Women should empower themselves: Kiran Bedi

August 31, 2012 10:53 am | Updated November 17, 2021 05:11 am IST - COIMBATORE

Students of Shri Nehru Maha Vidylaya College of Arts and Science greeting former Indian Police Service Officer Kiran Bedi at the inauguration of Women Empowerment Cell of the college in Coimbatore on Thursday. Photo: S.Siva Saravanan

Students of Shri Nehru Maha Vidylaya College of Arts and Science greeting former Indian Police Service Officer Kiran Bedi at the inauguration of Women Empowerment Cell of the college in Coimbatore on Thursday. Photo: S.Siva Saravanan

“Mobility and physical fitness when coupled with financial independence will help women empower themselves. This when combined with the innate feminine qualities will help women outperform their male counterparts,” said former IPS officer Kiran Bedi here on Wednesday.

Addressing students at the inaugural function of Women Empowerment Cell of Shri Nehru Maha Vidyalaya, Ms. Bedi said that restrictions on mobility and lack of physical activities made women weaker and dependent.

“Mobility will help women explore the world and expand their horizons of knowledge while financial dependence will embolden them to take decisions on their own. Girls should also learn self-defence to protect themselves,” she said. “Motherhood should be a choice and women should have the right to decide whether she wanted to have a child and when. Being a mother brings in drastic changes in the life of a woman and she should plan it ahead,” Ms. Bedi said. She urged the students to take up community service projects which would lead to social empowerment. She asked the students to discourage their parents from giving dowry. Instead of treating marriage like a transaction, if parents deposited this money in fixed accounts it could form financial security to their daughter, she said.

In the interactive session that followed, Ms. Bedi said women should lead the fight for justice in society. “Engaging with social issues and understanding the injustice should make us angry. This anger should be channelled into positive action.”

She called the students to join the non-violent struggle for a corruption-free country.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.