No, it cannot be just another news. No, it cannot happen again. No, we do not want another reason for a candle march. No, we cannot share wishes on happiness day with this heavy baggage on our heads.
No! No! No! It cannot be happening in a country that aspires to be a ‘Vishwaguru’. It’s another day after 12 years, and we are pulled back to 2012 by the instance of another Nirbhaya and her brutal, horrific fate. The shivering incident before Independence Day is a question to the entire nation: Is this what growing India looks like? Aren’t women safe anywhere, not even at a workplace of the likes of the hospital?
The agony is not just this incident. Flip any newspaper, open any broadcast news; one needs to sit with closed eyes to not spot news related to rape. Sadly, it is so ubiquitous that the other instances of sexual harassment or exploitation do not even find space in the media. On the 78th Independence Day, when the entire nation is enveloped in tricolors of “Azadi ka Amritkaal’’, we need to reflect on what we represent, what India stands for, and are we going to keep lighting candles like this and accepting these instances as just news and statistics.
India: Rich History. India has always been a celebrated land of harmonious coexistence. It is a place where scholars like Gargi emerged, warriors like Rani Laxmi bai, Begum Hazrat mahal, socialists like Savitri Phule, and freedom fighters like Usha mehta, Sarojini Naidu and Bina das emerged. India represents a nation where we proudly associate personify the images of ‘Bharat Mata’, right from the times of Abindranath Tagore. Such objectification of women and injustice toward a gender are certainly not the values India carries. That also reflects explicitly in spirit of Indian constitution drafted by our forefathers.
Legal Issue? What is the issue then, it is the lack of appropriate legal measures. Well, one could have argued on the same, but not after 2012, when capital punishment laws are made stringent and legal remedies broadened for women. Even administrative efforts like SOS helplines have been commendable. But is it enough, why hasn’t it stopped those “gender terrorist” from the heinous act.
“Law determines direction in which society should move, however, it is the culture which determine the direction in which society actually moves” Andre Beteille rightly asserted. Law might be in its place with the spirit of socialist constitution, but are our actions, our culture, our outlook justified and righteous?
Society Culture. “We need a boy to carry our name”, “Women after all belongs to other house”. The patriarchy embedded involuntarily in the society has certainly woven a web of social engineering, where the society shapes sexes to the two genders. The rising incidence of “Son meta preference” is clearly evidence of the same, where women are compelled to reproduce till a “Kul Deepak” is born. Recent NHFS survey suggests more than 20 million unwanted girls in the country, in this context.
How is it related to women mistreatment; one might ask? The answer lies in not just the incident but the mindset. Why a boy is given undue superiority in society. Can it not be the reason why they don’t give due respect to the women consent, and not have an egalitarian view and rather see the opposite gender to the extent of an inferior object.
This social engineering is not limited to mentioned effect. Rather it spans through the stereotype toward women to exploitation, sexual abuse and even domestic violence. The preference of women in pink collared jobs and the “Sita Syndrome” associated with the ideal women image for marriage are nothing but an extension of social engineering web the society has woven.
Role of intellectuals. What can an individual do, is generally the perception by most of the intellectuals. However, we forget to recognise, it is every single thread that shape the web we see in front of us.
The roots of this mindset are buried deep enough and even to involuntary levels. It is interesting that we ‘give’ rights to women while men ‘have’ the rights. “We never treated her differently, and always allowed her all the freedom”, is a common statement by the most modern parents the society witnesses. But why don’t we question the need to “give” her freedom. Why we need to “allow” her, while son has “de facto right” over freedom and choice.
As Rumi rightly stated “Yesterday, I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself”. Intellectuals need to be torch bearer of the change toward this mindset. We need to, not just equate, but rather eliminate social construct of genders and see the two sexes with egalitarianism. We need to break this superiority of false manhood, the involuntary and voluntary stereotype, and bring our prosperous nation out of this vicious cycle.
Crying out loud can never be the solution. We need to start changing we wish to see. Start small at your home, your surroundings, enlightening networks, but ignite the candle of change, not a candle of condolence.
Disclaimer : This article was originally published on LinkedIn.
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