It isn’t rare to hear – “ ye ladies ka
pta nhi problem kya hai”, “ help kro toh dikkat na kro toh dikkat”, “ these feminists
are too complaining”, “ itna kuch toh kr rhe hai aur kya kre inke liye”. Some of
you might have passed comments like these or may be just thought of them in
your head. Well congratulations. All this
while you were wrong in what you said and thought.
Let me come straight to the point. Delhi
government made an announcement to make the metro and bus rides free for women.
Applause… it is definitely a great thing to listen at first instance. But wait,
think again. First question, why is such a decision taken? The answer could be
coming up elections or the ideology of our selected representatives about women.
This reminds me of the joke made on women and sale in shops. In both the
possible why answers, it is clear that women are being seen as the easy targets
and hence weak. While you are trying to be helpful (in my words- “partial”) to
one particular group (in this case particular “sex” of the society) not only
are you accepting the inequality between those groups but are also carrying forward
the differences.
Men in our society definitely enjoy
many liberties they are given access to by our society (it includes even women).
But dear Delhi government not all men are born rich just like not all men rape.
It would have been appreciated if students or old aged people or the public in
general was kept in mind while taking the decision. After all you represent all
the other sections of the society too not just women.
You said that you wanted women to
travel safe. How is a free ride assurance for the safety? And clearly you don’t expect us to travel in metro/bus all day. We will step out of it. What about the
safety from the place we are coming from and the place we are going to? How happy
should I be about my safety for about maximum 2-4 hours I will travel? Wouldn’t
it have been better if you talked about the other much more important concerns
in your state? I am sure you have a long list of them, which you ignored very
well and played gendered politics.
