“Ramification | When Manipuri women taught Victorian West real feminism”, First Post, March 11, 2024:

“Across the world, on March 8, it has become mandatory to celebrate women’s contribution to the world and their fight for equal rights. A few female icons that students of history and Indian civilisation have been kind enough to refer to in the context of India’s natural predilection towards gender equality are highlighted on this day every year.

Stories of Jhansi ki Rani, the warrior queen who took on the mighty British with her child prince strapped on her back, or Gargi Vachaknavi, the philosopher-sage, are all, and rightly so, held as examples of emancipated women in India’s history long before the Western world thought it prudent to begin a discussion on gender equality.

However, as noble a cause as it is, in an India that is slowly reclaiming its pride in its history, we must ask ourselves if our parameters for “emancipated women” are the same as they are for the west. On one hand, we argue that Indian women have always held a place of pride having been given equal status in our civilisation, but on the other hand, there is a constant effort to “match up” and persistently be on the defensive in an effort to articulate how liberal Indian society has been vis-à-vis the west…..”