Dragging us into the Dark Ages

Dragging us into the Dark Ages
H S BALRAM


At a time when women in India are making waves by taking up challenges in all fields, and working shoulder-toshoulder with men, guess what has befallen them in India’s most happening city, Bangalore? Labour Minister Iqbal Ansari is all set to bar them from doing night shifts. And guess what he says in defence? That women working at night is against Indian tradition.
Their main role is that of a wife, mother, daughter, sister, etc. And that the ban will help prevent crime against them. In short, according to him, women should stay at home, so that the government and security agencies needn’t worry about their safety. A case of cutting the nose to ward off cold.
If the minister is so concerned, why has
he exempted the IT and BT sectors and essential services from the ban? Are women here safe? Or, is the police force only capable of protecting a select group of women? Does the minister know that such a ban is in violation of the Constitution? Won’t job opportunities for women decrease if such restrictions are imposed? Isn’t he sending a wrong message to today’s youth? Tomorrow, if crime against women during the day rises, what will Ansari do? Stop them from venturing out of their houses? Doesn’t this smack of Talibanisation? Shouldn’t he instead focus on strengthening security? Women’s organisations and the industry are up in arms. Obviously. They have asked the government to rein in the minister or face legal action. And it seems to have worked. At the cabinet meeting on Monday, Ansari is likely to do a volte-face and revoke the provision.
The minister is wrong in understanding an innocuous piece of legislation. An amendment to the Karnataka Shops and Commercial Establishments Act stipulates stringent punishment to employers if they fail to provide adequate security to women who work beyond 8 pm. The cabinet approved it. Both the houses of legislature passed it. The governor too gave his assent. But the minister is going around saying that a ban on night duty for women will come into force soon. This has created confusion. The minister has either not understood the legislation or is imposing his mindset on women in the name of protecting them. The governor is upset. Most cabinet colleagues are taken aback.
Exactly a year ago, a similar measure was announced by the Bangalore University Syndicate. Irked by a clash among some students, as a boy could not sit beside a girl in the English department, the syndicate passed a resolution not to let boys and girls sit together during classes. And a dress code, only salwar kameez or saree for girls, was clamped. The student community was enraged. Instead of taking stern action against rowdy elements among students, the syndicate chose to impose restrictions on seating and dress. Thanks to public and media outcry, better sense prevailed upon the syndicate members and the regulation was silently withdrawn.
A few months before the university episode, when a woman employee of a BPO firm was raped and killed in Bangalore, the likes of Ansari came out with a suggestion to ban women from working late at night. Thousands of women working in BPOs were on the verge of losing their jobs. Mercifully, the suggestion had no takers. The focus then rightly shifted to providing better security for working women, by both the police and the companies that employ them.
Likewise, the government will hopefully clear the confusion on night shifts and snub the erring minister. Otherwise, more such moral policing is bound to follow. If Ansari is allowed to have his say, he may stop girls from wearing jeans, saying it represents western culture. No salwar kameez either, as it is North Indian culture. No co-education in schools and colleges. No shopping, no visiting friends, no eating out, no entertainment for women after 8 pm. All in the name of protecting them against crime. Why are some of our leaders bent upon pushing us backward?
PARTING SHOT
More chauvinists
Want to know what two of our senior ministers said in response to Ansari’s comment that women working at night is not in keeping with Indian tradition?
D H Shankaramurthy, higher education minister: Our society doesn’t easily accept women working at night. It’s true there must be equality, but after all, women are the weaker sex.
Ramachandra Gowda, lotteries and small savings minister: It is better not to have night shifts for women. Our culture says a woman’s role is to nurture.
Isn’t it time our political leaders go through a reorientation course periodically? Shouldn’t they think before saying such things?