Actress Shabana Azmi has expressed optimism about the civil society movement in the country, saying India has a very robust democracy and people fight back whenever the necessity arises.
"We have a very robust civil society, very robust democracy that fights back when necessary with all its strength. It thus creates space for women to negotiate for more space," Azmi told the audience during a discussion here on Friday.
When asked to comment on reports of moral policing, imposition of dress code on girls, arguments against triple talaq and romeo squads, she says, "India is a country where people are living in the same place but in absolute contradictions and this encapsulates our multi-religious, multi-lingual and multi-cultural society.
"Similar is the position of women in this country. There are a lot of very empowered women. But again there are cases of female foeticide also in India," she says.
Asserting that the whole situation was not "entirely depressing", Azmi says, "When I look at the whole picture, I am an optimist. I feel glass is half-filled not half-empty."
The 66-year old actress plays one of the three female protagonists in Aparna Sen's "Sonata" along with Lillete Dubey and the director-actor.
Talking about women mustering the courage to fight against diktats, Aparna says, "In my second film 'Parama', I had referred how economic independence is important for women. And economic independence comes from literacy.
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