The fact is...unfortunate

A lot has been discussed, debated, dissected and deliberated upon the issue of sexual harassment of Indian women. The following is not an attempt to be prophetic on this issue. It is an earnest attempt to understand the root cause of the problem. However, before I share my point of view, let me state one thing upfront- I am not a sociologist. In fact, I am far from being one.  The following is simply my interpretation and understanding of the issue, which may sometimes be stymied by my limited IQ or my hailing from a certain socio-economic background or my overall exposure to worldly affairs.

It has been more than sixty years since India became independent and almost equally long since the constitution came into being. The problems that a country faces generally change with time. However, few issues have remained constant over time. Among others, one issue that law makers and guardians of the constitution tried solving then and that continues to occupy center stage even today is the upliftment of women. And, one of the important manifestations of this issue, which has plagued our society since time immemorial, is the sexual harassment of women. If I were to sum up all that is happening in one word, the least I’d say that it is unfortunate.

The other day I was reading about the President of the United States, Barack Obama, taking out the First Lady out for a dinner date on Valentine’s Day. Mind you, the restaurant was owned by a celebrity chef. Before you start thinking about this being a frivolous piece of information on a matter so serious, I’d say take a moment and think again. I know that Valentine’s Day, which falls on the day of commemoration of Saint Valentine, is a largely western concept. So, I don’t expect Indians to celebrate this day. Neither do I expect Indians to be tolerant of the ‘westernization’ of the society. Nor do I have any expectations of Indian politicians expressing their feelings of love for their spouses in public. However, I certainly expect that tomorrow if an Indian politician were to pull off an Obama and wished his/ her spouse on the occasion of Valentine’s Day via Twitter, it would, in all probability, become a matter of national security for us.

And, this is where I think the problem lies. Our society is still not ready to treat women equally. Our society is not ready for us to show our love, affection and care for the women we love. Since our politicians and our politics are a reflection of the society that we live in, if our society is hypocritical on the issue of upliftment of women, which I believe to be unfortunately true, our politics and our politicians are bound to show the same characteristics. The fact that we do not have a uniform civil code till date, the fact that women reservation bill is only debated upon and never sees the light of the day, the fact that feudalism and the feudal mindset are still rampant, the fact that those who sincerely believe and work towards women upliftment form a minority, the fact that women get raped in police premises and the fact that my examples form a never ending list go on to prove, that how so much ever disgusting and shameful it may sound, sexual harassment of women is bound to continue.