If some Bills are bigger than other Bills, some delimitations are smaller than other delimitations, and some voters are not voters at all, then some words are not mere words. In the outpouring of “nari vandana” following the defeat of The Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026, in the recent Session of Parliament, which the government insisted was essential to give roughly half the country’s population at least one-third of its share in power, two words were thrown about casually. BJP leaders described the Opposition’s collective action in defeating the Bill as “bhrun hatya (foeticide)”, while Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath called it “cheer haran (disrobing)”. With due respect, there is no comparison. Even those of us who have theoretically escaped being killed in our mother’s wombs for the sin of our gender, never escape being reminded of the possibility of it.…