The history of Indian civilization dates back to the pre-historic age, enough to outshine even the Indus Valley Civilization both in dimension and content, and without a shred of doubt, Indian women have been occupying a special position in the realm of society ever since then. This conviction may amaze a lot of people, especially those who are acquainted with facts stating the miserable conditions of Indian women at different junctures of history. Little do these people know that the majority of pertinent works happens to be brainchildren of scholars and historians adhering to Leftist schools only. Hence, each and every deduction is not accurate. Either these have been done inadvertently or owing to villainous intentions. Well, there is no doubt, in spite of the lofty positions enjoyed by Indian women in ancient India or early Vedic period, a sharp decline was witnessed with the introduction of Smritis in the later Vedic period. And with the introduction of and following of 1 millennium-old reign of Islamic rule, the situation reached the nadir. Even if it was hoped that British India would lead to the emancipation of women, barring a few instances, the overall picture of Indian women remained almost akin to the preceding decades. On account of all these, there was a strong expectation that independent India would break down shackles finally. What is the current situation then? a brief analysis of post-independence India would make the subject clearer. The first decade (following the national independence from British crown) was nothing but a honeymoon on the part of state, a period when lofty aspirations to make the country nobler than the past ruled the political circles, governance and even the populace. There was indeed a notable development in 1950s. Constitution of India did come to fore officially on the 26th January 1950, and on account of this, India turned out to be a sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic republic. As the Indian democracy started to get matured, newer issues and certainly complications started to crop up. Issues ranging from clashes religion, languages and also ethnicity began to raise their ugly heads, quite enough to make India uncertain to a certain extent. Laws of historical significance akin to States Reorganization Act of 1956 (advised by the States Reorganization Commission) were passed during this decade. Nevertheless, the condition of women has failed to depict any major, decisive or exponential development. The following decades of 60s and 70s have to be regarded as perhaps the most tumultuous times in Indian democracy yet. While on one hand, the Indian democracy was challenged by onslaughts of Naxalite movements and anti-emergency movements, on the other hand, successive weaknesses in the authority proved to be India’s vulnerability to aggressive designs of other countries. Most notable developments in the following decades included Operation BlueStar, murder of Indira Gandhi and proclamation of financial reforms. Well, destruction of Babri Mosque (proved the Saffron challenge for the first time) and BJP’s formation of power at the center in the meanwhile are also notable developments. But the post independent India has equally failed to develop position of India women, languishing under the burdens of foeticide, illiteracy and malnutrition, if not more. The same can also be said of India's Infrastructure and Indian job sector – having lots of rooms for development. Is India in post-independence era developed?
the core point in this issue is that it is very rightly said that there are two Indias which co-exist in our one India...and that is India and Hindustan. while the former is dominated by the hi-tech and educated masses, the latter is still hanging on the ropes of social evils and financial backwardness...and the saddening part is that the heart of india still lies in the hindustan...so there is a long way 2 go...but we are going pretty fast !!!
