Thoughts for the new year

THE hysteria over this New Year should be on the wane today although from all indications, it is likely to continue through this millennium year. The "m" word had become the great marketing mantra. It is a time for speaking in superlatives. No negative thoughts should cross our minds. We should not remind ourselves that even as a few spend a 100 times more in one night than millions will earn in a lifetime, it is not our concern.

The sellers of unattainable dreams do not want us to be silent, to listen, to contemplate. Not now, they tell us. Enjoy, spend, buy now, think later. And if you have to think at all, tell us who is the greatest man of the millennium, the greatest woman, the greatest star, the best movie, the best song, the best book etc, etc, etc.. The tedious and utterly meaningless lists go on and on. Only the truly resilient can withstand such non-stop hype.

Yet, whether we believe that the millennium began yesterday, on January 1, or will only begin next January, we must pause and think and assess where we are, as people, as a society, as a country. Where are we heading?

I was asked during a radio interview, alongwith a woman from Sudan and another from Britain, whether the women's movement was needed in our countries in the next millennium. Our predictable response was "yes" because there could be no other. For even as the media and marketing gurus celebrate the dawn of the Indian Beauty on the international stage, an end to patriarchal attitudes that treat women as lesser human beings is still a long way off. In different ways, and from different directions, this is the core area at which feminists - a group so readily dismissed and derided - have been chipping away. They have made a few small dents, but the main structure remains untouched.

As a result, at the end of 1999, according to a UNICEF report, female foeticide was prevalent in 27 out of 32 States. In some districts of Bihar and Rajasthan, there are only 60 females for every 100 males. This defies all laws of biology where the female species is supposed to be the stronger one at birth. If girls in this country are not permitted to be born, what can be their lives if they survive these early attempts at annihilation?

There is another reality confronting women at the end of 1999 and at the beginning of the year 2000 - that is increasing and varied forms of violence. Women have never been free of violence in their lives. They have grown to accept certain forms of domestic violence, for instance. They insulate themselves against violence in the public space by choosing to remain within the confines of their homes. Yet, in a modern India, they have been lured into believing that the law will protect them in the public space. As a result, more women step out only to be reminded, brutally, that there is no safe place, inside or outside.

The reality at the end of this decade is that the breakdown in institutions and law have enhanced the scope of violence that women must bear. Such a breakdown has negated many of the steps taken in the last three decades, as a result of campaigns by the women's movement, to strengthen laws dealing with violence against women. For when the enforcers of the law openly mock the system, and that too in our national capital, how can women depend on them in the districts, small towns and villages where the rule of law in practically non-existent?

And finally there is the question of political space for women. Much has been written and debated about the Women's Reservation Bill which was tabled in Parliament in the face of irrational opposition. The Bill, as it stands today, may have many faults. But the principle it is attempting to establish cannot be faulted, namely that if women cannot be elected because there is no level playing field, they must be assisted. More women in Parliament will not guarantee a better day for millions of women who literally live in the dark. But there is more chance of this happening than if women continue to be kept out of office.

The very fact that people, particularly men, can fault this reasoning illustrates the extent of the anti-women bias that prevails in politics. It cannot be blatantly articulated in these terms. Even the most vociferous opponents of the Women's Bill will not say that women should stay at home and not worry their pretty heads about politics. But this is essentially what lies behind their convoluted arguments against the Bill. Leave us to rule, we know best, that is their message. Unfortunately, the best that these men know is what has led to the worsening of women's lives. That is why more and more women will not sit back and accept that men know best. That is why they are prepared to be ridiculed and humiliated as they fight for their rights. That is why, they must face hostility and violence on the streets and in their homes. That is why, at the end of 1999 and the beginning of the year 2000, we still need a strong and vigorous women's movement in this country.

KALPANA SHARMA

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