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| Voices crying out for justice |
Now it is 67 years since independence, she has a right to
education, works shoulder to shoulder with men in every field having proven her
worth in every way yet there still is a curse on her even today. There still
are female infanticides, selective abortions of female foetuses, dowry deaths,
domestic violence and human trafficking issues plaguing our Indian women. Add
to that the misery that every girl or woman has to face – the lack of personal
safety to walk on the streets, go to work or even at home. Eve-teasing,
molestation, acid attacks and rape have grown to become a monster devouring
whatever peace and security Indian women could dream of.
The National Crime Records Bureau reports that there has
been a shocking 873% rise in rape cases between 1953 and 2011. India’s report
card for women’s safety states that one woman is raped every 22 minutes! [1]
A Reuters report states that 244,270 crimes against women
were reported to the police in 2012 compared with 228,650 in 2011 according to
the National Crimes Records Bureau (NCRB). They also stated that 98 percent of
those who reported rapes last year named parents, relatives and neighbours as
the accused. [2]
When we say this I wonder if this is a statement about the
state of women in our country or is it actually a statement about the men in
our country? What is it about women that
make them so vulnerable and what is it about men that make them behave like
animals who have no self-control? Something is wrong with our upbringing of
boys and girls and something is wrong with the way our social fabric and halls
of justice have been allowing things to get this bad.
The cries of justice have become so loud and demanding that
now it seems it would take the death of rapists to put fear into others who
would do the same. We have allowed molesters and rapists to roam around freely
for so long that they are breeding at a higher rate than we can deal with.
For many years we have read the news of tribal women or
women of lower castes and those in helpless situations being raped by men with
political power behind them. There were no convictions because these men were
protected by powerful people. Those powerful people make the laws in this country,
such men are used by them for their personal or political interests. Is it no
wonder that our laws don’t have teeth and justice is not done?
Moreover, we also need to question the conscience of this
nation. Why do we allow films that devalue and degrade women? Why don’t we
question the vulgar worded item songs that degrade women and are aimed at
generating lust in men? Why do our high profile ‘dignified’ actresses agree to
do songs that cheapen women? Why is it that those who oppose Valentine’s Day do
not do anything to stop eve-teasing, offenses against women or check the growth
of prostitution and pornography among our youth?
People who deal with power, information and media have more
responsibility. Whenever we create ads, films, videos, songs or permit
something that can have far reaching effects on the masses we have added fuel
to the already raging fire. When the law makers, keepers and enforcers
themselves have wrong attitudes about women, they fail to be instruments of
justice for those who have been victimised in any way.
It seems we need to have a crash course to educate the
people of India about the dignity of a woman, her right to personal space,
self-respect, to be treated as a person and not an object and also her right to
real and true justice. We need a cleansing and overhauling at every level. A
commission of enquiry or a proposal for a new law is not going to change
anything when the real dirt is inside the minds and hearts of people.
India has lost face internationally. The damage is done.
Countries are warning their people, especially women not to travel to India and
giving them precautions to follow if they have to make that journey. It sucks
even more because we call our country ‘Bharat Mata.’ Have we made our ‘motherland’
India proud? We have allowed some low-life pathetic men to cause our nation to
pay the heaviest price within and outside our country. So what are we going to
do about it now?
We need to weed out those law makers or keepers and police
men whose wrong attitudes and behaviour come in the way of true justice to
women. We need awareness campaigns and programmes that will instill good values
among younger generations.
Moreover we need to train our girls and women in
self-defense so that they can give their offenders a fitting response. Perhaps
it is time the government considered making self defense training mandatory in
all schools. Women in many cultures have come out to learn to fight and defend
their country, sad that we have to teach women to defend themselves! We also
need neighbourhood watchdog groups comprising of men and women who would deal
with boys and men who have a tendency to misbehave with girls or women. It is a
necessity now and we cannot expect the situation to change if something is not
done now.
Our silence in this area has led to this dismal reality we are
having to face today. Let every voice be raised up to support and get justice
for the women who have been traumatized. Let every means of creating awareness,
giving information and empowerment be used to ensure that this social disease
of wrong mindsets towards women is eradicated.
‘Mera Bharat Mahaan’ should be the slogan of our
hearts for our nation... but unfortunately Bharat has lost it ‘maan’
because of the continuous ‘apmaan’ our country men have been meting out
to our women. May we turn around this story of apmaan into maan
so that Bharat can truly be mahaan, is my prayer for India.
Reference:
Source
1: http://ncrb.nic.in/
Source
2: http://in.reuters.com/article/2013/06/14/india-rape-women-2012-report-idINDEE95D0B920130614,
