and thus were relegated to secondary positions in households, and in society at large. The condition reified well into the early modern age.

The Renaissance in India saw social reformers like Raja Ram Mohan Roy and Pandit Iahwar Chandra Vidyasagar fighting for improving the lot of women in society. Bengal Sati

Regulation, 1829, under Governor-General William Cavendish-Bentinck, was a result of the efforts of Raja Ram Mohan Roy. Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar fought for the hapless child widows leading to the Widow Remarriage Act of 1856. All this never happened like magic.

Thetre was severe resistance from the traditional society still steeped in the darkness, blind beliefs, and rigorous social rules of the middle ages. In 1870 the then imperial British Government passed another landmark law, the Female Infanticide Prevention Act. Peary Charan Sarkar, a member of Young Bengal (former student of Hindu College) established the

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WOMEN IN INDIA

SOMA DEBRAY

first free school for girls in India, in Barasat, presently in the district of North 24 Parganas, in West Bengal. This school was later named Kalikrishna Girls’ High School.

In1917, a women’s delegation, supported by the Indian National Congress, met the Secretary of State demanding legalisation of participation of women in politics. In 1927, the All India Women’s Education Conference was held in Pune. This became instrumental in organising movements for social change in India. Post-Independence India has witnessed a complete change in the position of women with women participating with full vigour in all arenas of life --- in education, politics, media, sports, technology, scientific research, technological development, art and culture, the armed forces, and every field possible.

The Indian Constitution has made provisions to protect the status and rights of women through Article 14, Article 15(1), Article 16, Article 39(d), Article 42, Article 15(3), Article 51a(e). The working conditions for women, their pay provisions and physical protection have been well secured.

In the late 1970s the Feminist movement gained momentum in India. The infamous Mathura Rape Case where the accused, a policeman, was acquitted, brought together women’s groups, leading to countrywide protests. As a result custodial rape came to be recognised as a

criminal offence. Other issues over which women united were female infanticide, gender bias, women’s health, education, and women’s safety. Anti-liquor campaigns gained great popularity amongst women’s groups as alcoholism is directly related with domestic violence and other crimes against women in particular. Muslim women had been protesting long

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WOMEN IN INDIA

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against the triple-talaq system and the issue was finally resolved in 2019 by the Muslim Women Bill 2019. It was as late as 1986 that the Keralite Syrian Christian Community of India were forced to follow the Indian Succession Act of 1925 that allows equal inheritance rights to male and female siblings.

NGOs like Self Employed Women's Association (SEWA) have played a major role in furthering women’s concerns in India. In 2001, the National Policy for the Empowerment of Women came to force and the year was declared as the Year of Women Empowerment (Swashakti); however, it is interesting to note that the Rig Veda begins with a shloka that says women are empowered, they are the eternal Shakti, the Adyashakti, the root of all power.

In 2010, 33% of Parliament seats and that of State Legislative Bodies be reserved for women.

Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013, seek to help Indian women work and move without fear in their place of work. Sexual harassment has now been made a punishable criminal offence under Section 354A. Definition of cruelty under section 27(1)(d) of Special Marriage act, 1954, has been extended to the effect that no husband can force his wife to wear any particular kind of dress. Any such act can lead to divorce. India is ahead of many countries in terms of Women’s Rights.

There have been astounding achievements by Indian women in spite of all social odds.

1. Long back in 1848 Savitribai Phule became the first woman teacher of a Girls’ School established in collaboration with her husband Jyotirao Phule.

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WOMEN IN INDIA

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2. In 1879 the Bethune College, established in Kolkata, became the first college for women, in the country.

3. In 1883 itself India boasted of female graduates, Chandramukhi Basu and Kadambini Ganguly; first to be so not only in British India, but in Britain too.

4. The first Women’s University (SNDT Women’s University) was founded in 1916, with just 5 students.

5. In 1927, the All India Women’s Conference was founded.

This is merely a drop. The list of achievements continue unabated, numbering more than hundreds. Women in India have always remained path breakers and high achievers.

In Politics India has boasted the highest number of strong women presence. They have held the highest officers; that of the President, the Prime Minister, the Speaker of Lok Sabha, Leader of the Opposition, Chief Ministers of States and mass leaders.

Women are often regarded as upholders of tradition and culture. The society is majorly patrilineal with the bride moving into the groom’s family post marriage. Families are mostly hierarchical with elders having authority ov er the younger generations, and men over women.

Although independence in regard of dress is respected, women are majorly seen in a sari or salwar kameez. The bindi on the forehead is considered as an important part of women’s dressing. The popular art of Rangoli is the reserve mainly of women.

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WOMEN IN INDIA

SOMA DEBRAY

Indian women constitute important positions in the armed forces. Thedy are being recruited to non-medical positions since 1992. In 2020, the Indian Supreme Court ruled that women officers of the Indian Army can qualify for Command Positions at par with their male counterparts.

However, the scenario is not only bright. Although improving, girls continue to get lesser enrolled in schools compared to boys. The higher education scene is even bleaker.

Dropout rates are more amongst girls than compared to boys. Underage marriage is still widely practised. Women get lesser social or economic exposure in comparison to men.

Skill based education is still not popular amongst girls. Gender pay gap is still prevalent.

Women’s domestic labour is still unrecognised. Although women contribute 55% to 66%

of farm labour, there is little recognition. However, the silver lining is that women amount to contributing 94% in the dairy industry; and, women in senior managerial positions are quite ahead internationally. Women in business are also recognised as immensely successful.

Domestic violence, although punishable by law continues widespread, so are marital rapes, and dowry deaths. Most of the domestic violence cases go unreported as it is regarded as a family matter, nothing to be complained publicly or reported to the

authorities. Another significant atrocity is Honour Killing, prevalent mostly in the states of Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh. Besides accusations of witchcraft is not uncommon. Cases of lynching to death a woman suspected of witchcraft has been

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reported in Assam and West Bengal. Many other Northern States of the county also report such deaths. What is really worrying is that in spite of having been made strict Criminal offences, rape, sexual harassment, and immoral trafficking of girls are on the rise. Women Health is another issue of grave concern that requires increased attention.