Are we taking a step backward than forward towards true progress?
Nirbhaya. Meaning “fearlessness”. A year has passed since the gruesome gang-rape, mutilation and murder of a 23-year-old girl in a bus in New Delhi. Have things changed ever since? A reality check:
It’s been a year since Nirbhaya. Since the brutal gang-rape and murder that transpired in a New Delhi bus and made international headlines of the plight of the woman in India — locals and foreign tourists alike (despite initiatives by the French, UK and Swiss governments). The convicts were awarded the death penalty a couple of months ago. Pat on the back for the system? For the times that are a-changing? Far from it. First things first, the recently-reinstated death penalty isn’t really anti-crime but anti-criminal… a step backward rather than forward. And reality check — the times haven’t really changed at all.
Let’s take crowded places in general for starters. A favourite haunt of obsessive compulsive eve-teasers (another Indian-English term that was introduced to the world thanks to our grope-happy perverts). How comfortable are we women with the idea of venturing into these creep magnet battlefields by ours elves, or with male/female company? Without having to use our elbow or knee-jerk reflexes? Without having to discreetly steal glances behind us to check if we’re being stalked or filmed on mobile phone cameras? Considering that I’ve been living in the live-and-let-live, (not-so-)wild, West for a couple of years now, each time I’m home sweet home, all of the above only leaves me with a bitter aftertaste. Why can’t my country, a democracy, offer me the freedom of just being… without agonising about the possibility of turning into yet another statistic?
More specifically, let’s talk public transport. Mumbaikars may swear by the local train but what about buses in the city or the rest of the country? Are they any safer than they were about a year ago? Honestly, I have lost count of the number of women that have had disgusting experiences of being touched, fallen on, jerked off on… Thankfully, there exist exceptions to the rule to show us that blind violence against men isn’t the answer (artfully illustrated by this public service video). But when will the exception inch towards becoming the norm? When will women be able to board buses or general compartments of the local train without being treated like sex objects begging to be ravished? The day our country will take a step forward towards true progress.
And yes, when will we stop waking up to such regressive headlines that equate gay sex to a crime, after about four years of decriminalisation? Frankly, it’s as ridiculous as terming relations between two people of the opposite sex illegal. Rapists and paedophiles are the real sex offenders, not homosexuals. Tha nkfully, protests against the ludicrously illogical judgment are on in full swing — from Twitterati manifestations, a sea of black profile pictures on Facebook, the chuckle-inducing, extremely visually effective gay-for-a-day campaign, a Kolkata LGBT initiative, a demonstration in Tamil Nadu... Hopefully, the Supreme Court’s decision will be reversed, never to be reinstated again. That’s when our country will take another step forward towards true progress.
Image courtesy: BCCL
The opinions expressed are those of the writer/columnist and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of this website.
iDiva.com invites you to tell us how you think we can make India a safer place for women. Let's raise our voices, talk and act NOW to enable change. Leave us a comment below and tweet / post messages on our Facebook page with #Nirbhaya. We need your support in this fight for justice!
December 16 marks the anniversary of the fateful day when our country saw the most shameful crime ever. Nirbhaya (the name she came to be called) was brutally gangraped by six men on a moving bus, then thrown off the vehicle and left to die. She fought a brave battle to survive, but in the end succumbed to her injuries on December 29, 2012. We sa lute her indomitable spirit with our Nirbhaya Tribute. Let's together strive to win this battle against injustice that she begun for us!
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