Women and dissent

As an activist, I receive considerable hate from those who oppose my pro-equality ideological platforms. Just as I have the democratic right to challenge what I believe is wrong in society, the ones who disagree with me also have rights to speak against me.

What is questionable, however, is the manner in which opposition is presented; so much of the vitriol are anti-women, sexist, graphic terminologies that personally target female members of my family such as my mother, wife, sisters, & daughters with violence and even rape. Such anti-women indirect onslaught against me has consistently made me contemplate the increased difficulties women activists face in terms of direct threats from such despicable trolls.

In a nation like ours defined so glaringly on patriarchal terms, it takes more grit & courage to be a woman activist than it does to be a male activist. It is a source of pride that the protest culture in India is growing even stronger as a higher number of women activists are overcoming filial/societal limitations and leading fights against undemocratic policies whether those be CAA-NRC, farmers' bills, or state sponsored violence in Kashmir.

As a college student in the US, I was awe-struck by the grassroots activism of Medha Patkar who lived with the adivasis and fought for tribal rights in the Narmada Valley. Medha Patkar's struggles for the subaltern inspired me to come to India upon graduation in 2005 and use my abilities to help uplift the marginalised here in Karnataka.

For nearly half a decade, I had the privilege of working with Gauri Lankesh, a dynamic activist/journalist who effectively used the written word to engender change. Gauri's assassination in 2017 turned my life upside down as I understood that no matter how much we may respect democracy, ethics, and non-violence, those who want to shut us up are willing to go to any extent to do so including murder.

Over the past couple years, several Karnataka-based female youth activists have been jailed unjustifiably. What differentiates the incarceration of these women from their male counterparts is the type of gender-based scrutiny that these women are forced to deal with.

Questions pertaining to the women's sexual histories and lies about being a single mother are commonplace meant only to character assassinate. Such personal attacks reveal how the media -- from mainstream to social -- criticises women who stand up for rights in a much more intrusive way than it does men.

In spite of the cards stacked overwhelmingly against women who dissent, today's increasing number of female activists in positions to influence the powers-to-be is a positive sign. Women often face difficulties both on the home and societal fronts, and those who overcome such hardships undoubtedly make strong and arguably stronger leaders. The 21st century must be led by women, men, LGBTQ+ of all ages with an understanding of equality and justice.