Dear readers, I have been hoping to start 'Ponderings' section for some time now. Its a column where I reflect my views and take on matters. Matters on varied topics, anything that I would love to share with you all, hear what you have to say about it, know the pulse of the readers. Many topics almost made it to this first post of 'Ponderings' section. But nothing moved me more than this current topic I want to rise -- The ever increasing innumerable rape cases in India.
I write to you with utter shame and fear. The shame of our nation, that we all know despite all the protests and the promise of politicians, the Rape Syndrome will not stop and will continue. The fear that I am a girl too, have a family, am scared for myself, for the safety of my loved ones and for every living being. May such a trauma, psychologically and physically never befall on even our worst enemy. Its a cry of helplessness. Searching for the root of the problem is in itself a problem. A multitude of factors are causal agents for such an untoward incident. Then the solution has to be multidimensional too.
What protects the common man is the law. If such a law is weak, then the loopholes in the law system encourage the culprit rather than deter them from committing crime. Most criminals seem to have a mindset that 'Rape whom you feel like, and enjoy a vacation of few months or maximum of few years in jail and return back to the rape business like never before'. What do we do to instill the fear and moral in these criminals. Fear and morality have to be handled hand in hand. We cannot sit tight and wait for the mindset of the people to change and let criminals let loose till then. Strengthen the laws, nothing less than Death Penalty will serve the purpose. There is no issue of human rights here. The guilty cannot be allowed to roam free, when the victim is damaged for life and suffers either the social stigma, psychological and physical scar, which most times last a life time or die a painful slow death. Worse even being petitioned for mercy killing. Why is it that people who fight for the human rights of criminals, not see the human rights violation of the victims???
Who has to strengthen the law? The people in power, the politicians. But why would a politician want to strengthen the law when they themselves are booked under various offenses. When one party agrees, the other agrees to disagree. This leg pulling game will continue for ever and no real work or decision will ever be reached. Then why did we elect these kind of people in the first place.
We THE PEOPLE are very loyal. We attach ourselves to our leaders more with the tags of caste, class, creed, and political party rather than personal and professional achievements of the election candidate. Many people vote today for the loyalty of distributed money, or the loyalty that from ages their family has always supported a particular party, or for the loyalty towards their caste, that if a person from their caste is elected, their caste would become dominant and would receive a share of the corruption money, or for the ultimate loyalty of not having to do with any of these and abstain from voting thinking that the abstinence from voting will somehow lead to a better India. We need to change. Set aside the divisions among us and unite and for once vote for the health of this very ill country. Not think momentarily but far ahead as our vote is precious and our vote could change the course of our future generation.
Young blood in politics is necessary. Not the young blood of the blood sucking politicians. Young blood of hearts which beat for the people and country. We are in need of new political parties and leaders, who are educated, well mannered, compassionate, bold enough to take tough decisions, honest and most of all have common sense. Its time for the old rot in politics to go who have been making merry in the name of experience. And most important of all is for us to support such parties and encourage sensible netas.
Coming back to the gang rape of Delhi, I am of the opinion that the guilty be encountered. The list of such notorious culprits to be made and encountered one by one. This might seem extreme for some. The point is not that, if these people deserve such a harsh punishment, but their punishment is to set an example for the society, that such criminals think twice before they pounce. The death to these criminals will serve as warning to many others to come, saving many lives in turn. But such a powerful weapon of encounter not be given to each and every police. A specialized cell of sensible honest top police officials to handle these in an efficient manner. On the other end, another tracking unit be composed, where the women police act as bait, and lure these animals out and are caught on tape as evidence and punished instantly. And for people who have been shouting out that wearing jeans and other western wear attracts attention and symbolizes that the victim is asking for rape, mind you that our traditional wear saree exposes a lot of the woman's body than a jeans would do. Nothing has been free from external influence in this world. Even the so called traditional modern day saree has undergone too many changes from time to time and if the saree in its original avatar has to be worn, it would be more explosive than western wear. There is no culture, raping in the name of culture. May this brave girl survive and live healthily. A symbol of bravery for all those who have wielded the deadweight of rape.
I write to you with utter shame and fear. The shame of our nation, that we all know despite all the protests and the promise of politicians, the Rape Syndrome will not stop and will continue. The fear that I am a girl too, have a family, am scared for myself, for the safety of my loved ones and for every living being. May such a trauma, psychologically and physically never befall on even our worst enemy. Its a cry of helplessness. Searching for the root of the problem is in itself a problem. A multitude of factors are causal agents for such an untoward incident. Then the solution has to be multidimensional too.
What protects the common man is the law. If such a law is weak, then the loopholes in the law system encourage the culprit rather than deter them from committing crime. Most criminals seem to have a mindset that 'Rape whom you feel like, and enjoy a vacation of few months or maximum of few years in jail and return back to the rape business like never before'. What do we do to instill the fear and moral in these criminals. Fear and morality have to be handled hand in hand. We cannot sit tight and wait for the mindset of the people to change and let criminals let loose till then. Strengthen the laws, nothing less than Death Penalty will serve the purpose. There is no issue of human rights here. The guilty cannot be allowed to roam free, when the victim is damaged for life and suffers either the social stigma, psychological and physical scar, which most times last a life time or die a painful slow death. Worse even being petitioned for mercy killing. Why is it that people who fight for the human rights of criminals, not see the human rights violation of the victims???
Who has to strengthen the law? The people in power, the politicians. But why would a politician want to strengthen the law when they themselves are booked under various offenses. When one party agrees, the other agrees to disagree. This leg pulling game will continue for ever and no real work or decision will ever be reached. Then why did we elect these kind of people in the first place.
We THE PEOPLE are very loyal. We attach ourselves to our leaders more with the tags of caste, class, creed, and political party rather than personal and professional achievements of the election candidate. Many people vote today for the loyalty of distributed money, or the loyalty that from ages their family has always supported a particular party, or for the loyalty towards their caste, that if a person from their caste is elected, their caste would become dominant and would receive a share of the corruption money, or for the ultimate loyalty of not having to do with any of these and abstain from voting thinking that the abstinence from voting will somehow lead to a better India. We need to change. Set aside the divisions among us and unite and for once vote for the health of this very ill country. Not think momentarily but far ahead as our vote is precious and our vote could change the course of our future generation.
Young blood in politics is necessary. Not the young blood of the blood sucking politicians. Young blood of hearts which beat for the people and country. We are in need of new political parties and leaders, who are educated, well mannered, compassionate, bold enough to take tough decisions, honest and most of all have common sense. Its time for the old rot in politics to go who have been making merry in the name of experience. And most important of all is for us to support such parties and encourage sensible netas.
Coming back to the gang rape of Delhi, I am of the opinion that the guilty be encountered. The list of such notorious culprits to be made and encountered one by one. This might seem extreme for some. The point is not that, if these people deserve such a harsh punishment, but their punishment is to set an example for the society, that such criminals think twice before they pounce. The death to these criminals will serve as warning to many others to come, saving many lives in turn. But such a powerful weapon of encounter not be given to each and every police. A specialized cell of sensible honest top police officials to handle these in an efficient manner. On the other end, another tracking unit be composed, where the women police act as bait, and lure these animals out and are caught on tape as evidence and punished instantly. And for people who have been shouting out that wearing jeans and other western wear attracts attention and symbolizes that the victim is asking for rape, mind you that our traditional wear saree exposes a lot of the woman's body than a jeans would do. Nothing has been free from external influence in this world. Even the so called traditional modern day saree has undergone too many changes from time to time and if the saree in its original avatar has to be worn, it would be more explosive than western wear. There is no culture, raping in the name of culture. May this brave girl survive and live healthily. A symbol of bravery for all those who have wielded the deadweight of rape.
