The year 2020 has been termed a year of tragedies and errors! From Coronavirus Pandemic to Locust Attacks, Earthquakes, Cyclones, War-like Situations, and the demise of many noted personalities. This year halfway through already has had its fair share of ups and downs. June 2020 also saw the sad demise of actor Sushant Singh Rajput who passed away under mysterious circumstances in his Mumbai apartment. While everyone is eagerly waiting for justice to be served to him, social media is on a hate-campaign against Bengali women claiming them to be possessing mystical powers.
Image Source: https://www.facebook.com/SushantSinghRajput
This sounds ridiculous when coming from the generation of the millennials! With so many controversies doing the rounds around the death of SSR, this troll against Bengali women just makes matters worst if not better. Bengali Women too loved SSR and want the culprit behind the bars.
Why, because one Bengali girl from the tinsel town whom Sushant allegedly loved obtained his money illegally? Does it mean all Bengali women are the same? Grow up Netizens! ‘Jaadu-Tona’ at the age of ‘Mangal Yaan’ feels a little absurd. Doesn’t it?
Understanding the grim charges against Rhea Chakroborty and waiting for the truth to come out is one thing. But agreeing to the fact that Rhea did perform some black magic on the late actor is sheer stupidity. And accusing an entire region and community of women to be witches. That is the heights of callousness.
Image Credit: https://www.facebook.com/HerMountainMagick
Hurling abuses like calling Bengali women, “gold-diggers”, “manipulative”, “dominating”, and “Sorcerers” kept doing the rounds. Appealing men to stay safe as Bengali women knew how to catch big fish and good looking highly-paid guys was a post put up by a woman on Twitter. The irony in our country, however, is that women have been always asked to stay safe from abusers, harassers, molesters, and rapists.
From nepotism to speculating about who killed SSR, to focusing on the ruin of SSR by his Gold-digger, and manipulative girlfriend took to the stands. We constantly talk about the rising crime against women and how women need to be strong and empowered. Suddenly strong isn’t good at all as strong leads to the ruination of men and breaking up of families!
This absurd debate that broke loose on the internet was pointless, shameful, and laughable. The generalization of all Bengali Women as Witches was sad, regional, racist, and misogynistic. But this isn’t anything new.
I am a Bengali Woman and I remember an office colleague stated to me over a decade back that, “You hail from the land of Kali Mata & Kala-Jadoo, Tantra-Mantra!”. I almost fell off from my chair laughing.
Stereotyping women with provocative labels which are deeply ingrained with patriarchy. Their liberal-living and strong, free-will considered undesirable and gender-based discrimination on the basis that a right woman can build families and a wrong one can break families is of grave concern.
Yes, Bengali women are famed to be intelligent, culturally inclined, beautiful with great skin and hair, of having great culinary skills, and political opinion. Bengali women have charming personalities in general. They are well-educated, independent, confident, liberal, strong-willed and this has nothing to do with moral values. The possession of such qualities makes a woman more liberated and enlightened and not questionable.
Bengali women are revolutionaries backed up with their rich culture from a time when the revolution was a concept alien for women and men alike. Access to education for Bengali women happened way before it happened for other women from the other parts of our country. This was enough to threaten the notion of patriarchy which is why such false allegations against Bengali women come into picture in the first place.
A combination of beauty with brains is always more attractive for any woman. Bengali women are born and brought up to be empowered, educated, and assertive, which is enough to make them excel at work, at relationships, or anywhere. They do not need black magic for that.
This witch-crafting, hypnotizing image of Bengali Women or Women hailing especially from Eastern India is very biased and untrue. This notion was created by patriarchal people and male-dominant society to bring down opinionated women and to have them mend their ways or face consequences.
To be honest this discrimination is against Independent women in general. Everything and anything that happens is always linked to a woman. Pinning the blame on women is a habit and practice for ages in our society. Not to forget the cuss words that males so proudly spit out are also at the end sexist and misogynistic.
Bengali women are anything but witches! Spare them this drama. Stop this gender shaming once and for all! If we do not correct our mentality against these practices now, there will be a new lot of controversial abuses created for independent women in our country. Don’t we all need a better place for our daughters? Be it any community, women should be taught to be independent and brought up equally as men. Let equality and good sense prevail.
