Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a splash on Monday with an announcement. No, he didn't throw any light on the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) which has seen protests running into months across the country. Nor did he rap his party members for spewing hate and ask them to take moral responsibility for the violence in the national capital which has led to multiple deaths.
The PM told the country that he was going off social media on Sunday. Everyone was sufficiently excited, and there was much speculation on why he had made such a call. The theories ranged from Modi being upset over online hate (LOL) to him attempting to inspire people to reduce their time spent on social media. But even before the PM made the revelation behind his decision, social media users had figured it out - Sunday was March 8, which is observed world-over as Women's Day. Was the PM going to hand over his social media accounts to women for the day?
Oh so gimmicky, you say? But it turns out, that's exactly the PM's plan. On Sunday, Modi's social media accounts will be handed over to "inspiring" women identified through a social media campaign titled #SheInspiresUs. We're not sure what this is supposed to accomplish or how it will change anything at all for women on the ground, so here's our wish list for what PM Modi could do instead:
1. Unfollow abusive social media accounts: It has been repeatedly brought to the PM's attention that several of the handles followed by him are abusive, communal and misogynistic. These handles spew venom on social media, routinely targeting journalists and celebrities who don't toe the BJP's line. Many of their targets are women and people belonging to other vulnerable groups. If the PM wants to make a difference on social media, he can easily unfollow these abusive handles and take a stance.
2. Bring the Women's Reservation Bill to the Lok Sabha: The Bill to give 33% reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies was passed in the Rajya Sabha on March 9, 2010, but it has never been tabled at the Lok Sabha. The Bill was in the BJP's manifesto for the 2014 elections, but despite winning two successive terms by a thumping majority, the party has not been proactive in taking the Bill forward. This, despite several opposition parties, including the Congress, also pledging their support.
3. Stop giving tickets to men accused of crimes against women: According to reports, the BJP has the maximum number of lawmakers who've been accused of crimes against women. In the horrific Unnao case where a 17-year-old was gangraped in 2017, the party dragged its feet on taking action against the main accused, then MLA Kuldeep Sengar, because he'd been able to increase the percentage of the BJP's votes in the constituency. It was only after massive outrage that the party first suspended him and then expelled him. Kuldeep Sengar also has three murder charges connected to the case against him.
4. Stop communalising women's rights: The BJP has conveniently used women's rights to push for Bills like triple talaq but has adopted a conservative line when it comes to issues like allowing women into the Sabarimala temple. Despite the Supreme Court order permitting women to enter the Sabarimala temple, the right wing did its best to prevent the order from being implemented, including physically assaulting women. Two BJP ministers also attended a rally in support of the Hindu accused in the Kathua case, where an 8-year-old Muslim child was gangraped and murdered in a temple. The BJP parrots 'women's rights' whenever the issue has to do with the Muslim community but falls back on Hindu victimhood to keep the status quo within the Hindu community - both are strategies to keep its polarised votebank happy. When religion is not a factor, the BJP has proven to be a patriarchal party - the most recent example being the Centre's reluctance to allow permanent commission for women officers in the army.
5. Make use of Nirbhaya funds: The Nirbhaya funds were announced in the 2013 Union budget post the brutal gangrape and murder of a young woman in Delhi in 2012. Rs 10,000 crores was to be set aside for the empowerment, safety and security of women and girl children. However, although the BJP made women's safety one of the highlights in its shrill campaign before storming to power in 2014, government data in December 2019 (after the BJP won another term in the Lok Sabha elections) showed that nearly 90% of the funds have not been used. Previously, the Women and Child Development Ministry was only releasing funds but it is now the nodal agency for approving programmes and making recommendations to the Department of Economic Affairs for fund allocations. The Centre has been passing the buck to the states on the under-utilisation but the BJP has not answered why states ruled by it also have a poor record. For instance, Gujarat, the PM's home state, was among the states with least utilisation of the funds.
Just a rhetorical question - will women who dissent with the PM and his party ever be considered inspiring? In the current climate, that takes a lot of guts to do but something tells us those faces won't be beaming out of Modi's social media accounts on Sunday.