When Smriti Irani nonchalantly mentioned at a Woman’s summit in Delhi last week that no woman in India has ever been told what to do or what to wear, she should have realised that it was the beginning of a big storm.
“In India, I don’t think any woman here is dictated what to wear, how to wear, whom to meet, when to meet… I am of the opinion, I don’t think anybody is dictated here, you are not told,” Smriti Irani said while interacting with New York-based journalist Tina Brown, at the Women in the World summit in Delhi last week.
Even as she said it, there were boos and jeers from the audience, to which she feigned surprise. “Are you told? I am sorry. I am not. My apologies ladies.”
Yeah right! What did you inhale before you came to that meet, Smriti? Predictably, there was an uproar, as a result of her comments.
A group of female students and women’s activists in Delhi, have come up with a unique response to minister Smriti Irani’s declaration.
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Given that most women in India are not even allowed to look out of the window without permission from somebody, and everything from what we speak to what we wear is strictly monitored, hearing a female minister this is nothing short of offensive.
“The women’s hostels in the universities (that Smriti Irani governs) tell women what to do every day: they tell us where to go, when to go out, whom to meet, where to meet or stay, what to eat, what to wear, when to talk, whom to love,” said Avipsha Das, 24-year-old Sociology student.
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“We can’t even put a poster in our room without their approval. The list is endless,” she added.
Das and the other protesters are also part of a campaign called Pinjra Tod – or Break the Cage – and are fighting against “bizarre and patriarchal” restrictions imposed on female hostel residents.
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On Tuesday afternoon, some of them gathered outside Smriti’s office in central Delhi – they read from the hostel rule books, sang songs and raised slogans, watched by policemen and paramilitary soldiers who had no idea how to deal with such feisty young women.
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Before leaving, the protesters left a gift box containing rule books from their hostels for the minister to read.
“In a country where women are regularly subjected to intense discrimination and societal pressures, it is very unfair for a woman minister to make such remarks,” Das said.
“This is a precious present of knowledge and information for the minister, and we hope that she will be wiser after reading them,” she added.
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The irony is many of Smriti Irani’s own colleagues have featured in the news quite often in the past two years for their misogynistic comments.
