Haryana is a state with myriad dichotomies. It has the most skewed sex rations of all Indian states and it also has the contentious Beti Bachao Beti Padhao and Selfie with Daughter campaigns to hammer the importance of educating the girl child. Haryana is also a state that has produced the best woman wrestlers in India, a sport that has long been dominated by the men of the country. The agrarian state was firmly put on to the world map with the film Dangal that told the story of sisters Geeta and Babita Phogat who fought patriarchy to win golds at the Commonwealth Games.
With so much going on, a photo caption in a Haryana government magazine described the ‘Ghoonghat’ or the veil that covers the women’s face to be the ‘identity of the state’. It read “Ghunghat Ki Aan Baan Mhare Haryana Ki Pehchaan”. During the screening of Khatron Ke Khiladi 8 at the Sunny Super Sound studio in Mumbai, in a candid conversation with Tellychakkar, Geeta disclosed that she resented the Haryana magazine photo with the caption. She confessed that she was appalled when she saw the magazine photo. The Commonwealth gold awardee further asserted that she thought she had changed the mindset of the people in her state after she won the accolades.
Her victory was celebrated the world over. There were praises and adulations that were being showered on her from all corners. “People started reflecting on these issues and it had been ingrained that finally a change has been brought about, we thought we were able to teach a thing or two to people and now once again, the same patriarchal mentality is being heralded”, she quipped almost scorning her spirit.
“We have toiled really hard to get to where we are today and it is unfair to stick a statement and belittle all our achievements”, further retorted Geeta.
We feel that it is not just your achievements that are belittled; somewhere the entire womenfolk of our country are deprecated. It is the almost indelible patriarchal mindset to be blamed that oscillates between an evanescent acceptance of an achievement of a woman and her undying spirit and the rebound to the same age-old regressive custom of purdah and the societal proprietorship of women’s bodies.
But things are steadily reshaping, all we can do is keep our fingers crossed and hope for the best!
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