Nepal actor and Everest climber at India Today Global Roundtable: No gender bias in Mother Nature

Meenakshi Lekhi, Hina Rabbani Khar, Anuradha Koirala and Nisha Adhikari discuss stereotypes and gender bias women face in South Asia at the India Today Global Roundtable in Kathmandu.

Indian MP Meenakshi Lekhi, former Pakistan foreign minister Hina Rabbani Khar, Nepalese social activist Anuradha Koirala and Nepalese actor Nisha Adhikari discussed stereotypes and gender bias women face in South Asia at the India Today Global Roundtable in Kathmandu ahead of the SAARC Summit on Tuesday.

The session, titled 'Overcoming Stereotypes & Gender Barriers - Women in South Asia', was moderated by India Today senior writer Jyoti Malhotra.

Men too support women's issues: Meenakshi Lekhi

BJP leader and Lok Sabha MP Meenakshi Lekhi said that unlike the popular perception of men vs. women, many men too supported women's issues.

"Men too have a hugely sensitive side to them; they too are affected by the condition of women. The stereotyping has to be discarded. It's not a men vs. women situation. Men too are affected by women's issues. We need to get men on board too. There should not be ghettoisation on women's issues. It is not like men are against women. There are a great number of men who support women's causes," Lekhi, a lawyer, said.

On empowering women leaders, she said parties should give 33 per cent election tickets to women.

"Women are the largest minority in any setup and that minority is excluded. This exclusion needs to be targeted," she said.

You need laws to protect women in South Asia: Hina Rabbani Khar

Former Pakistan foreign minister Hina Rabbani Khar said there were two types of women in South Asia - "the privileged and the underprivileged".

"But doors open more easily for you if you are a successful and privileged woman," she said.

Citing her country's case, she said though Islam had give women more rights than they ever had, "cultural norms have denied rights to women".

She said more laws need to be enacted to protect women's rights in South Asia, unlike in "sophisticated societies" such as the Scandinavian countries.

"Our party, the PPP, decided to empower women through legislation. In sophisticated societies such as Sweden, the society protects women but in South Asia, you need laws to protect women, like the law against acid attacks," she said.

Women should ask for 50 per cent reservation: Anuradha Koirala

Anuradha Koirala, who runs Maiti Nepal - a group that helps victims of trafficking in Nepal, said women should not rely on others to end their plight but take in upon themselves to move forward.

"It is us who should utilise all our powers and not say, oh, we were left behind," she said.

She though rued that women lawmakers had not been able to utilise their power and help end gender bias.

"Just 15 km from here, there is discrimination in education. Girls are not allowed to study. Parents would rather educate the boys than the girls since they would get married and go away. There has to be more sensitisation," she said.

She also linked the dowry system to trafficking of girls. "The trafficker comes and tells parents: 'Your girl is getting big; she needs dowry for her marriage.' And that is how he takes her away in the name of getting her a job."

She said women should not be satisfied with just 33 per cent reservation. "We should ask for 50 per cent reservation or more. Why do you need quota for women? Why not quota for men?" she said.

No gender bias in Mother Nature: Nisha Adhikari

Nisha Adhikari, a film actor from Nepal, said she always feels that she is being looked upon as an object rather than as a person.

"Being in the film industry, I live this generalisation, this stereotyping. It's there when I wake up, when I go to work," she said. "I feel I am being looked at as an object than a person."

But she also said that the mindset was now changing across Nepal.

Recounting a lesson she learnt while climbing Mount Everest, she said: "I was supposed to share a tent with a sherpa. He was my guide and my saviour. Back home, it would seem unacceptable. But in the mountains, it was about the survival instinct. I would like to back in the mountains because Mother Nature does not say, hey, you are woman and I would spare you from a blizzard."