Former President Pranab Mukherjee Championed Women’s Rights And Empowerment Every Step Of The Way
Death, as told to us by many an elder, is the only thing that’s promised. It is a part and parcel of life, that makes life worth living and no matter how much philosophy we add to the concept, there are still times when it becomes all too hard to grasp.Yesterday, we bore witness to the passing away one of our most dignified politicians and the former President of India, Pranab Mukherjee. A man who most of us will remember for his unmatched legacy and a relatively untarnished record in office.
Taking his last breath on Monday, at the Army’s Research & Referral (R&R) hospital in New Delhi, Mukherjee was admitted to the hospital on August 10 and had undergone an operation for a clot found in his brain. Meanwhile, he had also found positive on Coronavirus. The politician, who was one of the very few celebrated ones from the Indian spectrum of politics, was in a coma and being sustained on a ventilator until yesterday when he passed away.
The news came to us through his son, Abhijit Mukherjee, who on his Twitter handle, shared, “With a Heavy Heart , this is to inform you that my father Shri #PranabMukherjee has just passed away inspite of the best efforts of Doctors of RR Hospital & prayers ,duas & prarthanas from people throughout India ! I thank all of You.”
And while there were many aspects to our former President, one that had us particularly interested was his vociferous championing of women’s rights. He was one of the few people who acknowledged that women in India didn’t particularly have it easy and that we simply aren’t doing enough to fix it.
With a Heavy Heart , this is to inform you that my father Shri #PranabMukherjee has just passed away inspite of the best efforts of Doctors of RR Hospital & prayers ,duas & prarthanas from people throughout India !
I thank all of You 🙏— Abhijit Mukherjee (@ABHIJIT_LS) August 31, 2020
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On International Women’s day back in 2015, he talked about the steps we would need to take to make sure the women of this country aren’t failed no more. He said, “The International Women’s Day is an opportunity for us to renew our commitment to the security and welfare of women. Despite numerous legislations enacted to safeguard women, there is much that still remains to be done. Legislation alone cannot emancipate our women.” And this coming from our own President was the kind of leadership and views we needed to lead us to a better future.
The next year, in 2016, he urged that, “We have a collective responsibility to create an ecosystem that ensures the safety, security and dignity of women in society,” and we couldn’t agree more. He also shared how the country’s entire population needed to strive to enable the women to realise their full potential and participate meaningfully in all aspects of our country’s development.
It was also in this year that he, as the President of India, said that “…the government will allow women to serve in all fighter streams. “In the future, my government will induct women in all fighter streams of our armed forces.”
At one point, he remarkably noted that “It’s really a dichotomy in our society where we call women as a source of power, embodiment of motherhood. We worship women as deities. Our core civilisational values tell us to respect a woman.But unfortunately, we are really disturbed when day-in and day-out we are confronted by news of brutalising of women. Sometimes we wonder. Today we are called as civilised society. Can any society be described as civilised if it doesn’t honour its women?” Mukherjee asked.
India grieves the passing away of Bharat Ratna Shri Pranab Mukherjee. He has left an indelible mark on the development trajectory of our nation. A scholar par excellence, a towering statesman, he was admired across the political spectrum and by all sections of society. pic.twitter.com/gz6rwQbxi6
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) August 31, 2020
With great sadness, the nation receives the news of the unfortunate demise of our former President Shri Pranab Mukherjee.
I join the country in paying homage to him.
My deepest condolences to the bereaved family and friends. pic.twitter.com/zyouvsmb3V
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) August 31, 2020
It is with deep sorrow I write this. Bharat Ratna Pranab Mukherjee has left us. An era has ended. For decades he was a father figure. From my first win as MP, to being my senior Cabinet colleague, to his becoming President while I was CM…(1/2)
— Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) August 31, 2020
He was the man who advocated for about 33 per cent reservation for women in elected bodies saying it was a “sad commentary” that so far the country has not been able to achieve over 12 per cent representation for women in Parliament’s total membership. And perhaps it is because of these things, these realisations and efforts to bring women to equal power, that the news of his death has hit us harder.
We seldom come across politicians, who rather that promoting their own personal agenda choose to talk about what the country and its citizens really need, and Pranab Mukherjee was that person, who not only held up a mirror to our political system but never shied away from challenging it to make it better. R.I.P Pranab Mukherjee. You were the visionary we women needed.
