Anything in the below post is my opinion and solely my opinion.
I am a 22 year old working professional but I am also a Grand Daughter, a Daughter, a Sister, a Niece, a Cousin, an Aunt, a Friend and most importantly a GIRL! A girl who is scared to take a step without the fear of being a victim to the atrocities we have seen over the past one month because she knows she is on her own and that if she can not fight for her own life, NO ONE WILL.
The month of December had a lot of people speaking up for themselves. Some of them standing up for themselves and fighting for justice and some of them speaking up utter crap!
December 16th could easily be the day that I felt India awoke from it's hibernation - The day which brought utter shame to India when a 23 year old girl was Gang Raped! The day which shook me out of my wits. The day which made me afraid of India - The country I was born and brought up in.
What can we infer from this? That girls are not allowed to roam around the streets of their own country without the fear of being raped, running in their minds the entire time? What were the safe keepers of our country doing? If their job isn't to keep the country's citizens safe then what is their job? 100 hours after the gang rape, there was a laud for them when they caught just 5 of the 6 Rapists.Yes, they did a good job but only after the girl was brutally raped. Here are a few News clippings which show us how lightly the case was being taken. Hardly days after that gruesome rape, there was another rape in Gujrat! What is the signal we are trying to give people here? Get another country to live in, cause you may just get Gang Raped in India.
What gets even more annoying is the fact that Cops have been extremely biased to Rape victims. They have slapped around sexist remarks questioning the character of the victims! And to top it, Cops from the state of Gujrat are willing to offer a compensatory amount to the rape victim's family! Why? What are they trying to do? Are they trying to cover up something? Will the girl ever be able to lead a normal life without listening to all the snide remarks passed about her even though her family is given a compensation? The Girl would never be able to lead a normal life! But, Men can resume their life just where they stopped it before the rape. The reason it boils down to is the simple fact that we live in a Patriarchal society. How come only women's character's are questioned, how come no one ever question's a man's character? Why are we as little girls always told to dress up properly, not to walk around alone in unknown places? Why can't anyone teach men to respect women and behave themselves? If only Boys were taught at a young age!
If the same were to happen to anyone from a Politician's family or a well known personality' family, would it have been taken with the same gusto or even more? Why the bias? We are after all Indian citizens and we all have the same rights.
The Women who were raped - They were/ are Victims. The definition of a victim just in, case you'll forgot is a person who suffers from a destructive or an injurious action/ a person who is deceived or cheated. It doesn't stop with the cops, the Politicians drunken with power have made outrageously sexist remarks too. Right from WB minister Anisur Rahman's remarks to the President's son - Abhijit Mukherjee with his dented and painted comment to the TMC Leader Kakoli Ghosh's with her remark about the Park Street Rape victim. Who are they to make such comments? When did India become so unreliable? Why must we take in insults made by our fellow country men - by the people we look up to? It is one thing to go to other countries and listen to a few nasty racist remarks but to listen to a few in one's own country from Leaders degrades the country as a whole.
What the Police have to do, Charge the accused! Will it do justice for the victim by just slapping murder charges against the accused? Will that make it safer for me to walk in my city with my head held up high? Of course NOT! The Rapists have to be charged under the IPC - That was foreseen, they have to be. But what I would demand is that the Rapists must be hanged to death in front of the people of India! And the Minor must be given the same punishment! Because everyone can differentiate what is Right and what is Wrong at a very young age! And for him to plead for justice because he is a minor is unacceptable. Why can we just not have Capital Punishment for Rape? Are India's laws too old that it can't be bent? Isn't India bothered about the welfare of it's women citizens? If those men could not value a girl's life, why must we value their lives? I was always taught to "Live and Let Live", if people can't follow that simple principle, who gives them the right to live?
Not a day passed by without me praying for that girl's speedy recovery and justice to her and the many oppressed and of course, the fact that India would open up and do something about it. Rather than let it pass with the blink of an eye. This as a matter of fact opened my eyes to so many things India has so beautifully hidden. But I wish I didn't have to have my eyes opened when a girl was so brutally raped. How come it took us this one Girl's life to bring out the evils in Society, She wouldn't have been a victim if only the evil had been cut at the nib. She did bring out the anger to fight in each and every girl, every woman. My heart goes out to her parents as they are left with nothing but memories. Your daughter's will to fight is an inspiration to many.
The Leaders and The Police of our country have proved their mettle. Isn't it high time we follow what we learnt when we were small under the subject "Civics"? The fact that India is a Democratic country - For the People, By the People and Of the People!
I hope reforms are made For the People (Safeguarding of every citizen), By the People (in Power) and Of the People.
I am a 22 year old working professional but I am also a Grand Daughter, a Daughter, a Sister, a Niece, a Cousin, an Aunt, a Friend and most importantly a GIRL! A girl who is scared to take a step without the fear of being a victim to the atrocities we have seen over the past one month because she knows she is on her own and that if she can not fight for her own life, NO ONE WILL.
The month of December had a lot of people speaking up for themselves. Some of them standing up for themselves and fighting for justice and some of them speaking up utter crap!
December 16th could easily be the day that I felt India awoke from it's hibernation - The day which brought utter shame to India when a 23 year old girl was Gang Raped! The day which shook me out of my wits. The day which made me afraid of India - The country I was born and brought up in.
After 13 long days of struggling to live, The 23-year-old physiotherapy student died succumbing to her injuries after being brutally beaten up and raped by six
drunken men in a private bus which was driven around south Delhi
localities on the night of December 16th 2012. Today, being the tragic end of that 23 year old girl's life who awakened India.
What gets even more annoying is the fact that Cops have been extremely biased to Rape victims. They have slapped around sexist remarks questioning the character of the victims! And to top it, Cops from the state of Gujrat are willing to offer a compensatory amount to the rape victim's family! Why? What are they trying to do? Are they trying to cover up something? Will the girl ever be able to lead a normal life without listening to all the snide remarks passed about her even though her family is given a compensation? The Girl would never be able to lead a normal life! But, Men can resume their life just where they stopped it before the rape. The reason it boils down to is the simple fact that we live in a Patriarchal society. How come only women's character's are questioned, how come no one ever question's a man's character? Why are we as little girls always told to dress up properly, not to walk around alone in unknown places? Why can't anyone teach men to respect women and behave themselves? If only Boys were taught at a young age!
If the same were to happen to anyone from a Politician's family or a well known personality' family, would it have been taken with the same gusto or even more? Why the bias? We are after all Indian citizens and we all have the same rights.
The Women who were raped - They were/ are Victims. The definition of a victim just in, case you'll forgot is a person who suffers from a destructive or an injurious action/ a person who is deceived or cheated. It doesn't stop with the cops, the Politicians drunken with power have made outrageously sexist remarks too. Right from WB minister Anisur Rahman's remarks to the President's son - Abhijit Mukherjee with his dented and painted comment to the TMC Leader Kakoli Ghosh's with her remark about the Park Street Rape victim. Who are they to make such comments? When did India become so unreliable? Why must we take in insults made by our fellow country men - by the people we look up to? It is one thing to go to other countries and listen to a few nasty racist remarks but to listen to a few in one's own country from Leaders degrades the country as a whole.
What the Police have to do, Charge the accused! Will it do justice for the victim by just slapping murder charges against the accused? Will that make it safer for me to walk in my city with my head held up high? Of course NOT! The Rapists have to be charged under the IPC - That was foreseen, they have to be. But what I would demand is that the Rapists must be hanged to death in front of the people of India! And the Minor must be given the same punishment! Because everyone can differentiate what is Right and what is Wrong at a very young age! And for him to plead for justice because he is a minor is unacceptable. Why can we just not have Capital Punishment for Rape? Are India's laws too old that it can't be bent? Isn't India bothered about the welfare of it's women citizens? If those men could not value a girl's life, why must we value their lives? I was always taught to "Live and Let Live", if people can't follow that simple principle, who gives them the right to live?
Not a day passed by without me praying for that girl's speedy recovery and justice to her and the many oppressed and of course, the fact that India would open up and do something about it. Rather than let it pass with the blink of an eye. This as a matter of fact opened my eyes to so many things India has so beautifully hidden. But I wish I didn't have to have my eyes opened when a girl was so brutally raped. How come it took us this one Girl's life to bring out the evils in Society, She wouldn't have been a victim if only the evil had been cut at the nib. She did bring out the anger to fight in each and every girl, every woman. My heart goes out to her parents as they are left with nothing but memories. Your daughter's will to fight is an inspiration to many.
The Leaders and The Police of our country have proved their mettle. Isn't it high time we follow what we learnt when we were small under the subject "Civics"? The fact that India is a Democratic country - For the People, By the People and Of the People!
I hope reforms are made For the People (Safeguarding of every citizen), By the People (in Power) and Of the People.
