Sunday, June 8, 2014

Badaun Rape case: Are we here only to blame others?

I have been thinking to opine my thoughts on recent happening in Badaun. What happened on 27th May in Badaun District of Uttar Pradesh (where two teenage girls were gang raped and later were hanged from Mango tree) was brutal and gruesome but who is to blame for? Is this the society, is this the politician, is this the system, is this the media or is it US!
Whenever something like this happens first thing media notices is, in which state it happened and which party has the government there. Then they start bashing the party and politicians from different parties join hands with them, rather than addressing the real problem. It would be much fruitful debate in prime time if after the debate spokespersons have found the solution rather than shouting vociferously to defend the untenable.

The second thing is, politicians start making trips to the place where incident occurred and they make it a tourist spot for a photo op to use it in next elections. Wouldn't it be better if you act swiftly so that it doesn't repeat rather than consoling the parents for the loss the suffered?

Uttar Pradesh has been in bad news since Akhilesh Yadav’s government took over Mayawati’s in March 2012. There is a rape incident almost every day. Can it not be stopped? This certainly can be if they have the will. Everybody though that Akhilesh is young and educated so they voted and gave Samajwadi Party an absolute majority. But then I am reminded of ‘Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely” and this sums up the current situation in UP. It is not only UP, each state is suffering from this problem but UP is notch above from the rest. I come from UP so it pains me deeply when every morning I see the newspaper filled up with these incidents.

I sometimes wonder, do politicians even think while speaking in public. Apathy of politicians is appalling. Let me quote a few:
Mulayam Singh Yadav : ‘Death penalty for rape is unfair, boys make mistakes.’
Babulal Gaur, Home minister of MP: “Sometimes rape is right, sometimes rape is wrong.”
Ram Sewak Paikra, Home Minister Chhatisgarh: “Rape happens by mistake.”
The list is long, but these all were recent remarks made by our politicians. In all of these, one thing which amazes me is that our prime minister hasn't spoken so far who speaks highly about women safety in almost every speech.

The problem is that victim is treated as he/she is guilty and he /she has to look for shelter and offender roams freely. It adds more misery to the victim and his/her family after the incident and this is where we stop believing in justice system.

Can these incidents be abated? Should we depend on the law, politicians, system to prevent such incident from happening again? I think NO. It is a societal problem and we are responsible for it. Law can be made tough but what if a law bearer is also an accomplice in the crime? We need to change ourselves, we need to educate ourselves, we need to speak up and we need to be intolerant and that is how we can make the future better for coming generation.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Very true thoughts Anil. I hate all those 9 o clock shows where people just shout at each other, passing the blame flame , not even trying to find a solution to the problem. Problems are never solved like that.
I guess what society need is to change its outlook and inverse its treatment towards the victim and the perpetrator. They should completely shun the wrongdoer, ask family to disown the person legally, make a database and upload the details of the person to blacklist them, so no one employee them in future.

Pradeep Nair said...

It's extremely unfortunate that in our country there's no place that's safe for women/girls. Always they have to be on the alert about the danger lurking somewhere.
When will we ever learn that this is not politics. It's all the more sad if women are becoming pawns in a political game.

Renu said...

Besides having a good law and order situation we need to bring education and awareness to all..parents must bring up their children with values and girls should be taught to protect themselves..

Anonymous said...

again a well written blog.you have touched almost all aspects in your blog.rising intolerance in our society is big trouble we need to mend. lest it can take monstrous shape in a country like india with whopping diversity.

Anonymous said...

again a well written blog.you have touched almost all aspects in your blog.rising intolerance in our society is big trouble we need to mend. lest it can take monstrous shape in a country like india with whopping diversity.