The growing number of crimes against women has made the country's environment worrisome for parents. Most of us who have daughters feel insecure about them and are practically always on our toes when they are outside the house.
But we are not alone.
It's not just regular folks like you and I who are feeling the heat of such crimes, but also celebrities. And the biggest name who came out in support of women safety was none other than Aishwarya Rai Bachchan's mother-in-law, Jaya Bachchan.
Bachchan responded strongly to a controversial statement that was made by a Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) youth worker. In a short video he declared a bounty of Rs 11 lakh for anybody who would bring him "West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's head!"
Jaya Bachchan's strong message on woman safety
The actress and Samajwadi Party Member of Parliament responded by reminding everybody of how even she is feeling the heat of women safety. She even called out to the government on their desire to protect cows more than their desire to protect women in the country.
"You can protect cows, but women are facing atrocities," she reportedly said during a session in the Rajya Sabha.
The mother of two and grandmother of three also added, "How dare anybody talk like this, especially about women? Is this the way you are going to be protecting the women of this country? Women are feeling insecure...is this what you are promoting?"
Bachcahn who herself is surrounded by women in her house, be it her daughter Shweta, her bahu Aishwarya or granddaughters Navya Naveli and Aaradhya; knows that most women in India feel extremely unsafe and all they really need is a safe environment.
This is not the first time Jaya Bachchan has taken a strong stand in support of the dignity of women in the society and their safety. Just three years back, she stood up for her bahu and called out reporters for addressing her disgracefully.
Jaya gets angry at reporters for calling out Aishwarya
For the uninitiated, the incident occurred in 2013 when the saas-bahu duo stepped out to attend an event. All was well, till the reporters started calling Aishwarya by her first name and addressing her as though they were all her fast friends.
This upset Jaya, who quickly came to support bahu Aishwarya and reprimanded the photojournalists.
"Kya Aishwarya Aishwarya bula rahe ho, tumhare class mein padhti thi kya? (Why are you calling her Aishwarya? Was she your classmate?)," she asked them.
Clearly, she is not only a doting mother who is often seen by her daughter's side, but she is also a respectful and supportive mum-in-law, as one should be. Either way, Jaya Bachchan has worded a strong message for Indian men on women safety and it is one issue that we must all work towards.
But how do we begin? Well, perhaps from our own homes.
3 lessons we need to teach our boys
A woman's safety is not only her own problem but also of the society that is forcing her to take drastic measures to ensure it. But if we truly want to change these ways, we must begin by teaching out boys some valuable life lessons.
- Empower yourself with progressive thoughts: We must also teach our sons to not discriminate against anybody based on caste, creed, sex or religion and not in the constitutional sense. Lead by example and explain why we must respect everybody's life choices.
- Uplift other women: This is an important life-lessons we must teach our kids. As opposed to taking criticism by the same gender as negative, we must take it as constructive feedback and work to better ourselves.
- Respect women and treat them equally: We must teach your boys about equality as well as the importance of space and dignity of every individual, more so girls. This begins from home, therefore, always lead by example and save your boys from falling over to the wrong side of the law.
Read: Bengaluru's shame: Why we must teach our boys to respect women from early on
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[All images courtesy: Instagram]
