Women Reservation; Letters to the Editor; The Assam Tribune;

Sir,
We always talk about women liberation and empowerment of women. But in this male dominated society of ours, total liberation of women is a far cry.
The Women Reservation Bill , for instance is ample example. The Bill which seeks 33% reservation for women in Parliament and State Assemblies has not been passed till date. This issue has always been a topic of heated arguments in the sessions of parliament. This Bill was first introduced in the Lok Sabha in the year 1996. A decade is almost over and no steps have been taken so far to pass the Bill. Though the political parties insist that they are very much concerned about the empowerment of Indian women, in reality the feeling of gender bias always exists in their mind.
Women have excelled in various fields and have proved that they are no less than their male counterparts. Then why this discrimination regarding reservation of seats?
Once the Bill is passed, one-third of total seats available in the Parliament would be reserved for women in National as well as State as well as local governments. But many political parties oppose the Bill.
We are living in a democratic country which believes in gender equality.But the delay in passing the Women Reservation Bill reveals that in reality, the male dominated society of ours, still tends to supress the women folk.

Yours etc.,
Monalisa Biswas
Soledevanahalli
Bangalore

Women Reservation (The Assam Tribune; Letters to the Editor) 19th September 2005

We always talk about women liberation & empowerment of women. But in this male dominated society of ours total liberation of women is a far cry.

The Women Reservation Bill, for instance, is ample example. the Bill which seeks 33% reservation for women in Parliament & State assemblies has not been passed till date. This issue has always been the topic of heated arguments in the sessions of Parliament. This Bill was first introduced in the Lok Sabha in the year 1996; a decade is almost over & no steps have bben taken so far to pass the Bill. Though the political parties insist that they are very much concerned about the empowerment ofIndian women, in reality the feeling of gender bias always exists in their mind.

Women have excelled in various fields and have probed that they are no less than their male counterparts.Then why this discrimination regarding reservation of seats?

Once the Bill is passed, 1/3rd of total seats available in the parliament would be reserved for women in national, state and local governments. But many political parties have been opposing the Bill.

We are living in a democratic country which believes in gender equality. But the delay in passing the women reservation Bill reveals that in relaity, the male dominated society of ours still tends to supress the women folk.

Unjust Criticism, (The Assam Tribune),Letters to the Editor

Dear Sir,
This refers to the letter, "Bathless for 72 hours"(AT, August 3) by DK Baruah, where he has criticised the politicians, particularly the Rajya Sabha MP of the Samajwadi Party, Jaya Bachchan for her indifference towards the mass-people who were under the havoc of flood.
The news item had appeared in one of the national newspapers.It was mentioned at the end of the news that the Rajya Sabha MP of Samajwadi Party was in Delhi when Mumbai went under water. It is natural for a woman to worry about her family at a time when the family is in distress at a time when she is away from her family. I don't see anything wrong in her comment.Moreover her comment does not imply that she is totally indifferent about the Mumbai masses as the report did not mention anything about her views on flood victms. The report gave priority only to the Bachchans who were also under the influence of the flood as is evident from the news item.
We have the right to criticise the government for its wrong actions but some people criticise only for the sake of criticism.
Yours etc,.
Monalisa Biswas
Guwahati

EVE- TEASING;Letters to the editor; The Assam Tribune,

Sir,
Eve-teasing has posed a serious threat to to the women of our society. There is hardly any girl or woman who has never been the target of eve-teasers.\
Bus-stops, auto-rickshaw stands,etc., are the favourite haunts of the eve-teasers who seem to have no other business than passing lewd remarks on women who happen to pass by them. Eve-teasing is a crime and to put an end to it, women themselves must take the initiative.But women generally ignore the eve-teasers as they fear the evil consequences which might befall them in future.
It is this baseless fear of the women-folk which gives the eve-teasers the courage to pass objectionable comments on them as they know that women are too meek and timid to confront them.
Women are human beings too and have equal rights to move freely in society like their male counterparts and if anybody happens to harm her dignity, she might fight against them.
Women should shed their fear and confront the eve-teasers boldly.This is the only way to teach a lesson to such culprits so that they will not dare to tease another woman in future and think a thousand times before passing lewd remarks on women.
Yours etc.,
Monalisa Biswas,
Odalbakra, Guwahati

How Safe are Women in the City? The Assam Tribune, Sunday Reading, 7th August,200

Though we talk about women's liberation and equality of sexes in the society, the truth is that, in this male-dominated society of ours, safety of women is a far cry.Life has become a threat for the women folk as women in the city are not safe even in broad daylight. Every moment, one or the other women is teased, molested , abducted, raped or murdered. In such circumstances, we can't say that women are safe in the city. Women are not safe as they are sexually harassed or abused, either verbally or physically, almost everywhere, including their workplace and even at home by their kith and kin. Most of the women tolerate such harassment as they fear that protesting would bring a bad name to them and their family.
Our legal system, to someme extent is also responsible for this miserable plight of women.It has been seen in many cases that even when a rapist is caught redhanded, the courts take a very long time to award punishment to the culprit. The culprits found guilty of rape, molestation, etc., should be immediately punished by the courts of law.Moreover to be safe and secure, women themselves must stay alert. They should learn the art of self defence and should never step back in raising their voice against anybody who tends to harm their dignity.

Monalisa Biswas,
Guwahati

NATIONAL PROPERTY; Letters to the Editor; The Assam Tribune;

National Property
Sir,
The Uttar Pradesh Central Waqf Board has recently declared the Taj Mahal as their property.The Taj Mahal which is one of the seven wonders of the world is our narional property and no community can claim the ownership of any national property.
The historic Taj mahal was declared as a national property in the year 1920 and since then the Archaeological Survey of India has been its care-taker.After more than eight decades, how can any community claim its ownership all of a sudden? It has been said that in Shahjahan's biography Badshahnama, the taj had been mentioned as the property of the Sunnis.If this is the case, then various other monuments built by Shahjahan, viz. Moti Masjid, Red Fort, Jama Masjid, etc., also belong to the Sunni community and they would go on claimoing the ownership of one monument after the other.
Such claim is totally illegal and should never be accepted as such illegal demands would give rise to many more controversies in future. India is world famous for its beautiful monuments and palaces which are being looked after by the ASI. If any community is claiming the Taj Mahal today, it is quite possible that tomorrow some other religious group or community or some descendents of some rulers from another country might claim the ownership of other historic monuments of our country.
Union Law Minister H R Bharadwaj has rightly called the controversy a 'self-created one'.
The government should not give cognizance to such claims.Whether the Taj Mahal is a Sunni or a Shia property does not matter. What matters is that the Taj Mahal is our national property and the pride of our country.By no means we should give it away to anyone. Its custody should only remain with The Archaeological Survey of India or else the day is not far when tourists from all over the world come to see the ruins of the historic monument, not the Taj Mahal.

Yours Etc.,
Monalisa Biswas,
Odalbakra, Guwahati

Evaluation Process; Letters to the Editor; The Assam Tribune;july23. 2005

Lower percentage of marks scored by students in Higher Secondary Examination from AHSEC not only prevents them from pursuing higher studies but it also prevents the students from getting admission in their institution of choice.

The Higher Secondary result is very crucial for a student as it decides his/her future as well as career. We are living in an age of cut-throat competition and to survive in that tough competition, students need to score good percentage of marks in various examinations.

It is true that students from CBSE get the first preference in any examination, institution or an interview because of their higher percentage of marks whereas students from Assam Higher Secondary Education Council, though equally talented have to struggle ten times hard.

Similar is the case with students passing from Gauhati University.In Degree examination,the number og first class holders is very limited compared to the other universities of the country. Moreover the percentage of marks scored by the first class holders is very low compared to the other universities.

A student's future depends on his results and therefore the educational authorities should instruct the examiners to be liberal while alloting marks to the students.

Monalisa Biswas,

Guwahati

Corporal Punishment;The Assam Tribune; Letters to the Editor, June 24, 2005

Sir,

It refers to the letter, 'School rejoinder' (Assam Tribune, June 18) by Sr. Arokia Mary. Due to mal administration, accidents and deaths have become a regular feature in schools these days. What's more shameful is that each time such an accident occurs or a student dies, the school authorities try to avoid all responsibility.

The school authorities might fool the public by giving hundreds of reasons to hide their guilt but it can't be denied that Reshmita Bora, was slapped by one of her teachers. A school is the place of acquiring knowledge. For imparting knowledge, it is very necessary for the teschers to maintain a congenial relation with the students.

Resmita's death should serve as a lesson to those teachers who use corporal punishment as a weapon to maintain 'discipline' in schools. Such teachers should be thrown out of schools. Moreover parents should be ever vigilant. They must be aware of the happenings in school- their child's performance, the way he/ she is treated by teachers, etc.It is high time parents should raise their voice against corporal punishment in schools before it's too late

Vulgar Display; The Assam Tribune;Letters to the Editor; 24th June,2005

Sir,
Recently many social organisations and student associations protested against NE TV for showing certain obscene pictures explicitly . That such scenes would be shown so explicitly was totally unexpected from NE TV which is a family channel. No doubt, its attempt was to make the society aware but it could have been done in a different way also, without showing such vulgar scenes.
The society is going astray as the people are degrading morally day by day and TV, internet and camera mobile-sets are contributing in this regard. So, as responsible citizens of the society, we must take certain stringent steps to protect the society from all sort of evils.
The protests against NE TV are no doubt, justified because we should not entertain any form of vulgarity and nudity shown on the TV screen. But at the same time we should not forget that nudity and vulgarity are regularly shown on channels like FTV, Trendz, etc. So we must raise our voice against these channels which caters to the vulgar taste.

Yours etc.,
Monalisa Biswas,
Odalbakra, Guwahati