Farrukhabad in Uttar Pradesh witnessed a chilling site as two young girls were found dead, hanging from a tree the morning after Janmashthmi. Belonging to the Dalit community in Bhagautipur, close friends and neighbours aged 15 and 18 years went missing from their homes on Monday after coming back from the celebrations at their village temple.
The Supreme Court bench comprising CJI DY Chandrachud and Justices Manoj Mishra and JB Pardiwala, on 20th August 2024, shed light on the recurrent safety issues faced by women in our country, during the Suo moto proceedings on the Kolkata doctor’s rape and murder case. The crime took place on 9th August 2024 and the talk on safety has spurred since then. However, Justice DY Chandrachud emphasizes on ensuring safety in actuality through national protocols.
‘Boys will be boys. They make mistakes’. What does this statement convey? That nobody should be held accountable for their sudden fetishes or perversions towards women? Come on, display some of that social consciousness that is bandied about so much in official and international speeches about how Indian women are revered as goddesses.
The visuals of two women being buried alive in the Rewa district of MP merely for standing up to the construction mafias and opposing construction on their leased land sent chills down the spine. Notwithstanding that the dispute was personal – the sheer impunity of the accused in attempting to bury women alive, is revealing of the general attitude towards women in India. But when it comes to women’s rights, nothing seems to be shocking enough to jolt us into action.
Ground protest, sometimes seem to be the only panacea to outright fundamental right violations in India. Expressing outrage against the ghastly Kolkata rape and murder case, men and women, especially women in large numbers hit the streets in Kolkata on the eve of the Independence Day, 2024. While the protests were initially planned to happen in college street and academy areas of Kolkata, it spread across the nation as many other cities stepped in to reclaim the night and highlight the safety issues that women still face in our country. However a small group of people also entered into the RG Kar Medical Hospital and college, vandalizing the hospital property and attracting attention in the news for its violent nature, taking away some of the attention from the otherwise well meaning and very impactful protests on ground.
Rape and murder, considered brutal crimes, almost always evoke huge public outrage. Such is the recent case of a man, named Sanjay Roy, who is alleged to have committed rape and murder of a 31-year-old doctor, whose body was found on 9th August 2024, at the seminar room of R G Kar Medical College and Hospital, Kolkata. This horrendous incident has infuriated the Indian Medical Association (IMA) and so many doctors, across the state and other parts of India, leading them to protest regarding speedy imposition of punishment on those responsible for the said crimes.
Sports is much more than mere competition! It is a life experience – one capable of changing a person, for good or bad. As Vinesh Phogat strives to stand up for herself in a hostile environment, the Olympics 2024 has portrayed a shimmer of hope and optimism through a heartwarming incident where Neeraj Chopra’s mother calls Arshad Nadeem her son and Arshad Nadeem’s mother calls Neeraj Chopra her son, thereby giving testimony to the point that sports does not need to be all about competition. Nadeem and Neeraj won gold and silver respectively, yet Neeraj Chopra’s mother appreciates Nadeem’s performance and says “For us, silver is also like gold.”
Vinesh Phogat’s tale is the latest testimony to the quote above – as she has proven her mettle, truly! In general, the 2024 Paris Olympics, currently taking place, is also a testimony to this inspirational quote that I was forced to pen down after witnessing the participation and recognition of many other women in various sports. Even before the 2024 Olympics started, gender justice enthusiasts all over the world began terming this game as the ‘gender-equal’ Olympics due to having quotas to ensure 50% of the game spots are allotted to women. The Paris Olympics 2024 is the first Olympic game to provide 50% women reservation.
Imagine a budget which transcends numerical values, adding real value to its people and making lives easier! Indians eagerly await the financial budget release day to know how funds have been allocated to different avenues of their life and how much tax they have to pay. The 2024 financial budget, presented on 23 July 2024, promises to add real value to the lives of four primary groups – the poor, the youth, farmers and women. Women comprising almost half the population have been promised numerous benefits under this budget to bridge the gap towards gender equality. So let’s explore what’s in this year’s budget for women?
Women in India, like in most developing countries across the world, have suffered long-standing oppression to the point where taglines such as “striving for gender equality”, “women empowerment” and “women rights” are so popular and basic for any write-up title. In search of a unique and catchy title, I opened ChatGPT to send a prompt – “write an empowering and catchy quote on women who have discriminatory personal laws in India” and received the following response:
“Women are not just subjects of personal laws; they are champions of change, fighting for justice and equality in every corner of India.”