Hi Readers,
Election fever it is these days...whom do
we chose is the biggest debate going on. Have you chosen the right candidate
yet? I know there are too many choices in some states, but do chose with your
wise instincts, do not go by caste, region, community and stupid freebies. I do
have a lot to write on this topic…will soon do it.
Coming to today's post, I am confused,
worried and scared to start writing on this topic. My heart trembles before I
open the news to read, before I step out of the home, and whenever I have to
travel alone. As we hear more and more incidents about the assaults, rapes,
molestations, abuses against women, the question of safety arises every now and
then. The pain that comes through all this is hard to bear. Though we aren’t
related, we aren’t there to witness it directly; still the news shakes and
leaves us numb. We tend to become over careful, too alert, too doubtful and
worry too much about safety. It is a shame to a country like ours which has had
a culture of respecting or treating women like Goddesses and where there are
sayings like "Yatra naryastu pujyante ramante tatra
Devata" is now in
the clutches of those few rascals. Why should the country bow down to such mean
men? Why are we unable to stop these incidents once for all? There are so many
debates, talk shows, opinion polls, law amendments, discussions, campaigns, and
protests about violence against women. But was there any difference? Why do
these men not fear any punishment? Are they too bold to commit any sort of
crimes? Or are they immune to the judiciary? Or are they too rich to buy the
system? I have a million questions to ask them.
All these days we have been asking the
victims about their trauma or about the incident or their future plans etc., why
should we even bother the victim? Sympathizing and reminding the incident is
also another sort of crime in my opinion. The society in a way is compelling
her to remember the incident always. Calling them ‘rape victim’ until they
breathe their last is a sort of an embarrassment to them. One of the NGO
founders who works for women's welfare has said that it is the society which
injures the victim more than the rapist in many cases. We as a society are
trying to keep the talk go on so that she never forgets what has happened to
her and she weeps every other night about the incident. When these
incidents happen, we always start judging the victim....as in why she was there
at that hour, why she was alone, why she was with a boyfriend, why she had
boarded a private bus, why she took a cab....the questions are endless. But,
have we ever thought, in spite of all the precautions, worst things do happen
in public?
The sinners aren't ashamed of groping or
molesting or abusing women in public, why would they be afraid of raping in
private? Groping has become so common that even women got over it. This
statement might seem harsh but how many of us are fighting it back when we are
groped at a public place? There are many women who don't want to fuss about it
and they think it’s an embarrassment to fight it back. As long as we shut
ourselves down, the abuse keeps happening.
On the other hand, why are we not evicting
the sinners from the society? Why should they be masked when they are arrested?
What do they have to hide? They should be publicized so that the society knows
who the criminals are. There is no point in masking neither their identities
nor their faces. Even if they escape the punishment, the society should be able
to punish them by discriminating them against their basic rights just as the
way we have been doing with the victims. The TV shows have also been biased in
this aspect, because the focus is always on the victim and not on the criminal.
The very renowned show Satyamev Jayate’s recent episode has done a lot of
research from the victim's end but not from the criminal's end. While I do
appreciate their efforts to bring out many facts, I think given the resources
the team has, it would have been easier for them to approach the criminals and
understand their mindset. I know it may appear stupid when I say that. But, the
way to stop these atrocities is to understand the root cause of the problem and
try to eliminate it as much as possible. Very few researchers have done a study
on this aspect. However, I have to contradict my own statement here because the
current scenario doesn’t allow us and sit back and think upon the causes. It’s
high time to act against them. I was wondering why our law won’t implement
stringent and harshest punishments such as castration and amputation. Because,
the rate of crime against women has escalated in such a waythat, many outsiders
starting seeing India as a rape capital. The country which was famous for its
great culture and tradition is now famous for worst reasons. Where are we
heading?
As Gandhiji said, "it is real freedom
to a country when women can walk fearlessly in public at the stroke of midnight
hour", I do think it is true. Lot of mid 80s and 90s movies have quoted
this but we only din’t care about it then as much as we do now. And we are no
way close to that sort of freedom. It’s high time for the society to
start seeing the other side of the coin. Stop pointing fingers at the victim.
Let her forget what had happened or at least let it confine to her nightmares,
let us all do not add to her trauma. Next time you come across someone like
that, do not express your sympathies nor express your anger against the crime.
Behave as if nothing had happened with her. I have written earlier that it’s
important to cleanse the roots before protesting against these incidents. But
the growing incidents insist me to change my mind. Now I want to ask why we
don’t implement the barbarous punishments to curb the violence. Just as a
tumor which can kill the body if not got ridden, mean men who commit such acts
should also be got ridden from the society as soon as possible so as to send a
strong warning to those who intend to take the aftermath easy. I don’t want to
read these incidents every other day. If I have to say a strong prayer, I would
ask this violence to be stopped forever!!!
Jyostna
