Today is indeed a black, deeply saddening and heart rending day in the history of this 65 odd year old nation as the brave heart Nirbhaya, Amanat or Damini as you may like to call her has passed away after a thirteen day long valiant struggle with death leaving us all deeply ashamed and questioning our motives and actions as members of a species called human beings.........
A part of us all of us has died today and I truly feel that my sojourn on planet earth has indeed been reduced by a significant margin in her passing, but above all I feel a deep sense of remorse, outrage and anger at myself, our apathetic system, hypocritical society and above all unresponsive government that is more interested in raising barricades and insulating itself from the voices and thoughts of the man on the street rather than addressing their concerns and making this country a safer place for 50% of it's citizenry.........
All of us are equally responsible for the fate that has befallen this brave heart; our families and societal system largely for having failed to inculcate the right value system and ideals into the hearts and minds of our menfolk and encouraging them to rape and pillage their female counterparts rather than desisting from such heinous and barbaric tendencies as rape and sexual subjugation is just yet another manifestation of the supposed male superiority over the commonly perceived weaker sex and hence perfectly acceptable and justifiable..........
The police, government and bureaucracy, for taking us for granted and conveniently brushing crimes against women under the carpet as women per se did not constitute a significant vote bank which could sway the fortunes of candidates in an election and could hence be conveniently side stepped at the altar of expediency........
The men and women in khakhi for enacting the roles of demons and exploiters rather than the roles of protectors and benefactors entrusted to them by both the society and the system as a whole; infact, so callous and indifferent are our policemen and women to the plight of victims of sexual assaults that more than 60% of them do not even venture into police stations to register and record their sordid and sorry sagas as they are well acquainted with the fact that they will be subjected to an interrogation and ordeal that is as heinous and heart rending as the crime that has been perpetrated against them...........
The judiciary and former president of India haven't exactly covered themselves in glory in this regard as the judiciary has only succeeded in sending less than 25% of the perpetrators of such crimes either behind bars or then the gallows as the case may be and that too after a span of three years or more having elapsed after the filing of the First Information Report or FIR in the respective case; the lesser said about our former president Pratibha Devisingh Patil, the better, as she commuted the death sentence given to approximately 32 such rapists to a lesser life sentence for reasons known to her alone.........
Friends, the time for chest beating, finger pointing and fault finding is well past us and the time to act as a cohesive and unified force that sends out the unequivocal message of thus far and no further to the political class is upon us; raise your voices in unison so that they are resoundingly heard in the corridors of power; tell the government that we will not be satisfied by mere words, gestures, plaudits and assurances and that we need to see steps on the ground and concrete action being taken to ensure the safety and sanctity of women in this hallowed land that worships women and raises temples in their honour...........
Demand harsher, stricter and more punitive laws that put the fear of the lord in the hearts and minds of both active, passive as well as wannabe rapists, ask for a system that makes both the police and judiciary responsive to our needs and changing social idioms and realities, and last but not the least let the change begin from within our very homes so that the Indian women not only feels safe and sound, but is reassured about the fact that India is indeed the land where she can nurture her dreams, aspirations and contribute equally to it's development and rosy future...........
A part of us all of us has died today and I truly feel that my sojourn on planet earth has indeed been reduced by a significant margin in her passing, but above all I feel a deep sense of remorse, outrage and anger at myself, our apathetic system, hypocritical society and above all unresponsive government that is more interested in raising barricades and insulating itself from the voices and thoughts of the man on the street rather than addressing their concerns and making this country a safer place for 50% of it's citizenry.........
All of us are equally responsible for the fate that has befallen this brave heart; our families and societal system largely for having failed to inculcate the right value system and ideals into the hearts and minds of our menfolk and encouraging them to rape and pillage their female counterparts rather than desisting from such heinous and barbaric tendencies as rape and sexual subjugation is just yet another manifestation of the supposed male superiority over the commonly perceived weaker sex and hence perfectly acceptable and justifiable..........
The police, government and bureaucracy, for taking us for granted and conveniently brushing crimes against women under the carpet as women per se did not constitute a significant vote bank which could sway the fortunes of candidates in an election and could hence be conveniently side stepped at the altar of expediency........
The men and women in khakhi for enacting the roles of demons and exploiters rather than the roles of protectors and benefactors entrusted to them by both the society and the system as a whole; infact, so callous and indifferent are our policemen and women to the plight of victims of sexual assaults that more than 60% of them do not even venture into police stations to register and record their sordid and sorry sagas as they are well acquainted with the fact that they will be subjected to an interrogation and ordeal that is as heinous and heart rending as the crime that has been perpetrated against them...........
The judiciary and former president of India haven't exactly covered themselves in glory in this regard as the judiciary has only succeeded in sending less than 25% of the perpetrators of such crimes either behind bars or then the gallows as the case may be and that too after a span of three years or more having elapsed after the filing of the First Information Report or FIR in the respective case; the lesser said about our former president Pratibha Devisingh Patil, the better, as she commuted the death sentence given to approximately 32 such rapists to a lesser life sentence for reasons known to her alone.........
Friends, the time for chest beating, finger pointing and fault finding is well past us and the time to act as a cohesive and unified force that sends out the unequivocal message of thus far and no further to the political class is upon us; raise your voices in unison so that they are resoundingly heard in the corridors of power; tell the government that we will not be satisfied by mere words, gestures, plaudits and assurances and that we need to see steps on the ground and concrete action being taken to ensure the safety and sanctity of women in this hallowed land that worships women and raises temples in their honour...........
Demand harsher, stricter and more punitive laws that put the fear of the lord in the hearts and minds of both active, passive as well as wannabe rapists, ask for a system that makes both the police and judiciary responsive to our needs and changing social idioms and realities, and last but not the least let the change begin from within our very homes so that the Indian women not only feels safe and sound, but is reassured about the fact that India is indeed the land where she can nurture her dreams, aspirations and contribute equally to it's development and rosy future...........
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