In our government many plans are hyped as aimed for empowerment of women. Plethora of regulations is being made or amended every now and then for empowering women and control atrocities against them, may it be in the social or professional environment. This particular move has been inherited from our religion which is based on patriarchal school of thought.
Our ancestors have given sermon that a woman cannot survive without a support like that of creepers or poetry. On her childhood she will depend on her father or brother, on her youth she will depend on her husband and on her old age she will depend on her son. It is ridiculous. When you arrive on this earth you were nourished on your mother`s lap who is a female. How you will turn into her support. She has cultivated you, and you are simply her crop. Where the critical point came from which you turn into a support?
Our religion sermones the society to pay regards to the woman. Government stresses on woman empowerment. Our religion also advocates engendering the endangered ones. It means our ancestors have compared women as an endangered species like certain animals or birds. Our government and NGOs are used to audit how much has been done for the empowerment of women as a part of their audit. This implies that our basic assumption is women are weak and need active support.
Let me be clear at the outset. I am submitting below my personal views on this issue. Scientifically females have a pure dNa in x-x chromosomes, while the male have x-y chromosomes which is a mixed one. Therefore metabolically females are having more resistance capacity than those of males. Literally the word “male" is lapped in the word"FE-male".The word "man" is lapped in the word "WO-man”. When a man is addressed as "he" a female is addressed as "S-he”. Where from the idea came that woman is a weaker sex?
Character-wise women are brave internally. The moment an enemy attack her loving one she would jump to fight. But the reverse is not true. The male will think to save his skin first. Hence women are not born hypocrite.
Women are strong minded, self esteemed, caring, considerate and respectful to the respected ones. They have enormous mental confidence and comparatively have more intelligence than males.
The society as well as the parents should rise to the occasion and awake their girl child of their real prowess. Their mindset should be rebuilt from their childhood. Telling them that she is a girl and an inferior sex than her brothers or telling them that they are mothers etc. are only patriarchal sermons. Teach them about "Rani Laxmi Bai"or "Sultana Rezia",not about "Rani Sati"or"Pancha Kanya". Teach them the techniques of self-defence rather than cooking up to her adolescent days.
Our religion says a man marries a woman for procreation."Putrarthe kriyate bharjya".Science has already proved it wrong. A child can be made to born in surrogate way. No need to have a wife for that particular purpose."Putrarthe kriyate bharjya" is no more a gospel truth. Let our sons or daughters decide their own to marry or not to marry. Free them for their self sustenance. They know how to live in their own way.
In many societies women are treated as a sexual object. They are being sermoned to gratify the sexual urge of their husband as and when they desire. Some religion even allows the husbands to flog the wife if she does not cooperate in time. Even in certain societal customs women are treated as an object of business. These are negative mindsets, and retards woman empowerment.
In many occasions girls appealing dress attract them towards opposite sex. Mind it if you indulge in that get prepared to consummate the same. If we really want to equalise females with male our first approach should be the same dress code. No exhibition of your growned up curves. Ban sarees, Salwar-Kammez etc. Loose pant and loose shirt be the common dress, barring the under garments. Secondly let there be detailed sex education classes from the upper primary level of education. Let the taboo of discussing sex with others be unveiled. Let consensual and safe sex be free from legal restraints after attaining adulthood.
Very often cases of rape followed with murder are happening in our society. Many atrocities against women at work places owe its origin towards sexual advances to a female from a male member. Let her be Madhavi or Itishree or a Bebina.Our legal system is so orthodox that a court prima facie does not presume the accused as the convict. It is onus on the part of the victim side to prove the accused to be a convict. Again in a rape case very often the woman prefer for not to go for legal remedy for fear of facing the typical queries of the defence lawyer, or being unable to meet the legal expenses.
The other part is the legal process. Take the case of Madhavi and Itishree.These are cited of being burning cases. The similarity in all such cases are, first the victim would give written complain to her senior, then she will file FIR with the police, then she would go the women commission. After that some day she would be killed, the government will entrust the crime branch under them to investigate. Then the net result is known to all. Even if the victim wins the judicial procedure in this country is so lengthy that people would forget the issue. Again juveniles are now a day’s committing crimes which are generally not expected of them. Our juvenile justice system is a blessing in disguise for those delinquents. Recent Kendrapada rape and murder, Delhi`s Nirbhay case are examples, how embarrassing the juvenile justice system in our country.
However laws are made by the people for the people. Laws made can be amended. Our judicial punishment philosophy is based on reformation. Hence it is limited to fines, simple imprisonment, rigorous imprisonment and capital punishment. If we look into the shastras of different religions punishments were made for deterrence. It should be. Days are gone when the Ratnakar became Maharshi Valmiki. Professional criminals are using our jails as their safe office to run their crime syndicate from within the bar. Time has come to debate on such issues. Jails have some sanctity where we expect the inmates to change them and make them molded to come into the main stream of our society. But now its use has been just reversed.
After a murder after rape people emotionally demand capital punishment of the culprit. After the much hyped Delhi gang rape-cum-murder case our laws were amended for stringer punishment. Does it help the system? Laws are made to be broken. I think our country have so much laws that it has become a mess and opens way for the culprit to escape through the other route. Now time has come to consolidate our overlapping statutes. Capital punishment should only be kept for treason, anti-national activities, food and drug adulteration cases which can lead to mass killings. Mutilation punishment should be included in our penal system for deterrence. For example:
- When a woman complains of rape let the court order his arrest putting onus on the accused to prove him innocent.
- If convicted mutilate his genital and let him live in the society of being deprived of that hunger.
- In similar manner punishment for other crimes be devised. For white collar crimes, let heavy fines be made as is followed in China and USA.
We strongly feel that in our present materialistic social system crime can only be controlled with such type of penalty else no improvement can be achieved. Only the number of Bebinas,Nirbhays,Madhavis or Itishrees will go on added up to the list for woes of the society.
