A
few days back
two girls were
standing in one
of the posh areas of
Mumbai. For those who
don’t know south
Mumbai is almost
like New York..it’s
hip and happening
and most of
the country follows
its lead.
So, these
two girls were
standing on the
Street and smoking
cigarettes. By the way this
case happened before
the law to
ban smoking in
public places was
put in place. So
here were 2
girls smoking and
chit chatting during
their office break.
Suddenly an entire
mod of 100
people landed on
them and dragged
them to the
police station. Well, the
police which is
usually much reluctant
to register complaints
about anything because
it shows their
policing in poor
light…..immediately registered the
complain.
The complain? Girls are
smoking and it
will give wrong
message to the
youth. The girls were
immediately taken into
custody and were
not let out
till the next
day!
And
this
is not an
isolated case. During a
case in the higher court almost everyone
including a judge
made a comment
against a female lawyer
who was defending
a victim of
molestation…that since both
the women smoke it
does put a
question mark on their character!
Well,
the question here
is not whether
smoking is good
or bad…everyone know
it is bad
for health and
etc…
The question
here is does
a girl have
the right to
smoke? Just like
men or no.
Now,
tobacco consumption is
as old as
mankind…In india women
chew tobacco and
smoke cigars (chirut) and
beddi (cigarette ) even in
the remote villages…trust me
on this because I have worked
with many villagers. They even
use opium to
deal with a hard
days of work. So
smoking should not
be a worry…..right ? then why?
Then why are
mega cities like
Mumbai so intolerant
to women smoking?
Because
when
women use tobacco
in the villages
they do so sitting in a corner and
they
do not forget
their place in
society where as
when a woman
smokes a cigarette standing
like a man
right on a
busy street of Mumbai she is sending
a message to the world
: I am
no less than a man.
And
that
my friends shakes
the balance of
the unequal equation…and
it is men losing their
power , their control…their right
to treat women
as their property.
A
few
days back an
entire mob of
fifty men descended
on a Banglore
pub and dragged
women out …some even
got slapped as a bonus, why?
Because they were
having beer with their friends!
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