When will it be a happy Women's Day?

We have witnessed various women who came out and bent the stereotypes, say Annie Besent, first women president of Indian national Congress; Vijayalakshmi Pandit, first Indian woman President of UN General Assembly, From Mother Teresa to Sarojini Naidu to Indira Gandhi, the second woman Prime Minster in the world; to Kalpana Chawla, Indra Nooyi to Pratibha Patil, first women President of India, Kota Rani, last female ruler of Jammu and Kashmir, Mehbooba Mufti, first Chief Minister of the state and so on. From Sita in Ramayana to Rani Lakshmi Bai of Jhansi are not only celebrated women but also their contribution to social change and awareness had been immense. Today, I would not refer to Women of Jammu and Kashmir but to Women in general on this day, to celebrate sister-hood among women.
Women are beautiful, no matter what they look like, dark or fair; petite or bulky, tall or short, bold or shy, all of them. They are empathetic and companionate yet headstrong and powerful. They dream, they aspire, they strive and they do. They are getting empowered. Women in our society are emerging out of their conventional role, realizing their unlimited potential and have begun to take major role in all walks of life. They are playing stellar role, even challenging the males in every sector, be it politics, economy, art, culture and tradition, or diplomacy, administration, gallantry and so on. And let's not forget their stupendous role in family building, society development. Their contribution in society in whole and few women in particular is invaluable.
India is the abode of society where female figures are worshipped; a country where strength, knowledge and prosperity are worshipped in form of Shakti, Saraswati and Lakshmi respectively. Article 14 of the constitution accords equality for both genders. India has led the world in ratifying UN Conventions and international covenants like the Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the Beijing Platform for Action. I am sure, in none other nation of the world, women-hood is perceived as the way in India, both spiritually and practically. Therefore we expect that women in our societies have always been honored and respected.
But despite the contribution of women and our society's approach, women have a centuries' long saga of struggle; from female infanticide and 'Sati Pratha' centuries ago to female feticide and dowry killing today. Female prenatal sex determination tests and feticide, rape, attempt to commit rape, kidnapping and abduction of women, dowry and dowry deaths, assault with intent to outrage modesty, insult to modesty, cruelty by husband or his relatives, abetment of suicide and importation of girls from foreign countries, indecent representation of women, immoral trafficking and domestic violence are the issues to name a few. And then there are some lesser cruel but more prevalent struggles that we are dealing with till date- declining sex ratio, especially child sex ratio, decline in net attendance ratio, child marriage and so on. Also something which cannot be ignored is struggle of women who are aware of their rights and empowered like work place harassment and pay-grade discrimination. It seems like a laundry list of women's issues, but it is gestalt of struggle of 'half of the mankind'.
There is still a lot to tackle and a lot to eradicate, a lot to deal and a lot to accomplish, a lot to exercise and a lot to be entitled to. In the end it is you who has to decide, if the International Women's Day is actually a Happy Women's Day and how could it actually justify being a Happy day for half of the population of the world.