No one can save Padmaavat(i)

Women in India are in a constant state of war. Women are attacked on roads, in public transport, at homes, offices, classrooms, on social media and even in religious places. They are killed as children, and even as foetuses. Acid is thrown at women’s faces when they reject men, and they are beaten and even burnt to death if they don’t pay dowry to their husbands and their families. 

Women do not get the same education, opportunities and even the same food as men. Women are neglected, discriminated, assaulted and killed because they are women. That, is the actual state of women in India.

Now, women can also be made to commit suicide; the Karni Sena has threatened that women will commit ‘jauhar’ or self-immolation if the movie, Padmaavat, is released. The protest is not against the death of Padmavati herself in the story, but against a creative interpretation of her exposure to the public gaze. Karni Sena has protested in the past against movies to safeguard the notion of women as symbols of ‘honour’ of a caste or a religious community. Questions arise; why doesn’t Karni Sena protest against demeaning ‘item numbers’ done by women in movies? Why doesn’t Karni Sena threaten violence to stop the use of sexual assault as a weapon in Indian cinema? Has Karni Sena protested against depiction of women as submissive and men in dominant roles?

The list of crimes against women is long. In 2016, according to the National Crime Records Bureau, the total crimes against women were 3,38,954. Of which, reported cases in the category of cruelty by husband or his relatives were 1,10,378; assault cases were 84,746; and, rape cases were 38,947. In 2015, 67 per cent of the investigated cases of crimes against women were disposed of by the police, according to the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation. The Ministry also reveals that only 2.3 per cent of cases of crimes against women were convicted in courts in 2015.

Not all crimes are overt. Social and patriarchal traditions fix a woman’s reproductive role as her only identity and contribution. 

According to the Ministry, the literacy rate among girls over 15 years of age was 59.3 per cent as against among boys of the same age at 78.8 per cent. Adult literacy of women was 50.6 per cent in rural areas, while that of men was 74.1 per cent. Women are pulled out of schools mainly for marriage at an early age. A study by ActionAid in 2016 revealed that out of total 10.3 crore child marriages as per Census 2011, 8.5 crore are underage girls, constituting 83 per cent. The National Family and Health Survey 4 (NFHS 4) for 2015-16 states that among women of 20-24 years of age, 26.8 per cent were married before they turned 18.

Women do not get to eat well, taking a toll on their health. According to the NFHS 4, more than half or 53 per cent of women between 15-49 years, were anaemic. Out of these, 54.2 per cent lived in rural areas, while 50.8 per cent were in urban areas. Over 26 per cent of rural women had a Body Mass Index (BMI) below normal. When was the last time Karni Sena demanded better nutrition or compulsory education for girls? When was the last time such protestors threatened violence to stop girl children from being married off? What are the views of the Karni Sena on employment rights of women? We are in the dark about such matters.

Ironically, some women have lent their voices in favour of the threats and protests of Karni Sena, reminding one of the women who support regressive practices of fundamentalist Islam. In this, perhaps, there is no difference between religious communities; women are slaves everywhere. Often when women survive, it is not because they revolt but because they surrender. Women are aware that their submission jeopardises their own chances of equality and freedom. They also know that they accept honour as a precondition to the protection and security of patriarchy, and become subjects of men’s interpretation of such honour. But what option do they have without the support from the state and the community, except to give in to the need for survival? That is why a married woman puts up with domestic violence. That is why sexual assault cases are not taken to the police, leading to low reportage, especially in rural areas.

The state reinforces patriarchy by making it difficult for women to make their voices heard. The government application forms that demand the male suffix to a woman’s name, necessitate the woman’s loyalty to the notions of patriarchy. The schemes that deal with women as dependents, underline the role of the male as the provider in their lives. The rules that stop short of ensuring rights over property and land, ensure that the women are at the mercy of men.

Signs of improvement in education for women, rights, empowerment, etc., are better expedited when supported by progressive thinking among men. The assertive among women, however, face not only extraordinary hurdles in their path but also discrimination at every level of personal and professional advancement. That is the central reason why progress on gender lines is sporadic, and uneven across the country. The ills that afflict the darkest corners of India can also be seen in the brightest cities. An urban, educated, and working woman may have to remain silent about the abuses and injustices as a rural, uneducated and unemployed woman. What is common in such scenarios is the Indian man, whether he is educated, uneducated, rural, urban, poor, rich, traditional, or modern. No wonder, then, that Karni Sena can get away by threatening to mutilate the face of a woman if a movie is released. There is no one who can protect Padmavati.

The writer is a political author and research scholar. Her next book Widows of Vidarbha, Making of Shadows, will be published in 2018.