“Women are 48 per cent of India’s population—586 million—according to the 2011 census. The National Sample Survey Organisation estimates the Indian female workforce at 112 million in 2010. Women are an estimated 31.2 per cent of all economically active individuals. … In spite of female foeticide, poor education, low comparative pay and slanted inheritance laws, the Indian woman is more than capable of looking after herself … and her family too.” – Ravi Shankar Etteth
Love stories are the subtext of history. And tragedy is the love-child of honour. In Romeo and Juliet, when the hero goes to the feast where he first meets Juliet, her headstrong cousin Tybalt suspects that Romeo has crashed the party to attack his family. The hotheaded Capulet impulsively calls for his sword to fight Romeo:
“Now by the stock and honour of my kin,
“To strike him dead, I hold it not a sin.”
Crashing modern India’s party are the Capulets of khaps, moral constables who invade ice-cream parlours in Mangalore and Islamic modesty patrols that have unleashed a new kind of Islamic terror on the streets of Kerala.
Women suffer when gender aspects culture. Last week, Hindu theothugs in Mangalore attacked a couple travelling together in a car. They happened to have different religious persuasions. The day before, women in an ice-cream parlour were abused and attacked, accusing them of immoral acts such as smoking—smoking is unhealthy, but since when has it been immoral? Previously, Mangalore’s moral militants had attacked teenagers inside their apartments for partying and wearing mini skirts. Is Mangalore the Azamgarh of Hindu culture? And is north Kerala the Kandahar of India, where Muslim girls are put in purdah and barred from speaking to Hindu boys? From a pluralistic Muslim culture, which was brought to Kerala by enlightened Arabs, the Saudi-inspired Wahhabi thrust into India has turned local youth into Malayalee Mutaween—Saudi Arabia’s religious police. Ironically, both moral vigilantes have become brothers in brutality: one in the name of preserving Indian culture and the other for Saudi Arabian bigotry.
The honour of women, irrespective of race, caste or community, has been a definitive idea in the shaping of history. It has led to the fall of kingdoms and empires, and much bloodshed—Helen of Troy and the mass suttee of the Rajput princesses in Mughal India are examples. The fear of cultural dilution through sexual and even emotional communication turns a society xenophobic. Protecting the honour of women is extolled as another form of protecting the essence of culture.
Kerala, once considered one of the safest places for women, has become a Mecca for faith fiends. It is plagued by religious honey-traps called love jihad, also known as Romeo jihad: young men who feign love and seduce girls in order to convert them to Islam. Figures presented by Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy in the Assembly tell a chilling story: since 2009, 2,195 young Hindu women and 492 young Christian women were converted to Islam, with only 79 accepting Christianity and two converting to Hinduism.
Women are 48 per cent of India’s population—586 million—according to the 2011 census. The National Sample Survey Organisation estimates the Indian female workforce at 112 million in 2010. Women are an estimated 31.2 per cent of all economically active individuals. 97.2 per cent of women aspire to jobs with increased responsibility. 30 per cent of software professionals are women. Around 66 per cent of the rural workforce are women. The 2012 International Business Report reveals that the number of women in senior management positions in India went up to 14 per cent last year from 9 per cent in 2011. 
In spite of female foeticide, poor education, low comparative pay and slanted inheritance laws, the Indian woman is more than capable of looking after herself. And if necessary, her family too. The Boston Consulting Group estimates that the earning power of Indian women will go up from $1.2 trillion to $1.8 trillion over the next five years.
She doesn’t need bigots to stop her from having a beer, wearing a skirt or travelling in a car with a man from another caste or faith. She has the brains to choose. In a rapidly urbanizing India, morality cops are the suicide bombers of a mythological patriarchy. By forcing their claustrophobic cultural views on women using the pretext of saving Indian culture is a subversion of our values. – The New Indian Express, 3 February 2013
» This column was originally called “Day of the theothug”.
» Ravi Shankar writes for The New Indian Express. Contact him at ravi@newindianexpress.com.
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BHARATA BHARATI 