It was the resounding of brave words that will remain forever entrenched in our memories, as women took to the streets, cutting their hair, removing their hijabs, and screaming “women, life, freedom.” We all felt deeply connected to the death of a girl we never met, called Mahsa Amini. We were outraged by the atrocity.
Indian women will recoil forever at the memory of the early release of Bilkis Bano’s rapists and the video that did the social media rounds of the accused men being garlanded and fed sweets. We felt wronged as it pricked our collective consciousness. Why are they free after murder and sodomy?
In all the chaos, we also celebrated the recognition of transgenders in India and the reservation in government jobs. Anuprabha Das Mazumder won a major battle as she finally got “Transgender”, or TG, stamped on her Aadhaar card, becoming the first person in West Bengal, and probably the country, to get the gender of her choice printed on an important identity document in India. This paved the path towards inclusion of all genders in society. The SC was also quick to recognise girls in live-in relationships who can now lodge complaints of domestic violence and rape, further empowering women to gain a stronger foothold in relationships.
As the USA denied women their rights to abortion, India recognised sex workers and legalised their profession, keeping in mind the above 20 million sex workers in India who can finally be free of harassment and choose to live a life of dignity.
India was shaken up by Shraddha Walkar’s murder case, in which her body was chopped into 36 pieces by her lover. With this incident, many women opened up to one another for the first time, acknowledging how women are victimised if they fail relationships or marriages. Women nodded in agreement as they were shaken up by the inability of a jilted woman to return home if she made an unwise decision in her life or went against society’s norms.
We saw the image of an weeping elderly woman at the rubble of her home in Ukraine, as the Russians invaded Ukraine. Her copious tears soaked our souls. This was the largest armed conflict in Europe since World War II that has caused the displacement of 15.7 million Ukrainians. This led to international condemnation and sanctions, nuclear threats, the withdrawal of companies from Russia, and the exclusion of Russia from all the major sporting events.
To our utter horror, Russia distributed free viagra to its soldiers to rape and impregnate Ukrainian women. Again, political agendas were to be avenged by dishonouring women. Many of us mourned the death of Queen Elizabeth II as Charles III has been officially declared the King of the United Kingdom and of the Commonwealth realms. His consort, Camilla Parker, was accepted as the Queen. In July, Droupadi Murmu gave her speech, as she became the first tribal woman to become the President of India.
In 2022, we also mourned the death of India’s nightingale, Lata Mangeshkar. She left a gaping hole in the world of music. Today, Iran still continues to usher in the New Year with more protesters being hanged and killed for asking for basic, fundamental rights for women. Finally, after two grueling years, masks are no longer mandatory, as we have left behind the pandemic deaths and the ostracism of a sneeze in public places.
Mohua Chinappa is an author and a podcaster of a show called The Mohua Show.
