‘One Billion Rising’ campaign of Anushka Shankar heralds change

Anil Narendra 

I was pained and equally angered, when I received an e-mail from Anushka Shankar, daughter of late virtuoso Bharat Ratna Pt. Ravi Shankar, saying that she had been subjected to sexual exploitation. Anushka’s message was loud and clear - enough is enough. She asked me to lend support to the ‘One Billion Rising’ campaign, which I immediately gave. She told that a person, whom her parents trusted implicitly, subjected her to sexual and emotional abuse for years. According to her, she had also been the victim of various forms of sexual harassments like groping, touching, verbal abuse and other things, while growing like other women. She said that being a child, she didn’t know how to deal with such exploitation. Perhaps, not even this 31-year old Sitar player expected that her on-line initiative ‘One Billion Rising’ would be such a tremendous success that she had launched after the gang rape episode. Once again, women of Delhi, in a very large numbers, took to streets on Thursday to voice their support to the ‘One Billion Rising’ campaign against increasing atrocities and violence against women and their sexual harassment. Women, this time, were demonstrating with pink bands on their foreheads which carried the message – ‘Enough, no more violence against women’. Those who put blames for violence against women on mini dresses should have watched women in saris and kurta-pyjamas and suit-salwars, mini-skirts shouting slogans on the streets and demanding a change in the male mindset. They also wanted to say that irrespective of the type of clothes women wear,  they are subjected to sexual harassment. ‘The One Billion Rising’ campaign is an annual affair, but this year, it was witnessed in its true colours. Almost 70 organizations including Sangat and Nagori participated in this campaign organized at South Asian level. In Delhi, preparations for the campaign were continuing for last six months. It was organized in 200 countries simultaneously. More than 10,000 people and 13,000 organisations worked hard to make it a success throughout the country. The musical start of the campaign kicked off with passionate slogans and songs like ‘Awake, Delhi awake’, ‘Stop, it’s enough’, ‘No more violence against women’, ‘free life our right’, and the faces participating in the campaign might be strangers to each others, but their efforts and demands were same. Through this campaign, they wanted to convey to the world that women have the right to live a violence-free life with equality. Organized on the occasion of Valentine Day, this campaign was not carried out as a protest demonstration only, but it was a celebration of unity and integrity of people who had gathered with the spirit of rights and security of women all over the world. Anushka is the daughter of world famous Sitar Player late Pt Ravi Shankar. Her revelations throw lights on some very important psychological aspects. Pt Ravi Shankar was not a member of any poor uneducated and joint family. Her daughter was being brought up in a prosperous and respected family that was very often shuttling between India and other foreign countries. But this revelation by Anushka clearly shows that the issue of sexual exploitation of girl child is not limited to any specific society or environ, but it is also prevalent among the so-called high society. The second aspect of this revelation contradicts the general notion that people connected with art and culture are free from the metal disorders such as violence, crimes and exploitation. Anushka withheld the identity of the reliable person subjecting her to sexual exploitation for which she deserves kudos. Only a handful of persons, who have reached at the celebrity level, dare present their stories of their exploitations with such boldness before the society. We hope that other women who had undergone such experiences in their lives would be inspired from the boldness shown by Anushka and come forward with their stories of exploitations. It’s our duty to support Anushka’s campaign and raise our voice against the increasing violence and atrocities against women. But it is sad that after all such efforts, Delhi is not a safe city for women and I am not alone in saying this. Even Delhi Chief Minister had written to the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and the Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde that the law and order situation in  Delhi, especially safety of women, is not satisfactory.