Knowledge is gender neutral, and hence the 21st century offers a

In the resonant and prophetic words of Subramanian Swamy, there lies both a lament for the past and a radiant vision for the future: “Knowledge is gender neutral, and hence the 21st century offers a great opportunity to level the gender inequity of the last thousand years in India.” This is not merely a statement of fact — it is a call to awakening. Swamy reminds us that the light of knowledge shines upon all without discrimination, yet for centuries, that light has been obstructed by the walls of custom, ignorance, and social hierarchy. Now, in an age of science and reason, the eternal truth has resurfaced — that the mind knows no gender, that the capacity to think, to dream, and to create belongs equally to man and woman alike.

The origin of this insight is rooted in both the scholar’s reflection and the civilizational journey of India itself. Subramanian Swamy, an economist, politician, and intellectual, has long been a voice for reform within tradition — a figure who seeks to reconcile the timeless wisdom of India with the dynamism of the modern age. His statement springs from observation and conviction: as India strides into the 21st century, the very tools of progress — education, technology, and open discourse — have dissolved barriers once thought unbreakable. In the ancient era, India produced female sages like Gargi Vachaknavi and Maitreyi, who debated philosophy with the brightest minds of their time. Yet, as centuries passed, that flame dimmed beneath layers of patriarchy and superstition. Swamy’s words remind us that this dimming was not destiny — it was deviation. The eternal law of truth, Sanatana Dharma itself, upholds that knowledge — Vidya — belongs to no gender, caste, or creed.

What Swamy calls us to recognize is that knowledge is liberation, and liberation must be shared. The modern world, driven by the power of intellect and information, has created an equal battlefield for the human mind. The plough of progress is no longer bound to the strength of the arm, but to the clarity of the thought. In such an age, to deny a woman access to knowledge is not only injustice — it is blindness. For a society that silences half its voices can never hear the full song of its destiny. Swamy sees in the 21st century the dawn of a rebalancing, an age where reason and education will undo the inequities of a thousand years. This is not mere optimism; it is historical correction — a return to the natural harmony that once guided the civilization of the Ganges and the Vedas.

History offers many examples of this truth. Consider Savitribai Phule, the courageous woman of the 19th century who became India’s first female teacher and opened the first school for girls in Pune. She faced insults, threats, and even stones thrown by those who believed women had no place in learning. Yet she endured, for she knew that knowledge is the great equalizer. Her efforts, born in hardship, sowed the seeds for millions of educated women who now walk the halls of universities once closed to them. Or recall Anandibai Joshi, who crossed oceans in the 1880s to study medicine in America, becoming one of the first Indian women physicians. These women were the early heralds of the truth Swamy speaks — that when knowledge flows freely, the old barriers crumble like sand before the tide.

To say that knowledge is gender neutral is also to proclaim that truth itself is beyond all human divisions. The mind has no gender, and wisdom no preference. What imprisons one gender imprisons humanity as a whole. A society that educates only its sons walks on one leg; a nation that silences its daughters speaks in half a voice. Swamy’s insight, then, is not confined to India — it is universal. The 21st century, with its unprecedented access to information, offers humanity a chance to rise above its tribal past and enter a new era of intellectual equality. Yet this promise is not automatic; it must be seized. For even in this enlightened age, prejudice lingers, cloaked in culture or disguised as protection. The light of knowledge must not only be kindled — it must be defended.

The meaning of Swamy’s reflection runs deeper than education or economics. It is spiritual. For knowledge, in its highest form, is not merely learning facts — it is awakening the self. To know the world is to know one’s place within it; to recognize equality is to glimpse the divine spark that dwells in every soul. When men and women learn together, not as rivals but as reflections of one another, society ascends toward balance — a harmony that mirrors the dual energies of nature itself, Shiva and Shakti, intellect and intuition, logic and love. The leveling of gender inequity, then, is not simply a social reform — it is the restoration of cosmic balance.

The lesson we must take is clear: the opportunity of the 21st century must not be squandered. We must build temples not only of stone but of learning — schools, universities, and digital sanctuaries where every child, regardless of gender, can drink from the same fountain of knowledge. Men must unlearn their inherited arrogance; women must cast off the chains of internalized doubt. The work is not easy, for the shadows of the past cling tightly. But the dawn has already broken — and those who walk toward it will find that knowledge, once shared, multiplies like light reflected through a thousand mirrors.

So let the words of Subramanian Swamy stand as both declaration and challenge: if knowledge is gender neutral, then ignorance is humanity’s only true enemy. The inequity of the past may have lasted a thousand years, but the wisdom of one enlightened generation can undo it. Let every teacher, every parent, every leader remember — the mind of a girl is no less vast than that of a boy, and when both are allowed to rise, the nation ascends with them. For in the union of equality and enlightenment, India — and indeed the world — shall rediscover its truest form: a civilization guided not by dominance, but by shared light.