“Night And Day”
To expect women to stay indoors for their safety is to deny them their freedoms, rights
Unnao. Hathras. And now Badaun. The dirge (शोक गीत; a slow sad song or piece of music, sometimes played because someone has died) continues as news of another horrific alleged rape and murder emerged from Uttar Pradesh on Sunday.
A 50-year old anganwadi worker, who visited a temple, was found brutally battered (बेरहमी से पीटना; hurt by being repeatedly hit completely without feelings) outside her home at a village in Badaun district. After she succumbed (दम तोड़ना; to die or suffer badly) to the injuries, a depressingly similar pattern came to light: the police had dithered (दुविधा में होना/घबराहट; to be anxious about something and not be able to decide what to do about it) with both the postmortem and in registering an FIR. The culprits, a priest and his two associates, were arrested by Thursday night, with the State government saying that stern action (कड़ी कार्रवाई; strict, hard or severe action) would be taken.
Click Here To Take CLOZE Tests
What came as a shocker, however, was the reaction of a senior member of the National Commission for Women who visited the family. Chandramukhi Devi was quoted as saying, “I tell women again and again that they should never go out at odd hours under anyone’s influence… I think if she had not gone out in the evening or was accompanied (के साथ; to go with someone) by any child of the family perhaps this incident could have been avoided.”
Such remarks worsen the situation for women who have to battle against skewed societal (विषम सामाजिक; not accurate, exact or straight society) gender conditioning. When insensitive utterances (कथन; something that someone says) emanate (निकलना/उत्पन्न होना; to come from or out of) from a national commission actually meant to uphold (बनाए रखना; to keep or defend a principle or law) women’s rights, it reeks (प्रतीक; be suggestive of something unpleasant or undesirable) of a primitive mindset (आदिम/प्राचीन मानसिकता; mindset of an early stage of development; not advanced mindset) wherein lawlessness (अराजकता; behaviour that is illegal or not controlled by laws) is overlooked (अनदेखी करना; to fail to notice or consider something or someone) and responsibility pinned, perversely (विकृत ढंग से; in a way that is strange and not what most people would expect or enjoy), on the woman for ensuring her own well-being.
Click Here To Take READING COMPREHENSION Tests
All the hard work put in by women in all spheres including science and technology comes undone by such crude (असभ्य/अशिष्ट; rude and offensive) statements. The equal rights movement means nothing if women are stopped from going out whenever they want to or need to, day or night. But it is also imperative (अनिवार्य/अत्यावश्यक; extremely important or urgent) that with society steeped (डूबी; fallen) in gender prejudices (पूर्वधारणा/पक्षपात; an unfair and unreasonable opinion or feeling formed without enough thought or knowledge), the government, police and family must step up to provide a safe environment.
In 2019, the NCRB data show 88 rape cases were recorded every day in India with U.P. reporting the second-highest number at 3,065 cases. But records never tell the whole story for many rapes are not reported due to social stigma (सामाजिक कलंक; a strong feeling of disapproval that most people in a society have about something, especially when this is unfair).
Click Here To Take SPOTTING COMMON ERRORS Tests
Although after the Nirbhaya incident in 2012, the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act laid down the rules for stringent punishment (कड़ी सजा; extremely limiting or difficult), crimes against women continue, pointing at other issues that should be addressed from patriarchal (पित्रात्मक; ruled or controlled by men) mindsets to poor policing. For gender parity (समानता; equality, especially of pay or position), more women must join the workforce, but thereby hangs another sorry tale.
According to Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy data, women accounted for 10.7% of the workforce in 2019-20 and many lost jobs due to the pandemic. By November 2020, the CMIE reported that men recovered most of their lost jobs but not women. It is a matter of shame that even in 2021, women are asked to stay indoors at night instead of reaching for the moon.
0 Comments