In the 70th year of our Independence, a new generation of women, unwilling to be victims, is speaking up and saying ‘enough’. The Chandigarh stalking has received more than usual attention, some of it because one of the two men accused, Vikas Barala, is the son of the state’s BJP chief. But much of it […]
Whether it’s Varnika Kundu or Gurmehar Kaur, the fightback from women has begun Read More »
In India, the intersection between morality and medicine can make a visit to the gynecologist harrowing for unmarried women. She panicked when she thought she might be pregnant. She couldn’t tell her parents; had heard horror stories about doctors. “I was too scared to even buy a DIY pregnancy kit,” says the unmarried, final year
Gynecologists are doctors, not nannies Read More »
Removing GST from sanitary napkins and menstrual hygiene products is only one of many issues we need to address when talking about menstruation. Hay, dried leaves, straw. Nature’s bounty? Hardly. These are just some of the innovative blotters used by many Indian girls and women who menstruate. That word itself; so troublesome, so awkward. Perhaps
Remove the cultural baggage, awkwardness about menstruation Read More »
Nothing exemplifies the moral slide from Dadri to Alwar as much as the indifference on display. A family counts itself blessed that the 85-year-old mother is blind and is ,therefore, spared from having to watch the video of her son being told to escape – then chased and lynched. We shrug at a bride’s disappointment
Fear and loathing in new India: Dadri, Alwar lynchings leave us unmoved Read More »
When a significant proportion of women say they want to stay home, the message is clear: Gender stereotypes about unpaid care work and a woman’s place in it remain prevalent. Fifty-nine years ago when my mother, a full-fledged lawyer with a fledgling practice, got married, she declared that she would no longer work. In her
Indian women have no time to work outside the house Read More »
Like Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela represented the best version of who we are as human beings: People who could be imprisoned but never diminished. People who never allowed themselves to become caricatures of how they were viewed by their oppressors. People who retained dignity despite systemic attempts to belittle them. Fired with idealism and passion,
Leaders like Mandela represent the best version of who we are as human beings Read More »
How the urban local bodies qualify as “customary” institutions is anybody’s guess. But in the past 16 years there has been no election to them. The women’s groups insist on reservation. But the tribal bodies remain adamant about not sharing power. Without reservation, women will simply not be given the opportunity to compete. For a
Who’s afraid of the Naga Mothers? Read More »
Politicians in India have rarely been forthcoming about their health, taking refuge in the argument that they are entitled to their privacy. Do we as citizens have the right to know? In hindsight, we know that at the time of Independence, Pakistan’s Quaid-e-Azam MA Jinnah had advanced tuberculosis and died just over a year later
The lack of transparency about Jayalalithaa’s health is worrying Read More »
In the narratives we weave, Kashmiri citizens must be blamed for their own swift repression. In the Kashmiri narrative, the crackdown is yet another instance of the mainland’s immoral suppression of the natural Kashmiri longing for azadi. Neither side is prepared to hear the other. At the time of writing, 37 people are dead in
We no longer hear the voices of our citizens in Kashmir Valley’s narrative Read More »
On June 24, a software engineer Swathi was attacked by a man with a knife in Chennai. As she lay bleeding, not one commuter came forward to help. Partly it’s a reluctance to get involved in a long-drawn legal process including police questioning and court appearances. Partly it’s a fear that intervention could lead to
No law can bridge the gap of basic decency Read More »
A new book by the first woman high court chief justice offers insights into the causes affecting women today. At the sprightly age of 84, Leila Seth is busy planning her schedule. There are literary seminars to attend, talks to be given to schoolchildren, a book that has just been launched and, yes, already, another book to
Leila Seth: Words like justice Read More »
Progressive Muslim women’s organizations look to help women solve problems within the code of Islamic law. Mumbai: The women in the airy, well-lit room could be women anywhere talking of things that women often talk about. An adult son who won’t contribute to the household expenses. A daughter who is finding it difficult to adjust to
A voice for Muslim women Read More »