December 21, 2011
Poverty doesn’t affect me till
My brother dies of hunger
Robbery doesn’t bother me till
My house is robbed by burglars
Murder doesn’t terrify me till
My friend is murdered by merciless killers
Likewise...
Exploitation of poor women won’t touch us till
Our own beloved ones supper exploitation
My heart bleeds with compassion and concern for women who are exploited. My heart misses a beat and my brain is not willing to communicate the atrocities and speak about the exploitation of marginalized women. My whole system is wounded and is mentally handicapped because of the exploitation against the suffering women.
Mahatma Gandhi who got freedom for the nation and gave his life voluntarily as a sacrifice, said, India will get true freedom when a woman is able to walk alone from Kashmir to Kanyakumari. I tend to think that our freedom fighters struggled to the end and liberated our country from the hands of the British, but they did very little to uplift impoverished women. We have seen many dictators around the world who killed and exploited their own people. Hard struggle ended such brutality, so we should work hard to liberate our country, especially our women, from the hands of exploiters of our own country.
As a crane is waiting to catch and cherish the taste of the fish, many men are waiting to hunt the virginity of women. Some men look at women in a lustful way. Often we hear of exploitation of women, not exploitation of men. So many women are afraid to come out of their closed shelters.
When a girl comes of age, she starts to grow as woman. From then on evil of exploitation begins. Once I heard a painful and unbearable story from a little girl. Last year went I went for ministry, I happened to meet a girl and I asked her, how she was. After a long silence, with tears, she said, "I should have been born as a boy, because being a girl I am not given much freedom. Society tries to restrict my movements. Many men are waiting to exploit and even possess me."
She continued, "Our great people used to profess proudly that 'Charity begins at home', I would say that exploitation also begins at home." Her father was a drunkard and every day would beat her and her mother and torture them. Every day her mother and she encountered hell. Once she asked her dad,"Why are you troubling and exploiting us?" to which, he proudly confessed, "I am a man, so I have all rights to exploit you both."
Yes, this is the case in many parts and corners of our country. Women are considered as 'curry leaves' which are kind of use-and-throw in cooking. Many uncivilized men think that women are only for sex and pleasure and they are good for nothing. But it is crystal clear that this kind of thinking is absolutely wrong. The abusers are always male.
In the Holy Scripture it is mentioned clearly that once a man went and prayed, “O God! I am delighted to thank you because of not creating me as a pig (or) woman." Yes, women are not given equal rights and respect. It is not a new thing, but has been happening since time immemorial. Statistics say that a woman is raped every 29 minutes. Women are exploited everywhere, be it work place, educational centre, or at home. In states like Kerala, women cannot go out after 7’O clock in the evening. If they go out there is no guarantee for their safety.
Our earth is considered a mother and we exploit that too. So in a way we exploit everything considered as woman and go against Gandhi’s vision of real freedom. So are we ready and willing to heal the wounds inflicted on women?
We the educated citizens of this nation should gather together to raise our voice for the voiceless and walk towards Gandhi’s vision of real freedom.
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