The Supreme court recently quashed the law passed by the state government of Maharashtra banning the operation of dance bars. Many hailed this verdict as a great economic boon as it will now bring in more than Rs 3000 Crores (US$ 550 Million) annual revenue to the state and provide jobs to 100,000 bar dancers, and another 90,000 allied jobs.
A question arises. Is this type of economic growth that is going to make us a better society? Would we like to see a daughter or sister in this profession?
Sure we want to reduce material poverty but does it have to be by impoverishing the character and spirit particularly of girls and young people? Bad things happen everywhere but civilized people and the government cannot be party to promoting such things.
True economic progress can only come from social progress, and true social progress can only come when women and families are treated with dignity. The building block of a society is the family. Wherever families are torn apart the fabric of society is greatly damaged and communities and even nations become dysfunctional.
Men may make houses, but women make homes. A house is just a cold lifeless structure and a home is a place filled with hope, joy, dignity and courage. The soul of our society is embedded in our womenfolk.
What will be the fate of those children that come home to a no parent or single parent home? What sort of a mother or wife will a woman make who has been reduced to a thing and that too an undignified one?
It is said God has distributed his work to mothers. Generally wherever people have excelled there is inevitably the influence of a woman.
Traditional Indian teachings lay great emphasis on love and respect of women. It was taught that "The Gods dwell where the womenfolk are happy".
There is hope that wise and noble people in society will raise our consciousness and pave the way for justice for the weak and exploited in our society as can be seen from the example of an Indonesian judge.
An Indonesian judge by the name of Marzuki was sitting in judgment of an old lady who pleaded guilty of stealing some tapioca from a plantation. In her defense she admitted to the judge that she was indeed guilty of the crime because she was poor. and her son was sick while her grandchild was hungry.
The plantation manager insisted that she be punished as a deterrent to others.
The judge going through the facts and the documents then looked up and said to the old lady, "I'm sorry but I cannot make any exception to the law and you must be punished" The old lady was fined Rp 1 million (US$ 100) and was informed that if she could not pay the fine then she would be jailed for two and a half years as demanded by the law.
The old lady broke down and wept as she could not pay the fine.
The judge then took off his hat and put in Rp. 1 million and said "In the name of justice, I fine all who are present in this court Rp. 50,000 (US$ 5.50) each as dwellers of this city who have let a child starve until her grandmother has to steal to feed her grandchild. The registrar will now collect the fines from all present."
The court managed to collect Rp 3.5 million (US$ 350) including the fine collected from the plantation manager. After paying the fine the balance money was handed over to the old lady.
A question arises. Is this type of economic growth that is going to make us a better society? Would we like to see a daughter or sister in this profession?
Sure we want to reduce material poverty but does it have to be by impoverishing the character and spirit particularly of girls and young people? Bad things happen everywhere but civilized people and the government cannot be party to promoting such things.
Men may make houses, but women make homes. A house is just a cold lifeless structure and a home is a place filled with hope, joy, dignity and courage. The soul of our society is embedded in our womenfolk.
Women should work and pursue careers only out of choice and not out of necessity. Necessity often leads to exploitation and misery of the weak.
What will be the fate of those children that come home to a no parent or single parent home? What sort of a mother or wife will a woman make who has been reduced to a thing and that too an undignified one?
It is said God has distributed his work to mothers. Generally wherever people have excelled there is inevitably the influence of a woman.
Traditional Indian teachings lay great emphasis on love and respect of women. It was taught that "The Gods dwell where the womenfolk are happy".
There is hope that wise and noble people in society will raise our consciousness and pave the way for justice for the weak and exploited in our society as can be seen from the example of an Indonesian judge.
An Indonesian judge by the name of Marzuki was sitting in judgment of an old lady who pleaded guilty of stealing some tapioca from a plantation. In her defense she admitted to the judge that she was indeed guilty of the crime because she was poor. and her son was sick while her grandchild was hungry.
The plantation manager insisted that she be punished as a deterrent to others.
The judge going through the facts and the documents then looked up and said to the old lady, "I'm sorry but I cannot make any exception to the law and you must be punished" The old lady was fined Rp 1 million (US$ 100) and was informed that if she could not pay the fine then she would be jailed for two and a half years as demanded by the law.
The old lady broke down and wept as she could not pay the fine.
The judge then took off his hat and put in Rp. 1 million and said "In the name of justice, I fine all who are present in this court Rp. 50,000 (US$ 5.50) each as dwellers of this city who have let a child starve until her grandmother has to steal to feed her grandchild. The registrar will now collect the fines from all present."
The court managed to collect Rp 3.5 million (US$ 350) including the fine collected from the plantation manager. After paying the fine the balance money was handed over to the old lady.
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