The Jaipur Literature Festival was
a scene for many debates but the one thing that everyone seemed to focus on was
the issue of women’s rights. These series of debates were sparked by the gang
rape of a young woman in Delhi. Many people who attended the festival had
debates and discussions as to what the true definition of what rape is and what
the punishment should be for someone who commits this crime. Mahasweta Devi who
is the octogenarian Bengali writer and social activist, gave a speech in which
she spoke about the struggles to make it in a patriarchal society. After her
speech an audience member asked her if the rape of a tribal or low-caste women
would have garnered the same degree of national attention. Ms. Devi replied by
saying “I don’t know why you have asked this question at all because the issue
surpassed the issue of caste or religion.” She finished by adding “We should
protest against all inhuman action.” Ms. Devi’s speech sparked other women at
the festival to begin advocating women’s rights by giving powerful speeches.
The article mentions one speech made by an artist named Maya Krishna Rao who “numbed”
the audience with a powerful monologue where she urged that women should be
given their basic rights. She believed that women should have freedom to walk
the streets without being harassed and they should have access to police
officers who will listen to politicians and act on it. She said “I want to walk
the streets, sit on a bus, lie in a park, I try not to be afraid of the dark.”
I believe this article is like a
breath of fresh air because you can feel the sense of urgency beaming from the women
at this festival who gave speeches about the right’s that women should have in
society. The gang rape of the women in Delhi made women in India get the extra
bit of courage they needed to make a stand. However, although they stood up for
their right’s, only time will tell if things will change.
3:36PM, 2/6/13
Alice Gunning
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