26

Feb

Women’s Rights Under Serious Threat

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A close-up of a person with glasses AI-generated content may be incorrect.Some statements from leaders of today’s ecosystem are worth taking note of.  Are these statements not a threat to ‘women's rights’ ?

The answer to the question requires a closer look as these statements, in my view, are a serious challenge to Women’s rights attained not by someone’s grace, mercy or benevolence but after a long struggle in the backdrop of a society largely  paternalistic or to put it bluntly ‘Male Chauvinistic’.

The best part of the Rashtriya Swyamsevak Sangh (RSS) directed debate on the role of women in society and her right to have children is sided in which only males seem to be issuing fiats or dictating without even asking the members of society which today constitute more than half of the country’s population.

There is no hint of consultation with sisters, mothers and the adult female population in the country which constitutes more than half of the total population is discernable. More on this, let’s first look at the actual spoken words on the issue.

On January 25 this year, the RSS’s main vehicle to take its Hindutva agenda forward Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP)- expressed concerns over “declining birth rates among Hindus” giving a call for at least three children in every Hindu family.

Expressing concern about the persecution of Hindus in neighbouring Bangladesh at the Virat Sant Sammelan during Kumbh at Prayagraj, VHP Central General Secretary Bajrang Lal Bangra said: "The declining birth rate of Hindus has caused an imbalance in the Hindu population in the country. The revered saints of the Hindu society have called for at least three children to be born in every Hindu family."

 

Column at a Glance
The article critiques the recent statements and policies from leaders associated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) regarding women's rights and population control. It argues that these leaders pose a significant threat to women's rights, which have been hard-won through struggle in a predominantly patriarchal society.
Wednesday Wisdom
By Satish Misra
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) has called for Hindu families to have at least three children, reflecting a broader agenda to address perceived demographic imbalances, particularly in relation to Muslim and Christian populations. The article highlights the contradiction in the government's initiatives, such as the "Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao" campaign, while simultaneously imposing policies that undermine women's autonomy. It emphasizes the burden of child-rearing on women and criticizes the moral policing by state governments, suggesting that these actions reflect a double standard in the treatment of women's rights and societal roles.

 

UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath was the first one to praise VHP efforts showing that the call for more children has official patronage also.

The VHP’s appeal or should we call a diktat to Hindus is not sudden or an off-the-cuff remark but it is a part of the well-thought-out policy which jells well with the Sangh-BJP’s political tactics to exploit every issue in the Hindu-Muslim binary which is one of the major ways to mislead ordinary volk as it fits into the Hinduatva’s “enemy syndrome” weapon.

Earlier, on 03 December 2024, RSS Sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat on 03 December last year asked couples to have at least three children to ensure that Indian society continues to survive.

Speaking at the ‘Kathale Kul (clan) Sammelan’ in Nagpur, the RSS chief highlighted that “Kutumb” (family) is an integral part of the society and every family serves as a vital building block. He noted that declining population growth has led to the disappearance of many languages and cultures.

“A declining population is a serious concern. Loksankhya Shastra (demographic science) suggests that when a society’s total fertility rate falls below 2.1, it risks facing extinction. This decline does not necessarily require external threats; a society can gradually fade away on its own,” Bhagwat said. “Many languages and cultures have already disappeared due to this issue. Thus, it is essential to maintain a fertility rate above 2.1.”

Though Bhagwat spoke about the overall dipping population of the country, the RSS has been consistently advocating for a population policy based on a belief that the Hindu population is not growing as rapidly as that of other communities, particularly Muslims and Christians.

During his annual Vijayadashami address in October 2022, Bhagwat pointed out that population imbalances between communities can affect geographical boundaries and must not be ignored, stressing the need for an inclusive population control policy that all societal sectors should adhere to.

The RSS — the ideological fountainhead of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) — had in 2015 formally passed a resolution calling for a comprehensive population policy. Three years later, it advocated for a uniform law to ensure demographic balance applicable to all communities.

Andhra Chief Minister Chandra Babu Naidu, an ally of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s led government, joined the issue on 16 January this year and asked people to have more children. Failing which one could be barred from contesting local body elections, he said in a warning of sorts.

This came just months after Andhra repealed a law that barred people with more than two children from contesting panchayat and municipal elections. A proposal is said to be in the works to implement the rule about more kids.

As briefly mentioned earlier, the call was given to the female population to have more children, the crucial campaign ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ launched by none other than Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2015 in Haryana sounds hollow and appears to be a classic case of a saying “Hunting with the hound and running with hare”

It is neither a euphuism nor rocket science to say that the main burden of bringing a child to life and rearing loved ones rests with fair gender. From birth to grown-up children they achieve adulthood, which rests largely with women folk.  On the one hand, the issue of gender equity is still an ongoing mission as it has not been achieved despite some legal framework in place. Media every day carries stories of atrocities on women by male volk.

Several state governments, particularly those of the BJP, are acting as ‘Moral Police’. There are Khaps among the Jat community who don’t accept wedlock out of ‘Love’ and issue fiats against the universal feeling of love which does not accept barriers of caste, community and race.

Love Jihad is yet another tool which has been used to treat grown-up girls as personal property. In the process of creating a Uniform Civil Code (UCC), the State’s jurisdiction has been extended to bedrooms. Live in Relationship is being subjected to serious scrutiny by the State itself which is a gross violation of the Right to privacy.   

On the one hand, the Modi government passed an act providing one-third reservation in both houses of parliament and state legislatures, on the other the RSS appears to be pushing the women back, threatening her coveted role in society and nation-building.

A classic case of double standards!

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