It's not seldom that in a country like ours, the woman is at the mercy of her own gender. Often the hand that perpetrates the trouble belongs to another woman. A lot of emotions like ego, selfishness and revenge come into play here. A mentality rooted in the medieval past does not enable a woman to tolerate the rise of another one.
History has shown us with innumerable instances that women are not inferior to men in any respect. However, political upheavals across the globe saw the emergence of male dominance, thanks to the evolution of warfare. The women were left to mend the houses.
Those days too have passed and today woman has been claiming her rightful place under the sun. The need of the hour is to accept her relevance to the scheme of things and offer her every support if not encouragement.
Accepted that the age-old habits would not disappear in a jiffy, but aren’t we mature enough to see the writing on the wall and adjust ourselves to the eventuality?
India, for one, needs to place itself on a correction course. Though there are many laws and acts for providing incentives and necessary protection to women, hardly any law is being implemented with the alacrity it deserves. Male dominance is at work even among our bureaucracy and law implementing agencies. However, keeping up with our progressive traditions, we need to devote our energies to ensure that the fair sex is offered unqualified safety and security. We need to implement the existing laws properly, without any bias or without yielding to any pressure .
It's not uncommon that in a country like ours, the woman is at the mercy of her own gender. Often the hand that perpetrates the trouble belongs to another woman. Lot of emotions like ego, selfishness and revenge come into play here. A mentality rooted in the medieval past does not enable a woman to tolerate the rise of another one. In fact, it does not dawn upon the oppressor woman that she is placing the future of her own gender at stake, as she tries different methods to get the object of her envy at her feet.
With selfishness creeping into modern society a new method of distinction is visible. Discrimination is also made on the bases
of the working status of a woman, whether she is a housewife or engaged in some white-collared job. A casual survey in our villages would reveal that the importance given to the woman folk depends more upon expectations of the family than the lip service to woman’s emancipation.
The woman is also to be blamed for this. She often resorts to meek surrender or reluctantly lets things slip out of her grasp. Ours is a society that does not look upon estrangement and divorces in a healthy way. Independent woman is still an unpalatable entity in Indian society, a concept relegated to only a limited upper class.
Certainly, we do have a robust mechanism in place to ensure that a woman enjoys her rightful place in the sun. However, it is necessary for a woman to understand her potential and make use of this mechanism wherever contradictions appear. We have an institutional framework that includes women commissions, women police stations and various magistrates and courts to protect her desired journey. We had and still have many good lady judges, ready to go beyond their limits and help as well as protect women in distress. A committed judiciary is the backbone of our progressive society. While I would not venture to name any woman lawgiver among us, what we need to bear in mind is that
all of them have given their best in rendering justice to people at large whether to a child or a women or a senior citizen or to any citizen who deserves justice. We are lucky to have totally committed and dedicated woman judges in places of eminence.
In Goa, despite the rise of the eves, we need to have a robust mechanism to ensure her safety. Goa is a land of happenings and with an international reputation, a realization of responsibility is imperative. We need to ensure that women officers hold key posts across the bureaucratic apparatus so that the administration is not only vitalized but also rises to the ideals of gender equality.