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A lot is being heard these days on the need for the empowerment of women. Women, everybody knows, continue to suffer and have an inferior status in society as compared to their male counterparts. They are lagging behind in all fields. In spite of all the media hype regarding the equality of sexes, things have yet to improve.
Despite law, female foeticide, female infanticide and dowry death are staring the society in the face. Child marriage is still prevalent in many parts of the country. Girls are not being sent to school in many areas. Incidents of sexual harassment of women, eve-teasing, sexual abuse of female children and rape are on the rise in spite of spread of education. Thousands of widows are living in object poverty and women labourers continue to be oppressed in the absence of proper legislation to protect them. In such a situation it is no surprise that the birth of a girl child is still considered to be a curse and an occasion for sorrow in thousands of families. In a country where there is the rich tradition of 'kanjak' puja, women continue to be treated as inferior to men.
In the face of this situation some enlightened countrymen have started asking for the empowerment of women. They rightly feel that there is no chance for the welfare of the world unless the condition of women is improved. It is not possible for a bird to fly on only one wing, they say. Great men like Swami Vivekanand, Gandhi ji, Raja Rammohan Roy and Ishwar Chander Vidyasagar have also been championing the cause of greater rights and a better status to women. With the march of civilization, several women have come to occupy prominent positions of strength and status on their own merit. Some of these names worth mentioning are those of Mrs. Indira Gandhi, Sirimavo Bandaranaika, Chandrika Kumaratunger, Golda Meir, Margaret Thatcher, Kiran Bedi, Kalpana Chawla, Nisha sharma, etc. These women have already done their country and their society proud. But they form only a microscopic minority.