The Time is NOW

A simple girl-next-door, out one Sunday evening with her friend to enjoy life just like you and me, was subjected to brutality that has left sane humans speechless. It happened to her one evening and it could happen to my friend or me some other time!

I am, like one of those millions of Indians, shocked, horrified, angry, scared, and most importantly I AM ASHAMED!

• I am ashamed of being a citizen of this country where it has become impossible to guard the sanctity and life of a woman
• I am ashamed that police are busy nabbing girls for lousy Facebook comments rather than taking action against rising crime against women
• I am ashamed that I live in a society where the Khaps decide the fate of a woman, the upper class men have a free hand of molesting and raping the lower class women, where the girl child is killed even before she can come into this world
• I AM ASHAMED THAT I BELONG TO A COUNTRY WHERE ONCE IN 25 MINUTES A WOMAN IS MOLESTED AND ONCE IS 40 MINUTES A WOMAN IS KIDNAPPED AND RAPED

I belong to the so-called ‘new world’, ‘new age’, and ‘progressive’ society where my parents taught me to be a strong individual, do the right things, be successful, be at par with a man. Today, however, looking at the way women are treated by the very men who idolize her form in temples, parliaments, judiciary, I stand confused with what I was taught growing up.

Within 48 hours of the horrific rape and assault, protests, candle-light marches, blogs, social media updates, online petitions, outrage is pouring from all corners. Parliamentarians were trying to come up with stricter norms and laws in order to curb this in future. BIZZARE! It is bizarre if these law-makers woke up to this plight after thousands of rape cases, only increasing year-on-year! I was surprised and shocked when I saw the news flashing of our Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde speaking in the Rajya Sabha today stating that it has been decided that tinted glasses and curtains will be removed from buses. And why was this shocking???

Here’s why:

• The Supreme Court of India had passed a judgment on sun control films / tinted glass in vehicles on May 14, 2012, banning these films throughout the country. Rule 100 of CMVR clearly states that 70 per cent VLT (visual light transmission) on the front and rear glasses and 50 per cent on the side windows should be permitted. But the Supreme Court directive does not accept this anymore. It was mandatory for the cabs and private buses to undergo RTO checking for clearance every year.

•  Further, under a special provision, the Delhi government had allowed about 600 low-floor DTC buses to use tinted glasses, on a temporary basis, for Games duty, which were to be taken off once the Commonwealth Games were over. Many of them, however, were being used as public transport vehicles and not for the Games. Also, no DTC bus has ever been challan-ed for using tinted glasses, so far. An official of the traffic department said they turned a blind eye to these buses since issuing challans to them would have been a huge embarrassment for the Delhi government. The bus in which the girl was brutally raped also had tinted glasses and curtains. Would there have been a slightest possibility that the culprits would have thought twice before committing a crime as heinous as this had the bus been devoid of tinted glass and curtains?

It is time for a change, a constructive, conclusive change for these so called guardians of law to stand up and take notice. The time is now to do things differently, in unison, to start bringing about a change within this regressive society. While there are a plenty of things that could be done, here’s my take on small little steps towards a small change:

•  Slap that guy who tries to grope you in the middle of a busy market place, street, in the bus or train next time. Look into the eyes of that guy who is ‘raping you with his’ eyes at a public place, not with fear, but with rage and strength till he is ashamed of himself 
• Use these protests and pressure tactics positively – we can demand for a death penalty in this one case. What about long term? How do we try and instill fear among these heinous men? Today’s young, educated men who came out in support of the victim are an answer to this – mobilize them, for they could be instrumental in sensitizing young men and women in small towns, they could form support groups – start small, say for instance start with your surroundings (where they live, work) – get them to stop an act or attempt of harassment, molestation
• Why can’t we have an active 911-kind of a support group for crimes against women? We are a huge population – training several jobless men and women to act against these crimes through a helpline should not be too much of an effort, while telecom companies, as part of CSR could help set up toll-free lines or numbers. One missed call to this number could send out an SOS to the police, support groups or the helpline!
• And finally, it is about time we put an end to the attitude of the ‘male’ child of the family being felt important, immortal, special and therefore so powerful that he can get away with anything. Having said that, it is equally important that the women from the weaker sections of the society are empowered so that they are not submissive to domestic violence and they are conditioned to be strong enough to say no! It is time she is given the strength to fight back.

Whether we girls should start carrying pepper sprays or stun guns in our bags from now on is a different case all together, ‘coz if the law and the nation is too weak to protect us, it is time we did it our style and show them the Strength of a Woman!