Sunday 30 January 2011

India's women- are they a cursed lot?

Please watch these video clips-



Patna Incident, July 2009




Birbhum Incident, August 2010

Is this happening in India? Yes Yes and Yes. These two video clips show how we treat our own women, how India shines in molesting and recording its shame. The first incident happened in Patna some time in July 2009 in broad daylight. The girl was aged 22, was molested by a mob of "gentlemen" on a busy market road in Patna in broad daylight. What the onlookers did was far more dirty, they joined the mob in touching her, taunting her and trying to rip off her clothes. Is this what we do in a civilised society to our women? Where is gender equality and gender justice? That it can happen in the capital of a state in India, a major city in daylight, is disturbing. Two years into the incident that caused much uproar, what has been the action taken? Has anyone been arrested? Punished? Three people arrested, one ASI suspended. And further action taken, the punishment they received? So far, no news on that. Nitish Kumar was partly right when he said- " This is also the problem of society. You can change a government, but not the society". What irks the Indian common man today? Is he left with no morals?

What is more shocking is the second incident, which happened in April 2010, in a tribal area of Birbhum, West Bengal. The girl in the video was 17 years old, allegedly in love with a man from another tribal community and as a punitive measure, she was paraded naked in the scorching hot sun, forced to walk 8 kms stretch totally nude. Its horrifying to watch group of men following her, beating drums, thrashing her with sticks whenever she stops. There are many mobile phone cameras happily snapping away and sending MMS of the hapless girl who looks like death itself. Watch how men pounce on her, pull her hands apart and molest her amidst roars of laughter. Its the most shocking and gruelling video i have ever seen online.

And my doubt, what were the onlookers doing here? Simply capturing the women on cameras...Where is the Indian average male's modesty, values, virtue and justice? Ahhhh, that is a tricky question. How can you expect all this from men who pounce on anything available? Chastity of men is a rarity these days, leave alone bringing justice. Where are the women onlookers? Sorry, i cant see them too. Where is the police, called " Friend of the Public"? Sorry, nowhere in the scenes. If this can happen to anyone on the road, where are we living? Some centuries back, in a dark country where beggars and snake-charmers thrive. That is the picture most people in the world have of India and by depicting our women in such shame, we are doing nothing but promoting hatred among us and the others. We read the news, see the videos and promptly forget about the same in a week's time and move on. How is it for the hapless victims? How do they survive a life where their MMS is circulating among millions of people? How traumatising it can be for them? And all this done, what punishments do the culprits get? Anyone to inform me of the jail terms of these culprits? A big NO.

It is absolutely shameful when a society ignores the plight of its women and to say " India Shines" seems a total farce to me...

6 comments:

  1. These r few knwn incident....We don need any concern as Women...all we ask is atleast treat as human.......

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  2. Thanks a lot for your comment Bas Bleu. These known incidents say how many remain unknown to us. That we do something to change the society's outlook on these incidents is more important now. That is what this post aims to, shed atleast some awareness on the plight of women here.

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  3. If a person robs a 50 rupee note the public beat him for an hour an take him to the police. Where the brave of our people gone!!!!!
    The person involved is equal to a terrorist. No mercy on them. KILL HIM...

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  4. Thanks for your comment Josephus. Your comment really makes me happy. Its nice to see younger generation men like you with such sense of concern and justice, which many lack. I appreciate you for your genuine interest in society:)

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  5. i think ths could nt have happenedin 16 or 18 century.prob ifu read old books seems like women wer treated wit gr8 respect. things go otherway around only in a ultra modern society.

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  6. Thanks for your comment:) Though i agree with you partly, i cannot accept what you say about women in 16th century and 18th century. They were not free, take for example, the women of erstwhile Travancore, our today's Kanyakumari dt, where women from lower castes were not allowed to cover their upper torso...Women have remained a restricted lot in our country from the arrival of the British...

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