Feminism is out, realism is in

The great Indian feminism circus has run its full circle, or so it appears.

It was a strange scenario.

At a recent seminar held to highlight the problems faced by women in performing their duties in the police and paramilitary forces, while the senior officers on the dais appeared genuinely concerned, if not condescending, towards their problems, almost every single woman from the Police, BSF and Forensic Science Department among the audience was saying, “Thanks, but no thanks.”

This was not a sarcastic response but was said with full sincerity and a sort of apprehension among these women about the fallout of all the concessions and talk of reservations for women.

It takes me back to a similar programme I had attended about five years ago, where the theme was almost the same — why is the percentage of women joining the police force not going beyond 12-13 per cent despite a target of 33 per cent set by successive Governments?

The seminar, organised by the Indian Police Foundation this Tuesday at the India International Centre on “Presence of Women Workforce in Police Organisations at Subordinate Ranks in India”, had eminent IAS officers like GK Pillai, former Home Secretary; Amod K Kanth, former DG and Founder and Mentor of NGO Prayas; SP Singh, Treasurer of the India Police Foundation; and Nuzhat Hassan, former DG Home Guards, among others.

While in the earlier programme, women police officers at the highest level were highlighting their problems, especially the lack of women’s toilets and changing rooms and punishing working hours, this time, in the year 2026, the women flinched every time the speakers on the dais spoke about the new concessions to provide a level playing field to women generally and, more specifically, those in police organisations. Setting the tone, Pillai mentioned the example of Kiran Bedi, his batchmate in 1972, who was offered direct entry into the IAS by the UPSC Board but refused to take any favours.

She said she would join the IPS and take issues such as the lack of women’s toilets in her stride, thus becoming the first woman IPS officer in the country.

But he was happy that today most such issues, like women’s toilets, changing rooms and crèches, which were considered a favour earlier, were now mandatory and compulsory.

He also disclosed that when it was discovered that victims who complained about their bosses or colleagues under POSH were resigning after some time, even when they were proved right, incorporates, the police and even the judiciary, a new order stated that if a victim resigned, the head of HR would also have to resign for not making the atmosphere congenial for her.

Amod K Kanth, with 38 years of experience with Prayas and allied organisations, asserted matter-of-factly that whether women in the police were 13 per cent or 33 per cent, for the social sector, it was the women police personnel who were the mainstream because it was they who handled issues concerning children and women in every part of the country.

But as the women representatives were handed the mike to talk about their challenges and their tales of fighting adversity and patriarchy for more than an hour, especially adjusting their married lives with their night duties, the common refrain was that the more laws favouring women were brought in, the more they felt scared of them boomeranging on them.

For instance, when Pillai disclosed that HR heads would be forced to resign if victims who complained under POSH resigned, there was no wild cheering.

Then, a woman sitting beside me broke the silence and pointed out guardedly that because of such rules, corporates had stopped recruiting women, while many nodded in agreement.

We are also aware of court observations when some women raised the issue of three days’ menstrual leave. A senior supervisor mentioned that when she asked women to join duty with men on the night shift, one of them started crying incessantly that this would destroy her marriage. Finally, she relented, but night shifts were a problem for married women because husbands had this fear that their wives were having an affair.

But the tenor of the speakers was as if they were feeling guilty about complaining, even as they said they had to put in 150 per cent if the men gave their 100 per cent to prove worthy of their salary.

The most interesting fallout of this programme was that while some women felt that even six months of maternity leave was not sufficient for childbirth, some said that the leave facility should also be extended to men, as they had an equal responsibility in bringing up a family.

Either because of the high praise for Kiran Bedi for breaking the glass ceiling in 1972 or through stories of women’s empowerment that are showcased in cinema and on OTT platforms, almost every woman who spoke up at this programme said that after all the concessions to women, it was time to think of men as equals by allowing them more facilities.

“Many male employees feel they are substitutes for women when they go on long maternity leave and have to do double duty. This is creating rivalry and unpleasantness and must be sorted out by the Government for better policing,” said a senior woman officer.

The writer is a veteran journalist and social activist; Views presented are personal.