The first day of the ongoing, prolonged general elections dominated by personalities and characterised by personalised invectives brought some relief in the form of a quiet, meaningful gender-focussed report from Bhiwani (Haryana) by Mayank Aggarwal. The story, published in DNA (Bangalore)on 7 April 2014, was remarkably well- researched and wide-ranging. Not only did it highlight the paucity of female candidates in the fray, with no political party showing any seriousness about an issue many of them pay lip service to, but it pointed out that gender issues barely figure in the political discourse in a state with an abysmal record on many indicators of women’s status. The report also stands out for including the perspectives of women voters: it actually leads with a telling quote from one of them.
In the land of khaps, women remain ignored
Ammu Joseph
