New Delhi, April 6 -- The Bengali poet Kazi Nazrul Islam, now adopted as the National Poet of Bangladesh, once wrote "whatever good there is in this world, half of it is created by women and half by men". That honest truth is increasingly relevant in the world today, where entrenched patriarchal societies are depriving themselves of the power of women to add to social harmony, prosperity and peace in their communities and countries.

Large parts of South Asia would have benefited greatly by granting greater social, economic and even political power to women. India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka have experienced the transformative power of women, leaders who have rewritten the destinies of their countries. Even an orthodox society like in the M...