Let Us Celebrate Woman’s Existence

Muhammad Abdullah Javed
March 8, 2019

Today, the world is celebrating women's day. Looking at the wishes and greetings, loads of queries are popping up in my mind... What actually compelled the world to initiate Women’s day celebrations? What impact does this celebration has confirmed so far? What drastic changes we could find in dealing with womanhood at different levels? And most importantly, what kind of mindset does this celebration ensures?

It may be, perhaps, world needs a reminder with regard to women’s importance or it may be an international-act to pacify the grim situation of women’s rights violations? Or it may be for the elevation of women's status....or for gender equality, may be. 

Ok, let us justify it for the time being. It is almost 44 years now, since the first women’s day celebration initiated in 1975. At world level, the quantum of more than four decades is not a lesser quantity to not to conduct a deep introspection. Let us asses the present condition of womanhood at world-level.

To mention a few, let me relate few quotes of those who are into this field and have carried out extensive research work before arriving at their conclusions:

Thirty years after the adoption of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), many girls and women still do not have equal opportunities to realize rights recognized by law. In many countries, women are not entitled to own property or inherit land. Social exclusion, honor killings, female genital mutilation, trafficking, restricted mobility and early marriage among others, deny the right to health to women and girls and increase illness and death throughout the life-course. We will not see sustainable progress unless we fix failures in health systems and society so that girls and women enjoy equal access to health information and services, education, employment and political positions.

- Dr Margaret Chan, Director-General, World Health Organization.

The informal slogan of the Decade of Women became Women do two-thirds of the world’s work, receive 10 percent of the world’s income and own 1 percent of the means of production

- Richard H. Robbins, Global Problems and the Culture of Capitalism.

The UN report has authenticated today’s pathetic conditions by categorically stating: the international community had fallen far short of its commitments to empower women and achieve gender equality and that only eight out of 188 member states had certain global agreements for this.

If you focus on our country, the ongoing #MeToo movement tells a different story. The National and International conferences and loads of resolutions to safeguard women’s rights, have not yet materialized, the womanhood is unsafe. Neither an infant of few months nor a granny of seventy years old finds it a safe heaven.  In fact, women’s rights violations in different sectors have their own painful stories. 

Don’t you think, the present situation reveals that the focus of women’s day celebrations has been horribly misdirected? There are certain grey areas that have witnessed excessive exploitation of women in the name of empowerment. For material gains the womanhood has been reduced to a mere commodity, from paints to automobiles and from candy's to under wear....the advertisements need women and she is being constantly and indecently represented. We have been compelled to realize that the women’s voice is not for her rights but to let us know why the dialed number is not responding and which floor we are in and where our elevator is heading? 

When it comes to work places, she has been roped in to provide a sort of “balance” between the two genders. Ok, fine, let us ensure her economic empowerment, then why noticed and unnoticed sexual abuse and harassments cases go against feminine gender? 

To mention a few these are just glimpses of the highly exploited social statuses. If one goes into the depth of womanhood, there may be huge differences right from her birth, education to her marriage as compared to the other gender. And the world doesn’t seem to desist from keeping woman protected by incurring huge loses to its entertainment, fashion and cosmetic industries or socio-political advantages by abiding to the obligatory form of reservations and avoiding unethical and unmindful deployment of the feminine genders. 

The celebration may reveal a kind of gender supremacy; this is what exactly perceived if one emphasizes the rights of other, but the “other” is not allowed to emphasize the same. That’s why the world does not celebrate Men’s Day. It is the most dreadful misconduct that the world is indulging in, when the Creator has set and specified the rights who are we to intervene and decide? And what actually we have achieved so far, with our own perception of rights and statuses, could possibly be clear by the way women are being treated in our society today?

In the name of gender equality we have pitched the two genders to face and compete with each other, and the heightened irony of the fact is that the deviant equation of men and women has badly hampered the familial and social fabric and we are badly effected with it, helpless as don’t want to accept the fact of gender equality, may be.

The solution to the ailing issues pertaining to womanhood lies in changing the outlook not altering the form of celebrations or coining different slogans for each year’s celebrations. What I feel is women are part of humanity as men are. There is absolutely no distinction as we don't find any such difference between days and nights. They are part and parcel of each other, synchronization of both make our lives easy. So is the case of men and women, both clubbed together makes humanity. Therefore a man is incomplete without a woman so is woman without man.

The solution is stored in our hearts, we need to revive our hearts and adorn them with the highest degree of respect for the womanhood. With a woman as mother, I have my Paradise beneath her feet. As a sister I have an admirable supporter and a well-wisher. As a wife I have a mirror image of my perfection, and my credibility solely rests on her testimony. As a daughter, I have a fair chance of getting Paradise if I fairly treat her, nourish and educate her.

Let us enlighten ourselves and the new generations with what unmatched contributions women have ensured being a mother, wife, daughter and sister of our ancestors. Unarguably, all the historical persona, reveal one or the other impeccable roles of womanhood.

Let women fly high, let there be no restrictions, but the collective conscience and need should decide where the invaluable services of women are in need. When need arises let her fly in the air and dwell in all socio-politico-economic centers with honor and dignity. When there is no need let them nourish the younger generations to make the nations and the humanity fly high. We should regard, in and off the house services of women with equal regards as she sincerely makes our world, with utmost love, care and sincerity, in all her capacities.

The balance in genders depends on the balanced thoughts of genders. Let us change the equation and strengthen the importance of womanhood. Let us celebrate, not just a day a year, but her very existence, every day.

 

The author is the Director of AJ Academy For Research and Development, Raichur, Karnataka. He can be reached at [email protected]

Comments

Dr.Shafeeq
 - 
Tuesday, 12 Mar 2019

Masha allah..well written with good analysis. Keep up the good work

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News Network
June 29,2020

Bengaluru, Jun 29: Bengaluru continued to see a sharp spike in covid- 19 cases as 738 more people tested positive on Monday that took the city's tally to 4052 of which 3427 is active.

The surge in Bengaluru pushed up the number of positive cases to 1105 across Karnataka. The total number of cases in Karnataka now stands at 14,295 of which 6382 are active.

The death toll stood at 230 as 19 more people died in the 24 hours till 5 pm on Monday.

Karnataka, particularly Bengaluru, has seen a sharp rise in cases over the last two weeks indicating the possibility of community transmission and further rise in cases.

Estimates by government authorities project that Karnataka will have around 25,000 cases by mid-August.

R.Ashok, the revenue minister incharge of covid- 19 in Bengaluru on Monday told doctors that they would have to dedicate another six months to contain the virus indicating that authorities were expecting the case count to rise in subsequent days and months.

The city reported over 3,200 cases since 19 June as against 844 cases between 8 March and 18 June.

There are around 500 containment zones in Bengaluru that is likely to have an impact of business and activities in the state's growth capital and its efforts to revive the economy.

The state government on Monday held meetings with private hospitals to increase the number of beds available for treatment of covid- 19.

The number of people in intensive careunits (ICU) jumped to 268.

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News Network
March 25,2020

Bengaluru, Mar 25: Former Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday targetted Centre over surge in coronavirus cases in the country, alleging that the government has miserably failed in tackling the unprecedented situation and was still not managing the crisis well.
"The government has miserably failed in tackling this very serious disease. They are not properly managing the crisis," senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah told ANI.
Siddaramaiah's response comes a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a 21-day lockdown in the entire country to deal with the spread of coronavirus, saying that "social distancing" is the only option to deal with the disease, which spreads rapidly.
In a televised address to the nation, Prime Minister Modi said that it is vital to break the chain of the disease and experts have said that at least 21 days are needed for it.
The Prime Minister said the lockdown has drawn a "Lakshman Rekha" in every home and people should stay indoors for their own protection and for that of their families.
Noting that the Centre has on Tuesday allocated Rs 15,000 crore for the treatment of coronavirus patients and to strengthen health infrastructure, he said testing facilities, personal protective equipment, isolation beds, ICU beds, ventilators and other necessary materials will be ramped up.
The Prime Minister said the country will have to bear the economic cost of lockdown but saving the life of every citizen is his priority and the priority of the Central and state governments as also of local administrations.
Noting that the virus spreads like fire, he said that if care is not taken for 21 days, the country, a family can go behind by 21 years.
According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), India has reported about 536 individuals have been confirmed positive among suspected cases and contacts of known positive cases. A total of 22,694 samples from March 24 till 8 pm.
Ten people have died so far due to the deadly virus, according to the data by Union health ministry.

​​​​

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Anusha Bhat | coastaldigest.com
July 24,2020

Mangaluru, Jul 24: Parents in Dakshina Kannada are urging the educational institutions to reduce fees at least by 75% as most of the infrastructure and resources are not being utilized due to online classes. 

“School campuses are now closed. Why we have to pay such a heavy fee when our children are not availing the facilities offered on campus?” asks a Sapna (name changed), a parent, whose two daughters study at a prestigious private school in Mangaluru.  

Even though some schools considered as small players have reduced fees, most of the “prestigious” institutions in the Mangaluru have so far refused to give any discount.

“Apart from paying school fees, now we have to invest in gadgets, internet connections and accessories required for online classes. School administration can use their infrastructure and facilities for other purposes as students are not utilizing them. Hence, they must give us maximum discount during this pandemic,” said another parent.  
 
On the other hand, many parents are facing a dire financial situation due to covid-19 lockdown – while some have suffered losses in their business some have lost their jobs.

Many parents have even approached the education department to ensure that they get a discount in fees from educational institutions, said Dakshina Kannada DDPI Malleswamy.

“We cannot do anything since a government circular has asked educational institutions not to hike fees, which they have not done, and reduce fees if possible, which will never happen. The department is acting against only those schools that forcefully collect fees,” the DDPI said.

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