Dear Fellow Hyderabadis,
While most Hyderabadis who participated in the midnight march that was held on the night of January 5,2013 are cock a hoop about its unprecedented success and the heady fact that it succeeded in it's avowed aim of creating some kind of awareness about the plight of women who venture out at night for work related or other reasons; the disorganisation, haphazard manner in which the whole event was organised and some of the sexist, repugnant and downright amateurish slogans raised by some of the participants did certainly leave a bitter taste in more than a few mouths including mine........
Firstly, there was little or no clarity about the assembly point and people were going around like headless chickens enquiring about the starting point of the rally from other such people who were equally bewildered and befuddled as they were.......
Secondly, a few over enthusiastic ladies belonging to certain organisations that claim to champion women's rights went around asking the ladies to assemble in front of the gathering and the men to follow in their wake, I for one thought that the purpose behind the rally was to sensitise society about the plight of women and their present status within the same and one really wonders how the plight of the Indian woman will ever improve unless she gains parity with her male counterpart and walks shoulder to shoulder with him in all walks/spheres of life.......
Thirdly, most if not all of the slogans that were being raised by the male participants were downright ridiculous and repugnant to say the least; slogans like "MALL MAIN AZAADI, DISCOTHEQUE MAIN AZAADI", and so on and so forth, did certainly raise huge question marks in more than a few minds about the seriousness and solemnity of the march and did certainly take away from it'a avowed aims and objectives.........
Fourthly, political elements and a few young men whose only purpose was to ridicule and humiliate the female participants participating in the rally did venture into the rally, I was creditably informed by impeachable sources that the lady astride one of the OB vans who was shouting herself hoarse in an effort to galvanise the gathering and exhorting the participants to raise even more vociferous slogans was a rabble rouser with inextricable links to the Telangana Rashtra Samithi and also known to have close links with the daughter of the party president............
Fifthly, I may be forgiven for thinking that the purpose behind the rally was to draw attentions towards the plight of women within the Indian society and raise awareness about the imperativeness of equality between both sexes, but to my dismay, I found that there were more than a few publicity hounds within the gathering who raised vociferous slogans and preened before the television cameras whenever they had the faintest inkling about the television cameras being focussed on them..........
Sixthly, there was utter confusion, lack of cohesion and a sense of common purpose between the fifteen odd groups who embellished the rally, all these groups were found to occupy their respective clusters and were walking around in disparate groups instead of coming together on a common platform and raising a cry for long overdue women's rights, safety and security in unison.............
I can continue to list out anomalies and shortcomings in the organisation of the rally till the cows come home and list out more reasons for it's woeful failure to draw attention to women's safety, security and status related issues than one can count, however, there is no denying the indubitable fact that the rally was a resounding success to the extent that it did succeed in drawing out around 1,300-1,500 Hyderabadis out of their homes and hearths at a seemingly unearthly hour and did show that a few well meaning Hyderabadis do care about the plight of their women no matter if they are nothing more than a fleck on the horizon.............
Here's hoping that the next such rally is organised in a far more coherent and comprehensive manner and that at least 5,000 or more Hyderabadis turn up whenever the next opportunity of making themselves heard and seen comes their way..........
While most Hyderabadis who participated in the midnight march that was held on the night of January 5,2013 are cock a hoop about its unprecedented success and the heady fact that it succeeded in it's avowed aim of creating some kind of awareness about the plight of women who venture out at night for work related or other reasons; the disorganisation, haphazard manner in which the whole event was organised and some of the sexist, repugnant and downright amateurish slogans raised by some of the participants did certainly leave a bitter taste in more than a few mouths including mine........
Firstly, there was little or no clarity about the assembly point and people were going around like headless chickens enquiring about the starting point of the rally from other such people who were equally bewildered and befuddled as they were.......
Secondly, a few over enthusiastic ladies belonging to certain organisations that claim to champion women's rights went around asking the ladies to assemble in front of the gathering and the men to follow in their wake, I for one thought that the purpose behind the rally was to sensitise society about the plight of women and their present status within the same and one really wonders how the plight of the Indian woman will ever improve unless she gains parity with her male counterpart and walks shoulder to shoulder with him in all walks/spheres of life.......
Thirdly, most if not all of the slogans that were being raised by the male participants were downright ridiculous and repugnant to say the least; slogans like "MALL MAIN AZAADI, DISCOTHEQUE MAIN AZAADI", and so on and so forth, did certainly raise huge question marks in more than a few minds about the seriousness and solemnity of the march and did certainly take away from it'a avowed aims and objectives.........
Fourthly, political elements and a few young men whose only purpose was to ridicule and humiliate the female participants participating in the rally did venture into the rally, I was creditably informed by impeachable sources that the lady astride one of the OB vans who was shouting herself hoarse in an effort to galvanise the gathering and exhorting the participants to raise even more vociferous slogans was a rabble rouser with inextricable links to the Telangana Rashtra Samithi and also known to have close links with the daughter of the party president............
Fifthly, I may be forgiven for thinking that the purpose behind the rally was to draw attentions towards the plight of women within the Indian society and raise awareness about the imperativeness of equality between both sexes, but to my dismay, I found that there were more than a few publicity hounds within the gathering who raised vociferous slogans and preened before the television cameras whenever they had the faintest inkling about the television cameras being focussed on them..........
Sixthly, there was utter confusion, lack of cohesion and a sense of common purpose between the fifteen odd groups who embellished the rally, all these groups were found to occupy their respective clusters and were walking around in disparate groups instead of coming together on a common platform and raising a cry for long overdue women's rights, safety and security in unison.............
I can continue to list out anomalies and shortcomings in the organisation of the rally till the cows come home and list out more reasons for it's woeful failure to draw attention to women's safety, security and status related issues than one can count, however, there is no denying the indubitable fact that the rally was a resounding success to the extent that it did succeed in drawing out around 1,300-1,500 Hyderabadis out of their homes and hearths at a seemingly unearthly hour and did show that a few well meaning Hyderabadis do care about the plight of their women no matter if they are nothing more than a fleck on the horizon.............
Here's hoping that the next such rally is organised in a far more coherent and comprehensive manner and that at least 5,000 or more Hyderabadis turn up whenever the next opportunity of making themselves heard and seen comes their way..........
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