Women blamed for violence against them
By Kirti Ganganaboina
Union Minister Kaushal Kishore Kumar's statement about women, after the murder of Shraddha Walkar came to light, exposes his anti-women stand.
He flayed live-in relationships of young couples and blamed women for the failure of such relationships and stated that educated girls have been preferring live-in to marriage, these days.
Advocating arranged marriages, the minister said that educated girls should adhere to the wishes of their parents and go for arranged marriages, which he claimed are safest for women.
His statement against educated girls, must be the outcome of the conditioning of his mind that women should not be educated. This view is further endorsed by his appeal to educated girls that they should learn from the uneducated girls, who follow the wishes of their parents. There are many in the country, who are against education of girls and this opposition often comes from religious fanaticism.
The likes of Kaushal Kumar need to be told that the safety and security of a lady is not confined to her being alive; in every relationship, she has to not only be safe, but should also feel safe. There are numerous couples who have a happy, contented, safe and secure live-in relationships.
On the contrary, many a women suffer domestic violence in all its forms in their marital relationships. Such violence includes physical, mental, emotional, social and sexual. Often all these forms of violence go unnoticed and unreported; only when the woman is murdered, does the violence come to light.
Whether married or not, a large number of women are not safe, at home or in society. This is seen from numerous reports, day in and day out, about rapes by in-laws, not to speak of marital rape; recently a case of a 17-year-old being raped by her father, grandfather and uncle.
There have been cases of husbands, whether educated or not, murdering their wives even after decades of marriage yet male chauvinist persons (MCPs) --with the ‘P’ changed to maintain decency-- like Kaushal Kishore Kumar blame educated women, given their prejudice against women.
The MCP mindset, was once again exposed recently, when a right-wing leader Sambhaji Bhide, refused to answer a question from a journalist at a press conference, because she did not wear a bindi. Bhide snapped at her saying that Bharat Mata is not a widow, hence she was not wearing a bindi. By making such a statement Bhide exposed his presumption that the journalist in question is a Hindu; it is the way Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that he recognises people by their dress.
The likes of Bhide insist that women should follow traditions, while men are free to move away from traditions. Men and women should have equal freedom to move away from traditions, as long as it does not cause harm to the society at large.
Several leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are giving a communal colour to the killing of Shraddha and chopping of her body into pieces. Needless to say, they have political interests in doing so, in the light of the Legislative Assembly elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh.
It is ironical that while a communal colour is being given to the Shraddha case, such elements are silent on violence against Dalit women, by men of the upper castes. A large section of the media is busy emulating the BJP leaders on this count too.
There is no evidence, as of now, to show that Aftab Poonawala killed Shraddha because she is a Hindu and he is a Muslim. It’s just a coincidence that they belong to different religions, but those who try make a communal capital out of it for their vested political interest are actually doing injustice to women.
While the likes of Kaushal Kishore Kumar like to blame women always, no body questions the men for their wrong doings or the reason for them committing violence in any form.
Instead of concentrating on the fact that her body was cut to pieces, the fact is that she was killed and tortured while she was alive, is more important and is a more serious matter. The issue shouldn’t be compassed that it’s a women’s issue, but humankind should be ashamed that these acts take place.