Opinion
Gender equality yet to be achieved
BANGLADESH seems to be still at the beginning of its struggle for liberation of mind and socio-economic emancipation. It will be relevant to study the viewpoints of some eminent educationists and social scientists to formulate the subject- matter in its proper perspective.
Harold J. Laski in his celebrated book 'A Grammar of Politics' maintained : `By liberty I mean the eager maintenance of that atmosphere in which men (and women alike) have the opportunity to be their best selves. Liberty, therefore, is a product of rights. ..Without rights there cannot be liberty, because, without rights, men (and also women) are the subjects of law unrelated to the needs of personality....Liberty, therefore, is a positive thing. It does not merely mean absence of restraint.'
Thomas Hill Green (T.H. Green), the renowned British jurist, dwelt on liberty as both positive and negative. A negative freedom is one where a person is not deprived of his rights or freedom at one's mercy or pity. It means that the person is not under chains because of the magnamity of those who could chain him or her, but have not done that. A positive freedom is that the very right is achieved on the basis of strength and not snatchable by any one. It reflects the indomitable physical, moral and intellectual strength and capability of the man or woman who knows how to remain free, and the inability of the authority and forces of repression to chain or subjugate him or her.
Bertrand Russell, the famous philosopher, was of the opinion that one's existing right may be replaced by a better right. For example he referred to the system of 'Suttee' in India during the British period. He approved of curtailment of the so called religious right of Hindu women to die alive along with the deceased husband. Russell was of the opinion that the right to life was much more precious than the right to death.
In the backdrop of the discussion above, the emancipation of half of our population i.e. the woman folk is a must, which however is yet to be considered truly positively by our policy makers. Flowery words of lavish praises without little concrete action programmes for their empowerment and engagement in national streams of progress, portrays a very common hypocrisy. The following are some of the points of subjugation of the women in our society:
Discrimination of the female child in family.
Disparity in allocation of national resources, thus indulging in gender inequality.
Repression in the name of religion and social taboo, both at home and in the society .
Deprivation in regard to property inheritance.
Often inhuman attitude in regard to marriage and virtual denial of their right to divorce.
The dowry system, forcing the bride for unlawful collection from her parents, and often even to death.
Disparity in employment opportunities.
Discriminatory wages at work-place.
Often subjugation and virtual slavery in conjugal life.
Forced early marriage.
"Hilla" or a type of marriage forced on woman to marry another man for a temporary or interim period before remarrying her former husband, after unilateral divorce by him (former husband) .
In most cases discontinuation of education after marriage in the face of opposition from the members of husband's family, and even from the husband.
A free society does not come overnight. For that, free thinking and equal opportunities for both men and women in every sphere of life is an imperative. A cultural revolution coupled with the liberation of the mind of the men folk from all the prejudices including gender discrimination is essential. It is said that the state originates from the family. So the practice of liberation of the mind of the male and the empowerment of the female must start from the family. The early it is done, the speedier will be the pace of our social and national progress. A jointly orchestrated male-female chorus can take our society to actual modernity and desired emancipation. For that a vigorous cultural movement and resistance programmes to obscurantist ideas is a must. The women in our country must not be deprived of their due share of everything in the family, the society and the state.
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