India's Rape Struggle: Beyond Outrage and Towards Real Solutions
It has been more than a fortnight now since India was shamed by that inhuman deed. She fought hard but finally succumbed to her injuries, both physical and mental, and lost her life today. A lot has been said about it already. Everyone has an opinion. Everyone is emotionally involved and outraged. I too had my moments of outbursts when I proclaimed in front of my friends that these perpetrators should be castrated, their limbs chopped off, and given the death sentence. But in more sober times that followed, I realized that there is something more important than what happens to these culprits or what punishment is given to them.
A lot of people criticized the police for using force to disperse the peaceful protesters. That was really unfortunate and should not have happened. But there is another side to the story as well. The protests got violent. A police constable got killed. Even within that motivated crowd, girls were molested. I am not taking any sides here. But I have witnessed a painful pattern even in the most educated of people, and that is looking at the side of the story that is easier in terms of channeling your anger and totally ignoring the other side of it, just sweeping it under the carpet. And that's why this will not lead to any permanent solution.
There needs to be some objectivity here. Anger, outbursts, and protests are all good. They have often been the motivation behind great things. But you can't let these make judgments for you. No decision taken in outrage has been good. Ever. Hanging the culprits or going a step further and giving them some medieval punishment will not stop rape. Because we are the problem. No law, no matter how effectively it's enforced, can put an end to an evil until it's endorsed by all of us. The rape was heinous, but the fact that after being thrown out of the bus, the girl kept lying on the road - bruised and beaten - for hours is an even bigger blot on our society. No law, no amount of police personnel can stop these incidents until everyone takes it upon themselves.
I noticed one more thing which is by far the most disappointing. That is precisely what prompted me to write this down. I was reading an article about an upcoming movie today, "Inkar" to be specific. The article had the lead actress, Chitrangada, speaking about how she doesn't mind a bold theme, an adult topic or depiction if the motive behind that movie is solid and justified. There were many users who commented on that article. Few of them were of the opinion that "She should be punished" and "These kinds of actresses provoke sexual violence." Just the other day, I was watching the India Pakistan cricket match, and during a condom commercial in the advertisement break, another person - educated and an engineer by profession - said, "Inhi sab ki wajah se rape hota hai!" If you haven't got the link between these two moments and the bigger problem at hand, then I can't explain it to you. You will never get it. The problem is inside our heads. If a woman decides to do a movie about sex, or be in a condom commercial, or run in a bikini behind the Axe-effect man (keeping aside the logical possibility of that happening), that doesn't give you the right to rape her or banish her. It's outrageous that women should stop doing certain things or society should abolish something just because you got provoked and lost your mind. Let's get this straight, you don't decide what she wears or how she conducts herself. And even if she walks down the road naked, you don't have the goddamn right or consent to rape her. As long as dickheads like these exist and such kind of thinking prevails, god help India.
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