Generally speaking, a girl in the patriarchal system in India is seen as Paraya Dhan (somebody else's property), since she would eventually get married and be given over to her future husband's family. This view is not held exclusively by orthodox Hindu families, but also by families across religious communities, shaped by the larger Indian society.

This traditional view of a girl as a burden has not changed much, despite modern education, even among well-educated working women, just as well-educated, well-off men also do not necessarily consider women as equal partners in life. Girls are, by and large, discriminated against throughout regarding their upbringing, education, choice of schools and colleges, and marriage. Married couples, barring some enlightened souls who believe in gender equality, prefer boys to girls. And marriage becomes a one-way process of a woman surrendering her independence to cater to the male ego and succumbing to family pressure.

After marriage, working women largely face a double whammy: managing both the job and the home, with husbands and in-laws offering no help with household chores, and they do not enjoy economic independence even after earning. It would be unfair for a married working woman to do all the household chores. Patriarchal male chauvinism should have no place in the modern institution of marriage based on equality of the sexes. For that matter, marriage is not essential for successful and happy living. Marriage is empty without mutual respect and dignity.

At a time when Gen Z aspires to be independent and lead a more purposeful and meaningful life, the speech of Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, at his programme Chhatron Ki Goonj (echo of students) on August 22, 2026, in Pune – a cultural and educational hub of the progressive State of Maharashtra – is historically significant in two ways. First, the gathering of exclusively girls and women brings, for the first time, the issues of women's empowerment and gender equality into the centre stage of public discourse. Second, it came from the leader of a national party that has a long tradition of addressing women's issues during the freedom struggle and after independence.

The central theme of his interaction with the girls is women's independence and the different forms of control they face in everyday life. He described India's 70 crore women as the country's 'biggest strength.' They represented 70 crore unique journeys, imaginations, and dreams. He wanted to listen to the problems faced by the girls attending the gathering.

In a way, Rahul Gandhi has resonated with the tradition of Raja Ram Mohan Roy, the Phule couple, Gandhi and Nehru of liberating women from the stranglehold of a male-dominated society. And only a leader with modern education and a liberal mind, rising above the primitive loyalties of caste, religion, gender, and linguistic and regional prejudices, could speak the way he did. No other leader in the Opposition ranks or in the ruling party is a match for his sophisticated articulation of women's problems. After all, he had grown up in the family that produced powerful women – his grandmother Indira Gandhi, mother Sonia Gandhi and sister Priyanka – linked to the destiny of India.

The event, viewed in 100 cities across the country, was a resounding success, with thousands of girls and women turning up, despite the curfew and 30 conditions the police imposed on the organisers. The BJP government of Devendra Fadnavis left no stone unturned to sabotage the event, scared of Rahul Gandhi's growing acceptance and rising connectivity and popularity among Gen Z. The girls and women roared and danced as he addressed the mammoth gathering. The girls felt that a prominent national Opposition leader was finally listening to them and addressing their concerns like no one ever had before. The girls, cutting across communities, shared with him on the stage their stories of violence, insult, discrimination, suppression, control and lack of freedom in the patriarchal society.

Rahul Gandhi quoted the Manusmriti to show how women are controlled by the patriarchy at different stages of their lives: "In childhood daughter should be subject to her father, in youth to her husband, when her Lord is dead to her sons. A woman must never be independent." This is shameful, he said. This mindset should be fought. There is nothing wrong with a woman being a daughter, wife and mother, but that cannot be her only identity. He said: "Women must stand on their own feet and build their own identity... You do not belong to anybody except yourself."

He called upon the girls to 'break the cage' and walk free. He said the BJP and the RSS hold a mindset that wants women to be controlled within cages: "What is the mindset? That a girl should be locked in a cage, she should be controlled, she should not work, and boys should get full freedom. They can do whatever they want, if they want to abuse they can abuse, if they want to work, they can work. We do not want such an India."

He targeted the Prime Minister over his remark that it was a cultural shock to hear girls using abusive language during the students' protest at the Jantar Mantar recently, but had no problem with boys using the same abusive language. He also revealed the mindset of Mohan Bhagwat, the RSS Chief, who said that women are raped in 'India,' not in 'Bharat.'

Together, let us smash the patriarchy, he told the girls: "Be loud, be proud and fight for your space in society." He cited some figures to show how women are discriminated against: women aged 15-29 spend 5.5 hours on housework compared with 30 minutes by men; 99% of sexual violence cases are unreported; 84% of women required family permission to work and salaried women earn 25% less; only 8% of women own any property; 45% of dropouts leave education because of marriage or housework; 4.5 lakh female feticides take place every year; 80% of women face harassment of one kind or another; 29% of women face violence; 6% of women are raped; and 50% of women are forced to reject work or education because of safety concerns; ?17,500 are spent annually for the safety of a woman.

The frontal attack on the patriarchal system by a prominent national Opposition leader, whom a large section of people, including Gen Z, see as a future Prime Minister of India, is an indication of a new political narrative. It strikes directly at the ruling dispensation and the Sangh Parivar, who subscribe to the outmoded Manusmriti's social order, and the regional parties that thrive on caste and community identity, with the ground under their feet slipping. It is a challenge to the orthodox and conservative men who perpetuate patriarchy. And Gen Z, millennials and Gen Alpha, who aspire to lead a safe and secure life with a just social order, find a new hope in Rahul Gandhi.

The immediate impact of the event was that Rahul Gandhi wrote to the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis, drawing his attention to the problems of the tribal students raised by a tribal girl during the interaction on the stage. Tribal students were not allowed admission to government hostels after 30 years, and tribal girls were asked to take a pregnancy test on their return from vacation. The very next day, the State Government announced removing the age bar for admission to the hostels and stopping the pregnancy test that is so humiliating.

Another example of the immediate impact of Rahul Gandhi's interaction with the students was the cancellation of the MPSC Drug Inspector examination held five months ago, after a girl alleged a paper leak on stage.

Valson Thampu, retired Principal, St. Stephen's College, Delhi, speaking out of a sense of justice, has some interesting reflections on Rahul Gandhi's speech: What Rahul Gandhi said in his very powerful speech to thousands and thousands of college- and university-going girls has got under the skin of the BJP. A gathering and meeting as significant as this was virtually blocked out by the Indian media, while things that seem silly and not concerning to us are given prominence; even how our Prime Minister eats mangoes attracts a great deal of media attention. But a programme as significant as this doesn't concern anyone. He thinks this is gross injustice, utter discrimination; an insult to the soul of India.

This is the most massively attended all-female gathering of a political kind in post-independent India. The ABVP, a students' wing of the RSS, tried all its tricks to disrupt the gathering and, if possible, steamroll it, but failed miserably; it only added fuel to the fire. Rahul Gandhi enjoys tremendous respect in this regard. The Indian National Congress has a credible track record on the status of women. Whatever good has come to the women of India has come through the Indian National Congress.

The dependent status of women in independent India makes us wonder whether we succeeded in making freedom meaningful. Swami Vivekananda said that 'God cannot be pleased where in a country its women are unhappy.' All religions are discriminatory to women. Every religious scripture justifies the inferior status of women. If India is to move forward, it must do justice to women and unleash women's power.