Sporadic spo-ra-dic, spo..ra..dic.. ! What is wrong with this person must be your question now. But let me assure you that there is nothing wrong with me. What I am trying to point out is sporadic (again that word) are the movements in which women raise voices for their rights. The movement in consideration is one undertaken by South African women on August 9, 1956. It is rightly argued by Ms. Kalpana Sharma (August 20, 2006, The Hindu) that the women movement in South Africa, which led to acceptance of women as equal partners with 1/3rd representation in Parliament, 43 percent in Thabo Mbeki’s cabinet has achieved more in 12 years from its start than we have in 59 years of our independence.
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On the contrary, the mindset of India is male-dominated which leads to wide and even open discrimination of women against it. The women in India are deprived of their social and domestic rights because of this gender bias. This bias exists even after the Indian Constitution enshrining the principle of gender equality in its Preamble, Fundamental Rights, Fundamental Duties and Directive Principles of State Policy. This traditional partiality ridden mindset gives preference to sons over daughters. Sex-determination is often practiced and female foetuses are terminated. The middle and upper class people are the worst offenders of this crime. This kind of discrimination has reduced our sex ratio to 933 females for every 1000 males as compared to 972 at the start of the century
Women’s lot is that of the most deprived, repressed, exploited and abused one be it at family level , kin group level, community level or even at the national level. Both in cases of public rights and private rights the darkness prevails. To few this thought may seem Neanderthal when Indira Nooyi is showing a modern face of our nation but this case is again among the sporadic.
All the Five-year plans have given importance to the problems of women. Even after these efforts we are not able to secure due representation for women in Indian Parliament.
Thanks to the male chauvinism, which was and is clearly reflected in the mindset of our politicians. Women participation as the grass root democracy level may have seen an increase but that is not empowerment in the real sense because they are simply manipulated as puppets by their husbands. in laws and parents.
Awareness can play a pivotal role in women empowerment. At the family level understanding of the emotional needs of women can lead to a greater improvement in the prevailing conditions. As far as domestic rights are concerned, mere awareness is not sufficient. Because of economic dependence Indian women is suffering domestic violence at a callously high level. Sex-abuse and violence against women are still very common. Thousands of women die every year because of rapes, homicides, mental illness, unwanted pregnancies, commercial exploitation etc.
The women like widows, women ex-prisoners, destitute and deserted women, victims of sexual abuse and crimes, refugee or migrants women, mentally challenged women etc which are in more difficult situations are highly vulnerable to suffer further social and economic distress thus causing feminisation of poverty. This economic distress leads them to the streets for begging or in brothels for prostitutions.
Since independence, position of Indian women has improved to a considerable extent. The Indian constitution prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex. Men and women are equal before law. There is a provision for equality in payment of wages. Women are guaranteed equal opportunities in the field of education, employment, social, economical and political opportunities.
Women folk in India now definitely enjoy better status than ever before. Mahila Samkhya – Education for women’s equality, Child Survival and Safe Motherhood (CSSM), Swadhar – A Scheme for women in difficult circumstances, Integrated Women Empowerment Programme (IWEP) are few important steps in desired direction. Right to Information Act can make a tremendous positive difference to the status of women in our country. While pursuing this direction, care should be taken that propaganda is not given more value than the methods for the solution of these anguished cries and the targeted interventions are not some stopgap arrangements for temporary gains.
Harshal Ravindra Mahajan
A/25, Nav Mauli ,
Ramchandra Nagar,
Manpada Road,
Dombivili (East)
Thane District
Maharashtra
Pin 421201
Phone 9820 376950
(0251) 2440335
Friday, November 03, 2006
Panipat - The battle of stalwarts
1761 - a year of great turmoil in medieval India. Death of Baji Rao Peshwa and accession of Madhav Rao as Peshwa with Raghunath Rao as guardian, fall of Pondicherry, Shah Alam II became Mughal Emperor, Shuja-ud-Daulah Nawab of Awadh becomes ‘Wazir’, Rise of Haider Ali as a ruler of Mysore and also Third Battle of Panipat. It was the year that decided who is going to rule India in future. Yes 245 years ago on 14 January 1761 a decisive blow was struck to the Marathas, which since then faced a fading glory. It was Third battle of Panipat that resulted in this situation.
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A backdrop
Peshwa Bajirao1 (1720-1740) enunciated the Maratha policy of northward expansion. He expressed that by directing our efforts to Hindustan, the Maratha flag shall fly from Krishna to Attock and from Attock to Cuttuck. It was the result of pursuance of this policy that the Marathas started swallowing the Mughal territories, which was a weak entity as compared to its past strength. Involvement to the Marathas in the Mughal administration was also increased which was the main cause of the battle. The Marathas helped Imad-ul-Mulk to become the Wazir, who remained as a mere puppet at the hands of the Marathas. As per the agreement with Wazir Imad, the Marathas reached Punjab for the protection of northwest frontier. This alarmed the indomitable Afghan warrior-king Ahmad Shah Abdali. (Abdali invaded the Punjab six times between 1748 and 1752, and he seized and sacked Delhi.) He soon marched into India to protect his territory as the Marathas had ousted his agent from Punjab. Thus the base for a grand battle was set.
The Marathas because of their reckless expansion policy were now left friendless. As against this Ahmad Shah Abdali was able to garner the support of the Muslim chiefs. The only Maratha ally at this juncture was Suraj Mal Jat of Bharatpur. He advised the Marathas to fight the battle from his capital city instead of from the plains. This was suggested in acknowledgement of the superiority of the Afghan forces. But the Marathas refuted the suggestion of Suraj Mal Jat (and perhaps paid a heavy price of it…) who removed his support from the Maratha camp for this cause.
Peshwa Balaji Bajirao also known as Nanasaheb grasped the state of affairs and dispatched a powerful army to meet the challenge. Commander-in-Chief of the Maratha army was Sadashiv Rao Bhau, cousin of Peshwa. The nominal control of the army was given in the hands of Vishwas Rao, minor son of Peshwa. An able general Ibrahim Khan Gardizi who was trained by the French when he was under Nizam headed the artillery department.
The Action Day ----- 14 Janaury 1761.
After a long wait the starving yet gallant Maratha camp opened the offensive. The day was Sankranti – a sacred day for Maharashtrians – but the result was tragedy. The Maratha army was completely routed. The superiority of the Afghan forces, constant bickering among Maratha commanders and exhaustion of food and fodder had sealed the fate of nearly one lakh Maratha soldiers of whom many perished on that single day. One more important reason for loss of Marathas was it’s accompanying of many priests and women from Pune who had expressed their desire to visit Kashi. According to some sources this cavalcade was comprised of more than 50,000 people. Peshwa Nanasaheb under the pressure from the ecclesiastical class granted the permission. This led to unwanted bifurcation of manpower and money, which was provided to Sadashiv Rao Bhau. This grant of Peshwa Nanasaheb also proved heavy for the Marathas on the battlefield.
Suraj Mal Jat whose offer that Marathas had refuted earlier assisted the fleeing soldiers in medical aid and food. All the Maratha commanders along with Vishwas Rao , Sadashiv Rao Bhau , Jankoji Sindhia, Tukoji Sindhia, Ibrahim Khan Gardizi perished on the battle field. Even the artillery of Ibrahim Khan Gardizi, which was blazing the enemy camp, could not save the day for the Marathas. The only Maratha general who came back after the battle was Mahadji Sindhia.
Looking at the expediency of the situation Peshwa Nanasaheb also marched towards the battlefield at Panipat. But while on the march towards the battlefield the news of Maratha defeat and death of Vishwas Rao and Sadashiv Rao Bhau reached the Peshwa. Hearing this news the Peshwa broke down and subsequently died in Pune in June 1761.
No other battle in the history of India was so short with consequences so disastrous and far reaching as the Third battle of Panipat. According to Sir J.N.Sarkar “ It was a nationwide disaster. There was not a single home in Maharashtra that had not to mourn a loss of a member, and several houses lost their head. An entire generation of leaders was cut off at one stroke.”
Consequences
IT was a full-blown disaster for the Marathas who were set to be the only power in India to take on the Imperial mantle and build an Indian empire. Their political prestige was also shattered as a consequence. Certainly the battle was also a severe blow to the Afghans who inspite of winning the battle did not benefit from the victory. The losses suffered by the Marathas and the Afghans paved in an easy way for the British ascendancy in India.
Harshal Ravindra Mahajan.
(The writer is author of ‘A Rendezvous with Sahyadri’)
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A backdrop
Peshwa Bajirao1 (1720-1740) enunciated the Maratha policy of northward expansion. He expressed that by directing our efforts to Hindustan, the Maratha flag shall fly from Krishna to Attock and from Attock to Cuttuck. It was the result of pursuance of this policy that the Marathas started swallowing the Mughal territories, which was a weak entity as compared to its past strength. Involvement to the Marathas in the Mughal administration was also increased which was the main cause of the battle. The Marathas helped Imad-ul-Mulk to become the Wazir, who remained as a mere puppet at the hands of the Marathas. As per the agreement with Wazir Imad, the Marathas reached Punjab for the protection of northwest frontier. This alarmed the indomitable Afghan warrior-king Ahmad Shah Abdali. (Abdali invaded the Punjab six times between 1748 and 1752, and he seized and sacked Delhi.) He soon marched into India to protect his territory as the Marathas had ousted his agent from Punjab. Thus the base for a grand battle was set.
The Marathas because of their reckless expansion policy were now left friendless. As against this Ahmad Shah Abdali was able to garner the support of the Muslim chiefs. The only Maratha ally at this juncture was Suraj Mal Jat of Bharatpur. He advised the Marathas to fight the battle from his capital city instead of from the plains. This was suggested in acknowledgement of the superiority of the Afghan forces. But the Marathas refuted the suggestion of Suraj Mal Jat (and perhaps paid a heavy price of it…) who removed his support from the Maratha camp for this cause.
Peshwa Balaji Bajirao also known as Nanasaheb grasped the state of affairs and dispatched a powerful army to meet the challenge. Commander-in-Chief of the Maratha army was Sadashiv Rao Bhau, cousin of Peshwa. The nominal control of the army was given in the hands of Vishwas Rao, minor son of Peshwa. An able general Ibrahim Khan Gardizi who was trained by the French when he was under Nizam headed the artillery department.
The Action Day ----- 14 Janaury 1761.
After a long wait the starving yet gallant Maratha camp opened the offensive. The day was Sankranti – a sacred day for Maharashtrians – but the result was tragedy. The Maratha army was completely routed. The superiority of the Afghan forces, constant bickering among Maratha commanders and exhaustion of food and fodder had sealed the fate of nearly one lakh Maratha soldiers of whom many perished on that single day. One more important reason for loss of Marathas was it’s accompanying of many priests and women from Pune who had expressed their desire to visit Kashi. According to some sources this cavalcade was comprised of more than 50,000 people. Peshwa Nanasaheb under the pressure from the ecclesiastical class granted the permission. This led to unwanted bifurcation of manpower and money, which was provided to Sadashiv Rao Bhau. This grant of Peshwa Nanasaheb also proved heavy for the Marathas on the battlefield.
Suraj Mal Jat whose offer that Marathas had refuted earlier assisted the fleeing soldiers in medical aid and food. All the Maratha commanders along with Vishwas Rao , Sadashiv Rao Bhau , Jankoji Sindhia, Tukoji Sindhia, Ibrahim Khan Gardizi perished on the battle field. Even the artillery of Ibrahim Khan Gardizi, which was blazing the enemy camp, could not save the day for the Marathas. The only Maratha general who came back after the battle was Mahadji Sindhia.
Looking at the expediency of the situation Peshwa Nanasaheb also marched towards the battlefield at Panipat. But while on the march towards the battlefield the news of Maratha defeat and death of Vishwas Rao and Sadashiv Rao Bhau reached the Peshwa. Hearing this news the Peshwa broke down and subsequently died in Pune in June 1761.
No other battle in the history of India was so short with consequences so disastrous and far reaching as the Third battle of Panipat. According to Sir J.N.Sarkar “ It was a nationwide disaster. There was not a single home in Maharashtra that had not to mourn a loss of a member, and several houses lost their head. An entire generation of leaders was cut off at one stroke.”
Consequences
IT was a full-blown disaster for the Marathas who were set to be the only power in India to take on the Imperial mantle and build an Indian empire. Their political prestige was also shattered as a consequence. Certainly the battle was also a severe blow to the Afghans who inspite of winning the battle did not benefit from the victory. The losses suffered by the Marathas and the Afghans paved in an easy way for the British ascendancy in India.
Harshal Ravindra Mahajan.
(The writer is author of ‘A Rendezvous with Sahyadri’)
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