Attitude of society towards women is sometimes not mature, needs to change, says Murmu

Mumbai: President Droupadi Murmu said on Tuesday that society’s attitude towards women is sometimes not mature and needed to change, while also emphasising that the nation’s progress cannot be fully realised without the socio-economic and educational development of women.
Speaking at the centenary celebrations of the Maharashtra legislative council at Vidhan Bhavan in Mumbai, Murmu said everyone should take care of women’s concerns so that the atmosphere for them in society is transformed by the country’s centenary year in 2047.
Murmu said that if society takes responsibility for changing the environment for women, India, known as the mother of democracy, would become a safe haven for girls and women. “Every girl child who sits in her mother’s lap feels safe and is assured to be safe from evil eyes in society. The change in attitude and mindset will help us get freedom from such malice. It is the responsibility of all of us to inculcate the same responsibility within each one of us,” she said.
Noting that women constitute half of India’s population, Murmu said the growth of the country is not possible without the financial, social, and educational growth of women. “ The women will achieve their own prosperity and leap high in the sky once they are given the support and a conducive atmosphere,” she said.
The comments were made in the backdrop of widespread outrage over the rape and murder of a junior doctor at a government hospital in Kolkata and the sexual abuse of two minor girls at a school in Badlapur last month.
The president said it is time for India to wake up to the “perversion” of crimes against women and counter the mindset that sees women as “less powerful, less capable, less intelligent”. She hailed the contributions of Veermata Jijabai, the mother of Maratha warrior king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, and social reformer Savitribai Phule.
At the Vidhan Bhavan function, the president also felicitated 53 lawmakers for their performance and speeches in the state legislature houses in the last five years. Maharashtra governor CP Radhakrishnan, chief minister Eknath Shinde, deputy chief ministers Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar, legislative assembly speaker Rahul Narwekar, and council chairman Neelam Gorhe, among others, were present at the function.
Murmu also referred to poems by noted Marathi poets Shripad Krishna Kolhatkar and Raja Bade, much to the delight of the legislators and dignitaries. She said that the Rajya Sabha and legislative council were seen as the houses of elders, but even young lawmakers have been entering in the last few years and contributing to nation building. She added that it is a matter of pride that Maharashtra’s legislative council had the likes of BR Ambedkar, Lokmany Tilak, and Gopal Krishna Gokhale as its members.
All the speakers at the function, including Murmu, Radhakrishnan and Shinde also raised slogans in praise of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, days after the collapse of the 17th-century ruler’s statue in Malvan snowballed into a major political controversy. Governor Radhakrishnan said, “Like other Indians, even I was pained when the statue of Shivaji Maharaj fell. The statue has collapsed but Shivaji Maharaj is in the hearts of every Indian. Maharashtra is known in the entire country because of Shivaji Maharaj.”
Radhakrishnan also praised the political culture of Maharashtra by narrating an incident of senior BJP leader Gopinath Munde taking leaders from all parties to visit former chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh from the Congress, who was admitted in a hospital in Chennai.
“Maharashtra is known for its social and political amity. The differences on party policies and programmes never hindered personal relationships. This is the reason that legislators from other parts of the country look up to Maharashtra to draw inspiration and to seek guidance,” he said.