70 YEARS ON, WOMEN STILL AWAIT FREEDOM...

As the Red Fort gets ready to usher in another year of liberty for the world’s largest democracy, there are a few issues that desperately need to be sorted.

The problem is India’s independence has little to do with the freedom of its women. Scan a newspaper, switch on the television or scroll down your social media feed and you find that our country still remains unsafe for fairer sex. On this Independence Day, let’s ask ourselves: How would we characterise the condition of women in India now? The answer for many will be unanimous: Unsafe.

According to the latest data from the National Crime Records Bureau, crimes against women have increased at an alarming rate over the last four years. The real shocker is that an assault on women, accounted for a quarter of cases in 2016 itself, saw 82 percent rise since 2012. Cases including rapes, murders, kidnapping, cruelty by husbands and relatives being the most widely reported crimes and most have been reported from Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, West Bengal and Rajasthan.

Sadly the current, past or even future governments’ for that matter have been trying to provide a secure environment for women but still much more is required to be done. HT City asked a few youngsters for their earnest take on the current situation. The ‘Indian Spring’, as the protests in the aftermath of the Delhi rape case 2012, were called by many, was a hopeful time for women in India. And as long as this battle continues, there is no reason to be pessimistic instead we should hope that someday, parents will truly stop fearing their daughter’s safety as she goes out of her home. That is when the real shift in perspective will happen in our city and country too.