When the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in a joint American-Israeli military operation, a lot of people all over the world cheered the fall of a tyrant. Trump, squatting on a precarious perch of self-righteousness, with characteristic lack of delicacy commended himself for taking out ‘one of the most evil men in history’. Naturally, he left out the part about how as part of the massive strikes directed at about 24 Iranian provinces, the Shajareh Tayyebeh girls’ elementary school in Minab was bombed and over a hundred innocent children were casually killed and written off as collateral damage. Ironically, it was while seeking to free the country from theocratical tyranny which decreed Iranian women could face the death penalty for daring to break chastity and hijab laws, that Iranian girls were senselessly annihilated. In the killing games, overgrown boys play, it is always the girls who are usually the convenient casualties.
In India, the response as always was mixed—people celebrated, criticised or shrugged off the fall of a radical Islamic cleric. Hardly anyone seemed particularly concerned about the little girls. Which is hardly surprising, because in India, shortly after the fall of the Supreme leader of Iran, another little girl was killed when she fell through the rotting floor of a school bus and landed under the rear wheel. There was a smattering of outrage, but it was drowned in the deluge of voices debating whether the excessive gold jewellery sported by newly wedded celeb couple—Vijay Deverakonda and Rashmika Mandanna—looked aristocratic or atrocious.
Unfortunately, death is not always the worst of it. Girls who are not killed over routine dowry harassment, suspicions of infidelity or unreciprocated love are subjected to a more excruciating form of slow and painful leaching of the spirit and soul. Surprisingly, it does not necessarily involve rape, sex slavery, or severe abuse. It is simply a persistent denial of basic rights. Girls in every part of the world are still expected to dress and conduct themselves in ways that are convenient and in keeping with the requirements of the supposedly superior sex. A good education still remains elusive for most women who do not have rich and/or progressive daddies. Even the lucky ones among the so-called fairer sex who are educated are expected to marry quickly so that the financial burden falls on the spouse and spares the parents. Too many are routinely denied their inheritance and expected to survive on the scraps that come their way at the discretion of those they find themselves dependent on.
Ambition is considered to be an ugly shade on women. Those who aspire towards a career need to be cut down to size for their own good. Women who leave the safety of home and hearth to work do so at their own peril. Even if they do bring in the big bucks, the pay cheques should be dutifully handed over to husbands or in-laws as is only right and proper. An unhealthy preoccupation with making money indicates a proclivity for prostitution. Which is why girls are taught to do only as they are told. Especially if it makes no sense. All else is bound to get them killed. If they are lucky. Nari Shakti be damned!