Her Right To Equality: From Promise To Power

Background: The Samrudhha Bharat Foundation (SBF) & Penguin India released “Her Right to Equality: From Promise to Power” edited by Dr. Nisha Agrawal on March 18, 2021. This is SBF’s sixth volume amongst the “Rethinking India” series.

The book was launched by: Smt Supriya Sule(Member of Parliament); Shri KTS Tulsi (Member of Parliament and SBF trustee), Prof. Mridula Mukherjee (Series Editor, Rethinking India series); Dr. Syeda Hameed (Series Editor, Rethinking India series); Dr. Nisha Agrawal (Volume Editor, Her Right to Equality); Dr. Archana Garodia Gupta (Former President, FLO), Smt Amita Pitre (Oxfam India), Smt Sumitra Mishra(Mobile Creches), Smt. Tara Krishnaswamy (Co-founder, Shakti), Smt Sanghamitra Singh (Population Foundation of India); Shri Gurdeep Sappal (Executive Trustee, SBF); and Shri Pushparaj Deshpande (Managing Trustee, SBF & Series Editor, Rethinking India series).

Quotations

• Smt. Supriya Sule said:

1. On Disha Ravi & Freedoms: “I grew up in an exceptionally liberal society. I didn’t know that society was liberal; I assumed that is how it is, but now I realise that it was a liberal society…We’ve allowed people to take away our freedom. Look at what Disha Ravi went through. It’s horrific. She’s a child! How many people had the courage to stand up and say no, we’re not going to take this any longer?"

2. On BJP’s propensity to take credit: “In Parliament, they (BJP) were talking about how they spearheaded Aadhar...and GST. In my mind I was laughing because (they) were vehemently opposing it when it was proposed! Now they’re claiming credit for them”.

3. On difficulties India is going through: “India is going through a difficult time...but what goes up comes down...This too shall pass…Madhya Pradesh downwards, there is not one state that belongs to that (BJP's) ideology. So it’s not as overwhelming as it is made out to be”.

4. On restricting women to specific issues: “In Parliament, on Women’s Day, there was to be a discussion. For some strange reason, education and healthcare were slotted as women-type of issues. Plus only women were to speak. I was shocked that this is happening in the Indian Parliament! Do men not need doctors and teachers? They said defence and finance are for men. I did not speak in protest”

• About Samruddha Bharat Foundation: SBF is an independent socio-political organisation that safeguards and furthers the constitutional idea of India. See www.samruddhabharat.in for more details
• About Penguin India: Penguin India is the largest English language trade publisher in the Indian subcontinent. See www.penguin.co.in for further details.