MUMBAI: Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said women are the biggest strength of the country but are systematically ignored and restricted by a stereotypical society that does not want them to become independent.
Gandhi was in Pune to interact with girl students and hear their concerns as part of his “Chhatron Ki Goonj” programme. At the outset, Gandhi said he would keep the interaction non-political and would not deliver a conventional speech. Instead, he said he wanted to hear women express their views, feelings and concerns.
Gandhi said women should not be defined solely by their roles as daughters, sisters, wives and mothers, and argued that every woman has an identity of her own.
“The women of India are India's biggest strength. There are 70 crore women in India, and they are the strength of India. India's young, bold and strong women are the strength of India, but they are always seen as daughters, sisters, wives and mothers, and framed in that framework,” Gandhi said.
He said there was nothing wrong with women taking on these roles, but argued that their identities should not be restricted to them.
“We should not have a problem with playing these roles, but women are beyond that also. They are bigger than that. No one should restrict their growth,” he said.
Gandhi said “breaking the cage” was the central concept of the programme and stressed that women should have the freedom to make their own choices.
“The woman belongs to herself first, and that is her first identity; then other roles like sister, daughter, wife and mother play,” he said.
Targeting the Manusmriti and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Gandhi said the social structure represented by the text was opposed to women's independence and progress.
“The Manusmriti — the draconian book of the RSS — is against the independence and progress of women. We have to oppose that concept and break the cage,” he said.
Gandhi also said women did not need to prove themselves to men and argued that women continued to be trapped by stereotypes and social structures.
“The women are controlled through violence and disrespect,” he said, adding that violence and physical harassment imposed a significant cost on women.
Gandhi cited several statistics during his interaction to highlight what he described as the challenges faced by women in India.
He claimed that around 4.5 lakh female foetuses are aborted every year and that 80 per cent of women face harassment in different forms. He also claimed that 29 per cent of women face physical violence and six per cent are victims of rape.
Gandhi said women also face fewer opportunities in education and employment.
“Fifty per cent of women are not given the work opportunity or are forced to reject the work due to safety and to avoid harassment. Besides, they are also deprived of education and financial independence. They spend double on travelling for safety,” he said.
He also referred to restrictions on women's mobility, saying many women were still unable to leave their homes alone.
“Sixty per cent of women cannot leave the house alone. If the woman or the girl wants to go out, she has to go out with a male such as a father, brother, husband or male friend. But the girl hardly goes out alone,” Gandhi said.
He further claimed that women were often denied the freedom to make decisions about their own lives and that marriage and household responsibilities contributed to girls dropping out of education.
“There is a 45 per cent drop in girls' education due to marriages and household work,” he said.
Gandhi also highlighted women's lack of property ownership, claiming that only eight per cent of women own property in their own name.
During the programme, Gandhi interacted with girl students and professional women, who shared their views and concerns on education, courses, employment opportunities and conduct.
The interaction focused on the challenges women face in pursuing education, finding employment, achieving financial independence and exercising greater freedom in their personal and professional lives.
