Gendered face of India’s rights crisis

True gender equality demands more than laws, it requires changing mindsets across schools, institutions, and homes to include women’s voices in shaping India’s future.

- HARSHITA GUPTA AND UTKARSH YADAV

Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights declares that “all humans are born free and equal.” This was not the original phrasing. The initial draft read “all men,” and it was only through the efforts of Hansa Mehta that the wording was made gender-inclusive. Mehta, along with fifteen other women, later played a pivotal role in shaping India’s Constitution to lay the foundation of an egalitarian society.

The Preamble to the Constitution embodies the cherished values of our founding fathers and mothers. Former Chief Justice RC Lahoti called it a solemn promise made by the people to themselves. This promise inspired women-led protests against the CAA-NRC in 2019, where public readings of the Preamble became acts of Constitutional assertion. Yet, recent incidents compel us to ask whether we have remained faithful to this pledge.

A TALE OF TWO INCIDENTS: SECULARISM AND EQUALITY AT CROSSROADS