It wasn’t just the driver and his accomplices. Such monsters are not raised in a day. It takes meticulous planning. The nation has chalked out plans for this incident for 60 years. The citizens have put intricate details in it which has led to this inevitable feat. We will keep planning. This is not the first time. This is not the end.
While they were raping her, India stood guard. We cheered them as we have cheered such psychopaths a hundred times before. We will cheer them in the future too. After all, we created them.
Are you not finding it coherent? Let me indulge you.
Politicians
You are the real termites of this country. The fact that the country is completely hollow because of you does not deter you. You still prowl like a blood sucking vampire and won’t be satiated till you drink the last drop of blood of our motherland. You were given a task. You took an oath of nation building. You could have stopped what happened. Long time back. Had you looked away from your money mongering, your own chairs, you would have realised the pitiable state in which the women of this country live. You would have made laws to make their lives better. You would have enforced those laws. But then they were not your vote banks. They could not turn your chair over. And now you call a rape victim ‘Zinda Laash’ (alive corpse)? You are not helping here to make them feel normal and accepted. Stop using a raped woman to advance your political motives. Stop shedding crocodile tears. Sexual harassment law is lingering in the parliament since 2005. If there is an iota of shame in your soulless body, stop being a virus. You have done enough harm. Do we have to carry you like an albatross around our necks for the rest of our lives?
Law enforcers
Your job is not to scare citizens. Your job is not to harass a rape victim. Your job is not to pass comments on the morality of women when they come to you for help. You are no better than the politicians. The very people whom you should be protecting are scared to come to you. You think that the women who report rape eye monetary advancements out of it. You think they are of loose moral values. And sometimes you even rape an already raped woman who has come to you for help. It is because of law enforcers like you that we are in this state. It is because of you that these rapes happen unabated, because you lack the will to protect. Because you have no idea what your job entails. Because you treat your job as a money-making machine. That girl is fighting for her life in a hospital because of the shameful negligence with which you have carried out your responsibilities over the last 60 years.
Media
You have already pushed the news to page 4 after Narendra Modi’s win in Gujrat. It shows where your concern lie. A story is masala for a few days till a bigger one washes it away. You would have kept the candle burning. You would have encouraged the people to bring the outcry to a logical end. But like the law enforcers, you have sold yourself to the termites.
And Bollywood – Congratulations for providing the much-needed objectifying of a woman’s body through the media. Yes, that is exactly what this sexually oppressed nation wants for entertainment. With all your Chikni Chamelis and Halkat Jawanis, you have done the harm. So, do us a favour. Do not shed crocodile tears for that girl lying in the hospital because you are equally responsible for raising those monsters that night. You have been brainwashing this country since decades – propagating sexual harassment euphemistically as eve-teasing. You have so menacingly raised those street-side Romeos who then splash acid on a girl because they could not differentiate between reality and cinema. Knowing very well that this is a powerful media, you could have changed the course, taken up responsibility. But you too, like the rest, turned things to your advantage. You kicked an already regressive society into the pit of regression in the name of masala entertainment.
And stop portraying rape victims as unwanted and shunned by society. Grow up and snap out of that money-making brain of yours.
We, the Citizens
Yes, we are the worse offenders. The citizens of this nation. Every time we treat our mothers, sisters, daughters and wives as secondary, we contribute towards this choking patriarchal society which then acts as an umbilical chord that feed those monsters. Every time we tell our daughters that they are weaker than boys, we stomp their mind with self-doubts. Every time we stop the education of our daughters because our son has to study, we help those monsters grow manifold. Putting our daughter-in-laws in place, killing girls in the womb, putting restrictions on women, not allowing them to follow their dreams – all these acts have fuelled the events to culminate to the mess we are in right now. We even have the audacity to question the morals and circumstances of a victim since she is not related to us. We have turned into selfish creeps who stand and stare at acts of crime. We tsk tsk rape victims as if it was their fault.
We have been doing this from the last 60 years. Have we not raised these silent equivalent of terrorist camps in our own houses? We have been drawing a dividing line and now it is permanent, raising Frankensteins one after another. Why are we recoiling now? It was we who gave courage to that man to insert a rod in a woman’s vagina.
A society which comes to this does not deserve a second chance. How I wish the Mayans were right.
Mother India has been continuously raped since our independence – by politicians, by law enforcers, by media and by us. She is wounded with bruises filled with pus. And we are that pus. Feeding on her. Killing her slowly. Her own children.
And that is her curse.
No, it wasn’t just the driver and his accomplices who raped the girl that night. And they are not the only one who should be hanged.
Mashed Musings 
you completed it, every one are selfish!!!!! the laws need to be change, they kept rules thinking the citizen will be up to this much, but when the exceed the thing what is been expected than in olden days, create a rule!! why you seeing a pity for the one who raped a lady!!! but not to a girl!!!!!!!! They are named as you said, but why the girl alone need to take the name of victim! I bet you once this situation subsidies, there will be yet another one!!! Its India that’s why every one take it for granted
What is the point of collecting statistics just for the heck of it? Rules have to be modified with changing times but then in India nothing happens till people come out on the streets or till a few people die.
I wonder even after it anything happens!!!!! none cared about it, We citizen come up for things like this, but when a govt passed a rule, to remove the tinted glass, many failed to do, if the owner of the bus obeyed the law, it would have been far better now!!!! and the cops, when a vehicle passes in night after 9 at night must be thoroughly checked, None has a afraid towards the rules and laws, every one got a mind set as, what ever we do, if we throw some money things will be cool,rules must be strict, money is just a paper with some value but there is no value for the humanity. If Govt put a rule be strict in it, when a bottom of the tree bends naturally will be bent down, who asked a tinted glass. I found the very stupid idea of hitting with water to make the mob to run! I can only scream and let out my anger, but at the end, india remains the same
Tinted glasses are not the reason the rape happened. In retrospect there was no way the crime could have been stopped once it started. Yes if they had clear windows and were roaming around the city, they would have been caught….maybe… But they wouldn’t be fearlessly parading around the world if that had been the case, now would they? They’d have taken them to some remote location where nobody would see them and dropped them there…. Nobody to pick them up there…both would have died.
The problem is in this case we think there is a quick easy solution. there isn’t. You have deter, demotivate and deglorify the criminals. YOu have to make them beleive they will be caught if they attempt to do something like this. This can be done by lady cops dressing down in casuals and arresting anyone who molest/harasses them.
Second, demotivate… While I could tell you this will be done, I prefer not to right now. Deglorify: Have we seen the faces of the people who committed this crime. When punjab police arrested some people accused of gangrape, the faces of the accused were covered. We never see them. They get more anonymity than the victim,.
And tougher laws? Laws are tough enough/ The problem is they aren’t implemented. If the police refuse to register a case, what can the court do ? What will stringent punishment achieve if the guy is not punished in the first place. Instead of talking about stringent laws, we must implement the ones we have currently. Rapists can get 7 years to life depending on the severity of the crime. 7 years is a long time.
Hanging rapists will not achieve anything. Its impractical first of all. The state should only have power to kill in the rarest of rarest cases. Where act of violence leads to death of the victim and it is judged to be a cruel form of death. You don’t want to give the give the state the power to kill. No sir
You are right Amit. Sharing it.
Thanks for sharing IHM.
A curse for lifetime and we all are a part of it. I today read Kareena and other leading ladies of the bollywood saying something in the paper about this and thought where your good sense goes when you heave your bosoms and titillate your butts at fevicol and other item songs..
I read Katrina’s statement a few days back. I have no idea how stardom can make you so blind.
wow..this is so powerful! thanks for sharing!! Rape is not a crime of sex or desire, but a crime of power and anger..my wishes for a healthful recovery for her and all other women in the world.
Thanks Kathi. Yes, it is a game of power and we have maintained those equations steadily since the last 6 decades.
yes Kathi, i too feel that its just a showcase of power and anger. we citizens and encouraging it by not acting upon..
Amit, you are right, every person is responsible of the act someway or the other..just wish all this was not true.. yesterday after this news, i even read abt two more rape cases in news paper, one in Lucknow, where 38 yr old was raped by 3 men at bus stand and another 13 year old raped at Ashram at vizag by a so called saint. just so depressing..
Ashreyamom
Yes, it keeps piling up, doesn’t it?
They are registered. Culprits are caught and some of them might be convicted. But that is not a foolproof preventive action. The responsibility lies with us too. The key is a change in mindset.
I agree.Everytime a mother is inflating her sons false sense of superiority and right to dominance she is getting a stage ready for her daughter to be raped in future.
I love my indian culture…..
We fight for justifying our culture moment we go abroad and questioned about sorry state of India
Exactly. We think what we are doing stays inside our homes but it has a ripple effect once the son goes out.
This is still noy declared as a National Disaster why?
I can understand Ur angst. am seething with similar anger but the point is how to even safeguard our selves ?? me and my frnd were discussing day before. 3 to 4 frnds told how they have to come across oglers and much scary people in and around Noida even when they r with husbands..
WAT CAN WE DO AMIT
i am sleepless from 2 days.. .. i can never travel in public transport with out getting scared and doubting every one !!!even IF WE CARRY some pepper spray or knife to safeguard.. .can we really safeguard ??
It happens in a split of second that mind stops working. Every woman in India must hav faced one or the other form of eve teasing
Anurag kashyap told —– “Cinema is second religion in India” so we also shud be responsible when portraying women. Not sure how many do their part. I also felt same abt the sheila ki jawani kinda songs but NONE GETS turned on by a heroic effort or good things shown in movie- NO BODY COMES To rescue upfront. No body wants to b part of the heaped mess
CROCODILE TEARS- ah tell me abt it. The other day when jaya bachan cried. I wanted to tell her to jst shut the F up. she was so fake so dramatic contly telling that the girl has to roam on streets now agar bach gai to …kaise normal jeeyegi wo.. even if she will be able to live these ppl will never let her live normally.
NO WONDER there r so many cine stars in politics that it all seems to be bollytricks to me .FED UP SAD and vexed. I Dont say other metros r safe bt am fed up of living here..
US chose obama to lead them again, we chose women leaders to lead us who cant even boldly say that they will take measures to increase security. WHICH LEADER Shud we actually choose ?? With Modi who stands chance to be A PM I see no future in our country.
I hav a lot to say but saying & expressing can only let out the angst and frustration. nothing more. Do sign the petition for death penalty if at all it can help . Something I felt like writing (not that it will destroy the criminals). Am just praying some change in law happens for real this time . Other wise the only way to stop su ch crime is to kill a girl child- sad but true
http://afshan-shaik.blogspot.in/2012/12/if-you-are-draped-you-wont-be-raped-eh.html
Afshan,
In all the situations where a human is surrounded by ten others, there is no way to save yourself unless you have a gun. But why should such a situation arise?
The problem is that this mess is of our own doing. And unless we change, that is the way it is going to be.
And believe me, its not only women who are scared to venture out in this country. Their families are equally distressed.
A few days back, there was an Annual day function in Geet’s school and she came back by 10 pm. I knew she would be the last one to be dropped and this somehow made me paranoid. I was constantly talking to her.
This is the kind of lives we lead, where we have to fear for our family. Where we cannot enjoy a single thing without thinking about the worst that could happen.
I agree
thats why I told having a girl child is like a curse in India 😦 I dont kno when the thinking process will change but only thing is a m too sad and scared
I have to agree with “Cinema is second religion in India”. Countless movies have shown the majnu dancing and singing around an otherwise reluctant girl who secretly enjoys his flirtations(blatantly public ones at that) and ultimately gives in. This is not how its supposed to work. If a girl says no, its no….The noble lesson is: if you love her, and persist, she will give in and love u too.
This is the theme of every second movie made in bollywood. And what lessons to people learn? They cut out the love part. They just beleive that the singing and dacing and teasing are okay and will find them love. When it doesn’t work, they rape. That’s the lesson anyways.
A similar anti was shown on Television from 2000-06 when the concept of women frequenting classy bars or clubs was evascing. The serials would show the women who went to bars or clubs…or hung out with mixed companies in a negative light and almost always they ended up getting raped or molested. The message was cleaR: if you drink or have fun, u get raped.
We didn’t stop those. Hell some girls even said it was okay since drinking is a bad thing. So agreed most of them were kids then…but the idea that wat someone else does is anybody’s business but their own is offensive.
ACP Dhoble the nightlife killer in mumbai used to go around clubs and bars of mumbai and arrest women on charges of prostitution. acutally not prostitution since that is legal, but public indecency… and sent them to reform homes. He saw women who frequented pubs and bars to be prostitutes.
This is why rapes happen. because they have social sanction.
Reblogged this on The Rebel.
Thanks for Reblogging Metherebel.
Sharing this…
Thanks Nidaa.
Shared it Amit.
You are so right. Like I said on my blog, even a harmless comment in favor of a boy child or his mistakes upsets me, that attitude exactly has given rise to this. 😦
Thanks Jazz.
Yes, there are very small things which won’t even register in our brainwashed minds but all of us make terrible mistakes in the way we treat women. Mistakes that culminate into incidents like these.
Actually, no child, girl or boy, should be given preferenial treatment. I’ve been observing indian families and social functions for some time since these and in reality, the girl’s version of events is often taken as true and boys often unfairly punished, sometimes severely. Look into the eyes of those children-the hurt and anger in the boys’ eyes and the triumph in the girls’. And once they’re a little older, we worsen it by vilifying sexuality while at the same time watching vulgarity worse than porn in bollywood movies. This, with the residual power issues from childhood, creates these monsters.
I don’t agree with this line of thought. A girl child is suppressed much more than a boy in our society. That does not turn a girl into a monster. So why is it the other way round. There is much more in the equation than a simple preferential treatment.
There is much more of course. But a full analysis of the biological and societal evolutionary causes for rape is a thesis, not a comment. My point is that we should be careful to be completely neutral in the way we treat children. If the weaker child is in the wrong, he or she is still in the wrong, and our protective instincts should be curtailed. I saw the scenario i mentioned earlier play out numerous times in my youth, and those boys who were unfairly rebuked by adults including their own parents are still friends and acquaintances. I know how they think about women. Perhaps its natural that those of us who were quieter and seldom got into trouble went on to have less malevolence in us, but i cant help but think that my fathers generation’s double standards contributed. Whenever i’ve spoken to my dad about it, he tells me women and girls need to be protected, which is obviously a sentiment most of us share innately (now a father of a daughter, i caught myself doing the same thing the other day, when i had a suspicion my daughter was the instigator of the trouble; the look in that boy’s eyes stopped me, but he’d already been humiliated by then). Because what these men (my friends and acquaintances) say about women reflects more than lust; for the most part it is resentment or the desire to prove that they are better. None of them have raped to my knowledge though…
I’ve been saying it from the start – we are all guilty here. We let the laws stay on paper instead of demanding they be enacted. We allowed rape after rape, molestation after public molestation to occur and we didnt force stricter laws… this passiveness empowered the next set of hooligans.
The present bunch of politicians are imbeciles… the perfect reason for a Right to Recall bill to be passed.. but oh wait ! Who’s gonna pass it ? Them ?
This country is gone to the dogs…
Also, things get highlighted in Delhi because it is the capital. There are thousand of cases in small towns and remote areas which are lost in our disgusting system.
I will not be surprised if a similar case appears three months later.
We aleady have two more rapes reported in the last two days, one with a three year old.
I agree.
Media is the worst. One news today blows away the last news. This is turn wipes out people’s memory. I dont think anybody gives a thought to the Guwahati episode now.
I was switching channels last night and only one channel was running this story. The rest were all splashed with Gujrat elections.
Well, Guwahati molesters are behind the bars. It was swiftly done thanks to the public anger.
Well it’s very easy to blame media. But do they really deserve it? At least in this regard that media has forgotten since Gujarat election results are here. The front page news changes everyday and change is the only constant. Every news has a particular shef life and beyond that it moves from page 1 to 4, editorial, op ed etc. Media can’t & shouldn’t be blamed for this particular aspect.
I don’t agree. Media is a very powerful tool. This is one medium that cuts across all the barriers. It is not difficult to keep a news alive, to keep people bound together for the cause, to keep the anger alive.
There are certain things that should be beyond shelf live.
Of course media is a very powerful tool. All the anger and the few action that has been taken can be dedicated to media. Media has kept the news alive but you can’t really ignore a hardcore political news. Gujarat polls is a big news and the media houses couldn’t help but keep it on front. Being a journalist myself I can empathize their pressure. But the news hasn’t been totally demolished. Almost all the media houses are carrying the news from every possible angle and trust me it won’t be forgotten so soon. Hopefully the news would be a page 1 story soon with a positive news.
I sincerely hope what you are saying comes true. And I hope all this does not end with just punishing the criminals for this case and some permanent action is taken.
True. There needs to be something really harsh which will make these rapists think 1000 times to do such a thing.
As always, brilliantly written. I completely agree. It begins with US. We did this to her. And the saddest part is, with rapes happening every single day, it actually took an event of this brutality and horror to make us wake up and start demanding what we should have asked for, decades back 😦
Ash,
The saddest part is that security will be beefed up in the metropolitain cities only. The rest of India will go on as usual. I was reading a news yesterday where a rape happened in West Bengal a day before this incident. The police was not very keen on taking up that case. And when this rape happened in Delhi and caught media attention, they sprung into action before they could be sucked up in a controversy.
Every single female in this country when asked will have some incident to narrate when asked about sexual harassment, so much filth that it makes me ashamed,scared.
And the worst is people feel that it will not happen with them. Sharing this!!
I agree. I don’t think there is any woman in this country who has not once been made to pay a price for her gender.
Thanks for sharing this.
Strongly agree with you !!!
Amit, First of all I want to say that I am so proud of you. I had given up on any hope but you brought it back through this post. You called yourself a male feminist in your ‘about-me’ section and this post proved it more than just right. Men like you, bring back hope of a better nation. After-all, there is more to our society than just rapists and the categories of people mentioned in this post.
The fact that a woman can see a ray of hope through this post which mirrors the corrupt state of affairs of India, is enough to keep us going. We need more men of your kind. Thanks for this post, which came as a silver lining in the cloud. You gave me hope. And that is what is required to change the scenario upside down.
I think he is one of the few normal man born and kept in that state by his family so that he can use his brain.Congrats you are a normalist or equalist amit.not any male feminist may be yes as per others
I don’t know what ‘ist’ I am. I just want to live in a world where everyone is free to roam fearlessly and not judged.
Akanksha,
There are a lot of sane people in this country and thank God for that. If it was not for the wave of sanity that has swept the nation in the last 2 days, we would have been finished.
Thank you for all those words. I have not been able to think straight in the last two days. What kind of people are these? In what kind of a world are we bringing up our children?
Yes, hope is our best alley right now. And anger.
Totally agree. Especially the media part. Whatever happened to that case where the girl was molested on the road a few months back?? Poster size Photos of the perpetrators were put up on roads. I don’t think there is any follow up on the rape cases that are lodged. The low-lifes may at least think once before committing murder but they won’t fear committing a rape as they know they will not be caught.
Are you talking about the Guwahati case? All of them are behind the bars for 2 years. I hope they will not be out on bail in a few months.
That’s good, I searched for it and couldn’t find anything on the net.
Here, I found this – http://www.firstpost.com/india/guwahati-molestation-case-11-accused-sentenced-to-2-years-jail-549876.html
Brilliant. Bang on.
Thanks Ash.
Agree with you. True facts well presented. Society makes the criminals. Sadly, it takes ages for the victims to get the justice they deserve. Remember Hetal Parekh case? It took around 15 yrs for the rapist to get hanged.
There are thousands of such cases. There are incidences of such horrible nature that your very soul cries out. You have to be really inhuman to turn a blind eye to them, the way our law makers have time and again done.
sends me chills down the spine when I think of this. Her health, body, soul, mind is wasted and tarnished thanks to a bunch of bastards, and many more out there who would continue to do so since we only believe in trials with no outcomes. Theres something our law should learn from the Arabs i say!
Poonam,
I hope she gets up and live her life to the fullest and be very very happy. That will be a mighty slap.
Really? That a woman who doesnt cover up is welcoming rape? Or that a rape victim should be stoned to death perhaps?
Are you really that naive?
The reply was a belated one to the ‘learn something from arab law’ remark. Indian law is better. At least in law, rapists, not the victims, are to blame
What she meant was that we should learn how they punish the guilty. That does not necessarily means that we should stone the guilty to death but it is more about providing a swift justice which we definitely lack.
Bang on post, Amit. You have covered all the reasons. What more can I say that has not been said. Only one sentence — I really wish it was Apocalypse :(.
Thanks Rachna. Yes, for once, I really wish the Mayans were right. 😦
The post sums it up all. Personally, I strongly believe that the halkat jawanis are a big source of the problem. Bollywood treats women as commodities.I have often written about it. But right on top is the political class where several MLA’s are rape offenders themselves. I fear this girl comes out and does not become an Aruna Shaunbaug who lies in a vegetative state since 1973. What can be worse than that? Not death, not life imprisonment, not stone pelting…nothing.
http://www.alkagurha.com/2012/07/booze-babes-and-bawdy-lyrics.html
Yes, it is. Since Bollywood and all the other ‘woods’ are a major source of entertainment in this country, we cannot imagine the kind of effect such kind of portrayals can have on the brain of an already sexually oppressed man.
She is still not out of it. The doctors are not able to curb the infection completely although they have removed the ventilator.
Amit, I can only partially agree with you. Whenever some mishap like this happens, everyone always blames politicians and media. Nobody ever turns a mirror to their face and think what they could have done to avoid such things. So I believe there is only one root cause for all this and thats your point no.4 – we the citizen.
The politicians are chosen by us, the media and bollywood caters to our needs. There wont be a change unless majority of Indians change. Can people stop going for a movie which shows females being treated like trash? Can people stop voting for a politician who makes sexist statements?
Its easy for everyone to blame others and just sit back and relax. We need to put part of the blame on ourselves and think what we can do. There is no magic formula for fixing this, but it will come over time when we as a society evolves.
Arun,
I agree with you that the politicians are chosen by us and media shows us what we want to see and if we stop supporting it, they will be finished. But looking it from another angle, don’t politicians and media have a mind of their own? Surely they are not just puppets dancing to our tunes. They can think. They have the ability to understand what responsibility means, they can differentiate between right and wrong. They are a part of this system as much as we are and are equally responsible.
Well, those are stunning blows and then maybe they are not. It seems we, the nation are all skin. Thick Skin. No soul, no heart, no conscience, no brains, no life! This is a cunt-country, sir! That is all we seem to have on our minds. Yes, millions would like to object to that but why the exception? Who has elected those representatives that bray their asses out in the citadels of democracy? Instead of shedding Niagaras of crocodile tears, couldn’t they have passed a legislation and ordinance to ensure speedy retribution? To what altar of jurisprudence prayers of legal proceedings are being performed? Why can’t the court dispense justice NOW? What witnesses are being awaited? Will God and his Angels materialise somehow? We would have done nothing if we fail to hang them before the sun sets on 2012. The maximum period permissible for justice to take its course should be one month in such heinous acts. And anyone 15 years and above will have to be dealt equally. No ‘minor-delinquent crap please’. If they can do it, they will have to take it. Anyone assisting and abetting the act will have to be treated at par. Let this be our prime agenda for governance. Let us all vote for a party whose election manifesto has this at number one. Let us have a Balatkari Jalaao Party.
Your comment (Let us have a Balatkari Jalaao Party) reminded me of something from long past. The small town where I grew up, used to be a secular, placid, safe and amiable town. It is none of these now, and I saw the degradation speed up sometime in 90’s. Around that time, one day I heard of a new “promising” young politician, whose uncle was a teacher in our school. I do not remember the first name of the former. I left the town soon, so I really have no knowledge of the graph of the young man’s political career. But it had struck me as a sign of times even then when I heard about him, because I was told in the same breath that his nickname was Balatkari Pandey, as he had raped many women. I suppose people were suitably impressed to confer on him a nickname as flattering.
Ha! Precisely why I said there is so much thick skin around that we’d be hard put to find a soul. Thanks for the reply. On a side note, that surname made me wince!
🙂 I did hesitate before pressing post 🙂 But it has a certain menacing and powerful ring to it, what a politician would covet.
Uma,
We are more than just a cunt country. We are incredibly lazy and laid-back. It takes a monstrosity or a life threatening situation to spring us in action. Remember the attack on the parliament? The politicians do not even have the dignity to punish someone who attacked them directly. Do you think they will help us until we hold their collars?
In addition, we are extremely selfish. Desperately selfish. A country where people cannot even wait for the pedestrians to cross the road, what better do you expect? Will they get down from their cars to help someone?
After 5 days of people hollering on the streets, the Delhi government has decided to set up 5 fast track courts in Delhi for rape cases. What about the rest of the nation? Delhi is not India. But does anyone care?
” Every time we treat our mothers, sisters, daughters and wives as secondary, we contribute towards this choking patriarchal society which then acts as an umbilical chord that feed those monsters. Every time we tell our daughters that they are weaker than boys, we stomp their mind with self-doubts. Every time we stop the education of our daughters because our son has to study, we help those monsters grow manifold. Putting our daughter-in-laws in place, killing girls in the womb, putting restrictions on women, not allowing them to follow their dreams – all these acts have fuelled the events to culminate to the mess we are in right now. We even have the audacity to question the morals and circumstances of a victim since she is not related to us. We have turned into selfish creeps who stand and stare at acts of crime. We tsk tsk rape victims as if it was their fault.”
Absolutely spot on Amit. You have said it all.Sharing your words.
Thanks for sharing Indyeah.
Well written. Wonderful post, thank you.
Thanks Nomad.
@Nomad oh you are here..I was going to direct you to this great blog.
They sowed the seeds , we reap the poison fruits.
One thing I feel we need to insist- the bollywood- people, stop travelling by private transport, chikni can dance as much as she wants , and show it on screen, provided, she will travel by Mumbai trains and Delhi, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore buses!
Yeah, maybe they should do that at least once. They will never come near a dance number again.
Excellent idea! Am all for it! Yeah, people who simply rave and rant on TV and then propagate such ideas through their behaviour on TV should be made to use public transport!
Wow! I’m sharing this on FB.
Thanks Rajk.
shared on my FB….i am scared, terrified and depressed. for the first time in my 31 years of existence…I am carrying a baby…and have been praying for a daughter all along…honestly, since Monday I am not very sure…
Please. Pray for a girl. Otherwise you are just allowing them to win. That is exactly what they want.
Thanks for sharing.
😦 I don’t have kids yet but have often dreamt of a girl when I do have one. But after what the country has been reduced to, its becoming a fear. That’s what this and other such incidents before this one have done 😦 Its become a free for all. With no fear of any kind of retribution 😦
Reblogged this on Rashid's Blog.
Thanks Rashid.
My Pleasure.very well written
Amit , this is by far the most thought provoking article i have read for this case. Its probably why i love tv shows like satyamev jayate and roadies (especially the auditions) . Reblogging it
Thanks Ashley.
And thanks for reblogging it.
Reblogged this on She Who Must Not Be Named and commented:
Great article shedding light on the most talked about gang rape. This much attention given by media should also be given to women who are raped by a single man as well. Its equally traumatising and equally hurtful. I dream of an india where i can freely walk after midnight in any dress without fearing for myself.
nothing is going to change. i am sure, things will be back to normal soon. news channels have increased their TRP, we have demanded for a stringent punishment for the rapists and have taken a moral high ground.
recently i read somewhere that the guwahati molesters have been granted bail! the judge who granted the bail and the cops who treated them like VIPs in the cell are the ones supposed to enforce the law. that news is of no use for media any more and we have forgotten that incident as well.
i stay away from print and electronic media because such news only make me angry and that’s it. thankfully, i don’t know much about this incident. i just hope that she recovers soon and things get back to normal for her as well.
Debs, Delhi Govt is setting up 5 fast track courts for rape cases. It is a very small step but in the right direction. There is a lot to be done in terms of sensitizing police force and changing our own mindset.
Guwahati molesters are in jail for 2 years. The bail was granted earlier when the case was not yet started.
If you don’t know much about this incident, you are really lucky. My brain is burning from the last 3 days.
Brilliant post…now on a reading spree at your blog since your blog is one of the few blogs blocked at work!
Thanks Reema. It is blocked for a lot of people. Don’t know why. 😦
I hate it when people pat each others back and praise them for the ability to move on. It happened with the blasts. It happens everytime.
Reading this moved me so much because this is the rage I felt as well. And then, my maasi told me of several several such instances that are happening rampantly but only don’t get publicized. Sometimes, the girl is threatened to stay mum else they will sell the videotaped version in the paan shop. I hate to type this but I promised myself that I would do a post on it as well.
“How I wish the Mayans were right” – I love life. It is really disappointing that something can overshadow it and make us feel so low and depressed and angry all at once.
The reason we are in this situation is because we have moved on too many times.
Exactly. It is just one among thousands of cases. A majority of them go unreported.
I love life too kismitoffeebar but I think this planet needs some serious cleansing.
Resilience was supposed to be a commendable trait. Right now I hate it. I do not want to simply move on – because for a lot of the above sections as Amit has named, out of sight is going to be out of mind. And I am still angry. Yes, I agree with Amit. I would have easily settled for the end of the world.
What has happened in the last one year has woken up everyone. It started with the Anna movement but people now have the courage to come out and protest. Resilience cannot work in a country like ours. We are done with living and being treated like dogs.
I think I have commented already but don’t know where that has disappeared! Btw, You have been perfectly correct as for every detail you have mentioned and that I just happen to read your “open letters to all the molesters and rapists”. Only when the society doesn’t stop forgetting these incidents, they won’t happen again. I can bet that this incident will be forgotten very soon. When a cricket match happens, when a favorite hero movie releases, when a job promotion is given, when petrol price is hiked, when a new discount is given…. This will be forgotten! And hence nothing can be done Amit 😦 Only when we scorn at those incidents and keep this in our heart and take a oath that we must never let it happen, it won’t Amit.. Sadly the condition is not so… And not 3 days after this incident, a tennage girl was raped and murdered in TN sir, what should be done to these bastards?!
Harikishna,
I don’t think anyone forgets such incidents. We always live under the fear that this might happen to us too. The problem is that we have a family to feed. We have to work 10 hours every day to put food on our table. That is why no one can go and sit at India Gate every day. That is why politicians wait, allow things to cool down because eventually life will take over.
I am hopeful that changes will take place because things are a different crescendo now. Just hope the political parties do not do something more stupid like they did yesterday. The police was allowed to beat girls with lathis yesterday. They are just making everyone more angry.
First of all great post Amit !! I was wondering since past few days exactly what is it that I am feeling.. Reading your post now I know the exact words for my thoughts !!
The worst part is today’s news says … Lawmakers are thinking of implementing death penalty in rarest of rare cases of rape … I mean how can you term a rape as rarest case … Every act is as shameful and disgusting as the other … The only thing that can be rare is a politician or a politician kin not involved in this heinous act … For sure it would be safely termed as rare and death penalty awarded to that common monster … Such is the pitiful state of law in our country !! I donno what to expect 😦
For once even I wish Mayans were right … And it would be a complete new beginning !!!
Sharing it ..
You are right Pratibha Patil pardons many rapists and rarest of the rare bu doesnt pardon Beant singhs and Rajiv Gandhis killers.Why…
Thanks Asmita.
Someone did ask them in the press conference what rarest of rare means and they had no coherent answer. God knows what they are doing. I just hope that nothing bad happens today. There was no reason to hurl teargas yesterday when they knew that there were school children in the crowd.
I don’t even understand what ‘rarest of rare’ means. Are there going to be limits to what amount of force/torture can be used in a rape? What if the rapists know just how much they can push the limits so that it doesn’t fall into the ‘rarest of rare’ set? And where the hell is rape rare anyway today?
I have been searching the internet for this and found this article which made some sense – http://www.dailymail.co.uk/indiahome/indianews/article-2252625/Rapists-death-penalty-Why-introducing-capital-punishment-rape-wouldnt-guarantee-noose.html
It is just a facade to buy some more time.
Thanks Amit – will check that out. I guess the point I am trying to make is – I’m not pushing for the death penalty – not against it either. Because sometimes I feel they’d get off too easy, other times I feel that they deserve it. It might act as a deterrent. All I think is a rape is a rape. Period. Regardless of what the sentence is – it should be the same for all cases. As long as the true rapist is apprehended, charges are proven – the sentence should be effective. I don’t understand what makes one rape rarer than the other.
Because her clothes provoke you, you should rape her.Should I break your face because your stupidity provokes me.
I think it is just ….I am sure all poor atitude men get that….
Spot on! Completely agree, WE, the citizens, are as much to be blamed, if not more, as the perpetrators, for the twisted mindsets, for the gory gruesome incidents.
Oh yes, I wish too the Mayans were right!
Thanks Deeps.
I have always wondered why these so called Foreign Educated, Well Established, Earning almost at par to her male counterpart, Heroines can’t use their brains and say NO to such sleazy numbers?
I am so depressed Amit that I can’t even write a comment at any blog where they have written about this case.
Oh and btw FB is another depressing place where people share links with pics and you get to see such violent comments like “rape the rapists mother/daughter/wife/sister”. Is that the solution? So if you rape a rapists relative doesn’t that count as a heinous crime too? and why do we have to drag the entire family into everything? I am terrified seeing such comments coz these are the very people who given a chance in a crowd can do anything.
I have no idea what I am trying to say here…I am that disturbed!
Why will they say no to them? After all they get established because of such numbers. They have a career to take care of after all.
FB is an extension of real life. You will always find idiots there. Do what you will do in real life. Either slap them hard or ignore them.
I had a heated discussion some time back with a guy who thought that same Gotra marriage is incest. Can you freaking believe that? A guy on FB talking shit like that? Yes, education has nothing to do in the making of an as*hole. Our politicians are a living proof of that too.
Great post Amit. I have been so disturbed by this. I just can’t imagine how those beasts could do this to a girl. That too the reason being “to teach her a lesson”!!!. What lesson?? She prevented her friend from getting beaten and shouted at those who were passing comments on her and her friend. So, what is that she should have done? She should have smiled and ignored all what they comment is it? Since she raised her voice,they wanted to rape her is it? What mentality is that??
And what was all that torture with iron rods and spanners??? Did they not think even for 1 minute about the horrible things they were doing? How can they turn so violent and mad? That is the most disturbing part. Even as a woman, I just can’t imagine what that girl would’ve gone through. It’s sheer brutality and psycho behaviour. How could they even think of doing those things to her. I shudder every time I think about it.
Yes, we the people are to blame here. Girls are treated as second class. Education has still not changed people’s mindsets. I know of educated and men in good jobs who talk such crap and have such horrible thinking about women. They say “she deserves it”. (I’m not referring to this gang-rape case here). They hit their wife in anger and then say “she deserves it, she provoked me” etc etc.
Mother’s who raise such sons are the culprits. They turn a deaf ear and blind eye to all they do,support them and then nothing/nobody can control them. Our movies and serials keep showing the same things too.
What is the use of having fast track courts and cases and convicting these kind of people when the President comes in and pardons them? Here the PM has not even opened his mouth on this issue. The whole city is up in arms and he can still sit so quietly and not even condemn this sort of behaviour. What a contrast to heads of other countries who immediately address their people on whatever issue comes up.
In India, a common’s man/woman’s life and rights are not important at all. That is the truth. There is nowhere we can turn to for support or justice. Why else would women get raped in police stations, where they go for help.
I just want to add one more thing–what if posters and ads are put up everywhere that “If you rape anyone, you might get HIV/AIDS..so beware. DO NOT RAPE”. will this deter people???
And last – these kind of people should be chemically castrated and put in prison, they would suffer much more and end up suffering all their life.
Sorry for taking so much space–but I just can’t stop ranting.
It’s all right Liju. We all are immensely angry. All the points you have made are completely valid. Drilling them in the citizens on this great nation is an uphill task. When this happens, that will be the day this nation will be truly independent.
You’ve hit the proverbial nail on the head Amit. 😦 I echo your concerns too – its not healthy living a life where you’re always fearing for someone to return home and to make sure they’re safe. 😦 But that’s what its come to. I hate how even after 60 years we seem to be no better in this respect. How do we agree to having politicians on payroll who have been indicted on murder/rape charges? How did we get to be a nation of mute bystanders? When did it get so bad? How did it? I am hopeful of the protests and public outcrys which are helping with fast trials like the Guwahati, but that should not become the norm. What happens to cases which do not make it to the limelight? We cannot depend on public outcry or the Supreme Court to intervene every time. The Law has to be amended, for everyone. And no more of the ‘rarest of rare’ bullshit again!
Isn’t it strange? Our minds are never at rest. There is always a monstrosity playing on television. There is always someone playing with our lives. There is always someone scaring us. What kind of a country is this? Is this how hell is like?
This case got the limelight because 1) It happened in Delhi 2) The brutality of the way the girl was treated.
Just a few days after this rape happened, police in Faridabad refused to lodge FIR for another girl who was raped by her landlord.
Where does all this end? Authorities are still callous. Even after all this.
This one hit hard and I am speechless. I feel quite ashamed and appalled by these happenings. Thankfully, i don’t have TV and don’t read newspapers. Only the internet.
Joy always,
Susan
Thanks Susan. Yes, ashamed and appalled and angry. The last week has been really sad not only because of the incident but also because of the way authorities handled it.
Amit, I read this again. Such a hard hitting post. And you are so right. Indians, as a society, are to blame. The thinking here is so warped.
As I wrote in my latest post… Rape is NOT the real disease that plagues us. Rape is a SYMPTOM of the disease – i.e. the pervasive and deep-rooted misogyny – that plagues patriarchal societies like ours.
Do read my views on this too.. http://e-pinion.blogspot.in/2012/12/the-disease-that-fosters-crimes-against.html
Thanks Ash. I really hope that we begin the process of changing ourselves before it is too late. You are absolutely right that it is just a symptom. Laws and police enter the picture when the crime has been already committed. But what about before it? What about this society which raises those criminals?
a tight slap in the face of every indian ..
but Amit thing is we talk a lot but nobody wants to do anything .. i fel sorry to say this ..
things can only change if we change .. for it we must be educated and learn to do our jobs honestly and in best interest of everyone .. else this country is going slowly and steadily to gallows !
It has already gone to the gallows. We have to now try to pull it back.
I hope this case changes a few things. I am not expecting a big reform happening because that needs a change in mentality which I don’t see happening on a large scale. Sometimes the way people think makes me sick.
Oh U forgot the biggest cog in the system … The SYSTEM itself
They say track the finances of terrorists and u will track them
It is no different with the Politics and the system that makes itself gain at the cost of the common citizen
I think all the 4 categories I have mentioned here collectively make the system. We , the common citizens, too are a part of it. We are the manure.
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Just discovered your blog and am working my way through it – I’m really new to this blog business and haven’t the remotest inkling how to add you to my blogroll whatever that is.
While I go about figuring it out please do go through my brand new blog – Whims and Whispers and let me know what you think, especially this one:
http://www.whimsandwhispers.blogspot.in/2013/01/sundarella.html
Anandam
Thanks Anandam for visiting.
I do not have a blogroll myself and read blogs via my RSS feed.
I will surely check out your post.