As India turns 75, it offers a vantage point to trace the journey of a nation written off at birth as too poor, too unequal, too illiterate. It has defied tremendous scepticism and magnificent odds to come far — and not far enough. Today brings a moment to look back at both the accomplishments and the failures of a diverse people travelling together, as they shape their different and common destinies. It is the time, also, to stand on tiptoe and look ahead — at India@100. What will it be, how should it be? While there can be different answers to this question, one thing is certain: The country of the future must learn to give greater space and more power to its women. Not as state benevolence or government largesse, not as a benefit flowing from the “women’s empowerment” scheme. The woman is already a beneficiary, among others, of the development programme, and political parties are making more of a point of counting her in because they have been quick to notice that female turnouts are overtaking those of men. But the woman, now and in the future, is not merely the voter and the labharthi. She must be addressed and listened to and made room for at the top, because that is her right. And because her right to freedom and equality has not been fully acknowledged, from the early afterglow of independence, when the nation forgot its founding mothers — and sisters and daughters, too — while raising a toast to its founding fathers, to this day, 75 years later.
Ahead of this August 15, The Indian Express framed a half-sentence and invited women who have made a mark, across sectors and fields, to complete it: “India at 100 to me is…” That’s why today’s editorial and ideas pages carry the first set of responses and flag off a continuing series in these pages. These voices are important and valuable because it is women who are natural change-makers, the half that is far less likely to benefit from the status quo. Women need more open spaces to shake off all that holds them back, and to spread their wings. Shared setbacks such as Covid have affected them more, pushed them back into the confines of homes, increased their burdens of duties and responsibilities — between 2010 and 2020, the figures for working women in India showed a steep decline, from 26 per cent to 19 per cent, according to World Bank data, and post-pandemic, the challenge of restoring jobs for women is likely to be even more daunting.
Of course, in an India where a self-made Droupadi Murmu has just become President, women want a better country for themselves, and for all. In our special package today, Rohini Nilekani has great hopes from the young: “People are fed up with the binaries. They want to go back to the rich hues in between the blacks and the whites… And hopefully it is the young people of this nation, who are naturally idealistic and freedom loving, who will shape the society of their dreams”. Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw looks forward to a “global innovation leader focussed on equitable and inclusive economic growth”. For Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit, a civilisation-state that “rests on the shoulders of powerful women such as Sita, Draupadi, Kannagi and Manimekalai” will come into its own only when “women will be able reclaim and reconstruct such a strong civilisational heritage”. KK Shailaja writes that “An India where a citizen can get killed for expressing themselves freely will be a country where democracy has died”. And Soumya Swaminathan looks ahead at a country where “the concept of health care has changed and the government invests much more not just in delivery of clinical care services but in the upstream determinants of health like clean water, air, green spaces, good public transportation and healthy diets.” India’s women dream for the nation and, to borrow the words of first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, will help “build the noble mansion of free India where all her children may dwell”.
