“When a woman decides, she can shake up the entire system,” Delhi Commission for Women Chief and women’s rights crusader Swati Maliwal told Feministaa.com in a feeble yet determined voice, leading the conscience of the whole country towards demanding a safe and secure future for women with an indefinite hunger strike at Samta Sthal in Delhi.
Just across the road from Raj Ghat, a memorial made for Mahatma Gandhi a torchbearer of Ahimsa, Swati has been sitting calmly, for more than 10 days now, to demand the same rights and similar stringent laws she had asked for 7 years back when a paramedic was violated in Delhi. Surrounding her are loud chants of hundreds of women and men, demanding something really basic, azaadi (freedom).
On interacting with the protesters gathered there, we discovered that this unrest is not to fight for one Nirbhaya or a victim of Kathua, or Unnao, or Hyderabad, but for every girl in the country fearing for her life and safety.
A male student told us that his friend was groped in a crowded metro in Delhi while she was going back home from her college. One woman cried her eyes out as she told how her daughter was kidnapped and sold in another state by a neighbour, another told the tale of domestic violence that her in-laws have been subjecting her to for years.
A girl aged 16, who is still in school looked heartbroken as she said, “There is this feeling within that we can fight, but when we hear what people are saying these days, it just seems like that we will always be weaker than the boys.”
A mother sounds guilty as she shares how she hasn’t been able to allow her 16-year-old daughter to go for taking tuitions post-7 in the evening because she is afraid for her safety. She asks, “You say save the daughters and educate the daughters. But how are we going to educate them if they are not safe?”
However, despite all the fear and doubts, all these people are standing in solidarity, supporting Swati in her fight to get stringent anti-rape laws, fast track judgements, and a safer society for the women of the country.
And Swati is more than proud as she says, “I am here because this rape culture should end. There should be strong systems. I am getting support from all quarters of the country, all quarters of society, thousands of women across the country, who are right now demanding a change.”
She is hopeful that the system will change and so are the people who are out there supporting her. And so are we! There has been enough of the injustice we as women have been facing. As equal citizens of the country, we demand safety, representation, equality, and a supportive world to live in and we will make sure that we are no longer denied that.
- Currently living in a world ruled by feminist ideas, with background scores from 90’s pop-Punjabi albums deciding my mood for the day. Allegedly writing to follow my passion & always giving out free advice because I can. Psst… Bollywood and pizza are my favourite bias!
