Fragility of Womens Rights in India

Do women have equal rights as men? Do men in the Indian society always overshadow womens

existence? Throughout history, mostly all areas in India have held women in an inferior place

compared to men due to archaic traditions. Many movement groups and liberation groups have

been created so as to stop this injustice and are trying to give back the well deserved crown to

women. As William Golding said, I think women are fools to pretend that they are equal to

men, they are more superior and always have been. which is veritable as women have ,since the

beginning of time, been the most important member in the right functioning of the family which

is the base of every healthy society.

Women had, since long, been viewed as the weak sex in India-which resulted in their

subordination throughout the times. Deprived of their rights, Mahatma Gandhi induced women

to stand up for their freedom which revived womens position in that orthodox society resulting

in women distinguishing themselves as: teachers, nurses, air hostesses and also, increased

participation in politics and administration work. Women have break the boundaries restricted to

house-hold work and have flourished throughout the different sectors with flying colours. The

encouragement of women, definitely, helped with the new innovative ideas for the

implementation in various spheres of life. However, while going deeper in this study of

Womens rights in India, we will also learn more about the evils of illiteracy, dowry, child

marriage and ignorance.

In India, womens subordination has long been considered as a social norm. Families are male-

dominated (patriarchal) therefore, girls have been raised to accept violence as part of their

destiny. They assume that their purpose on earth is merely for reproductive roles and labor.

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Furthermore, In India, women and girls continue to be sold as chattels, married off as young as

10, burned alive as a result of dowry-related disputes and young girls exploited and abused as

domestic slave labor. said Gulshan Rehman, a health program development advisor at Save the

UK. Why despite the great advancement in womens right around the world, India is still

considered as the worst place to be female? Why in spite of having numerous laws to protect

girls, they are still being ill-treated within the family or outside the home? Why although the

Indian law says that marriage of a girl below 18 years old is a crime they are still forced to

marry at younger age?

Indian society is so hypocritical! They worship female goddesses and yet fail to protect Indian

women from daily atrocities they face and on top of that, they blame them too for their condition.

Traditions in India serves as a veil, a burqua, to cover up the awful reality that, far from being

goddesses, women are less than even fully human in India. Moreover, traditions still cast women

as hopeless victims rather than free-thinking individuals in control of their destiny. Lets take the

dowry tradition as an example. Much of the discrimination against women arises from Indias

dowry tradition, whereby the brides family gives the grooms family money or gifts. Despite the

fact that, Dowries were made illegal in India under the Dowry Protection Act (1961), the

practice persists for most marriages. The fact that India has female chief ministers means very

little. India hates women and that is the ugly unvarnished truth! With the influence of the Muslim

society on India, it has caused considerate deterioration in the status of women as in Muslim

societies; women are regarded as captive and saleable commodities. Women are relegated to a

plaything of man or like an ornament to decorate the drawing room.

As Dr. Jawaharlal Nehru said, You can tell the condition of a Nation by looking at the status of

its Women. In India, the status of women is below the ground! Daughters are regarded as a

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liability and are conditioned to believe that they are inferior and subordinate to men, whereas

sons are idolized and celebrated. This is because, men are capable of providing to the needs of

their parents and also, they play an important role in death rituals in Hindu religion, which ensure

that the soul is released from the body and can, go to heaven. While on the other part, women are

seen as economically and emotionally dependent on men and also the fact that after marriage,

they go to their husbands house resulting in lesser help in the household of their own family and

most importantly, loss of money due to dowry tradition. This might also explain why, the birth of

a daughter may not always be perceived as equally blissful as the birth of a son and why May

you be blessed with a hundred sons is a common Hindu wedding blessing.

It is a fact that women are intelligent, hardworking and efficient in any work they undertake.

They put their heart and soul together in what they do but in India since early ages, they are

expected to learn and fulfill domestic duties amongst others, they are also expected to obey

rather than to make their own decisions. Furthermore, the name of Mother Theresa cannot but be

mentioned, She brought the Nobel Prize for India by her selfless services to the poor, destitute

and suffering people in India and Worldwide. Women play a role of vital importance. They have

to feel and realize this at every step of their life that they are builders of the fate of Indias nation.

There are few amendments brought in the Indian law to protect women like: The Hindu Code

Bill which gives the daughter and son equal property share, The Marriage Act (1939) whereby

women are no longer regarded as the property of man and The Right to Divorce.

Even though India is moving away from the male dominated culture, discrimination is still

highly visible in rural as well as in urban areas, throughout all strata of society. While women are

guaranteed equality under the constitution, legal protection has a limited effect and patriarchy

traditions still prevails. India should understand that no nation can progress unless its women are

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given equal access to opportunities and adequate safety and security. A woman encouraged

country is definitely a prosper country. And India, still needs to go a long way towards this

direction.

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