A mob in Guwahati, Assam, gropes, molests and strips a teenage girl in full public glare for 30 minutes before help comes in the form of police. No one comes to the rescue of the hapless girl. Reportedly, a TV journalist induced the mob to do the act. Some officers in the administration reportedly make light of the incident.
A U.P. Khap Panchayat has issued a decree according to which all girls and women under the age of 40 must stay indoors. The older ones who are allowed to step-out must cover their faces with cloth like that of a corpse. What more…a state minister has reportedly supported the Khap’s diktat.
A class VIII student is sexually assaulted by a bus driver in Hyderabad that leaves her traumatized. Despite the complaints by the parents, the authorities fail to act. In the past one month there has been series of sexual crimes against minors in India.
What kind of society do we live-in? A society that treats its girls and women as cattle, or may be even worse! All in the name of so-called our great culture. I feel ashamed! The unabashed boldness of the perpetrators of such crimes and the total apathy of the public is shocking!
Organizations when they engage female employees in this country must remember the cultural under-currents and dynamics that prevail here. They have to first fight the bias of their families, then are ostracized by the immediate society and ultimately face the apathetic and many times demonic society. Only then they manage to survive and achieve. Organizations in their attempts to engage female workers must not look at their efforts as any favour doled out to the perceived 'weaker gender'. On the contrary, they are engaging a class of employees who have faced challenge as a habit in their lives.
The only heartening thing in the recent Assam incident has been the rare public wrath against the incident and the administration and the pressure by social groups, like an NGO putting-up a hoarding with photos of the brutes who tormented the hapless girl. I salute all girls and women in this country who bravely face such challenges every day at home and away!
14 comments:
sir the incident is doubtless deplorable and no amount of statsitical data about the better nature of indian society as compared to nations like usa, with far higher incidents of crimes against women will mitigate that. but it is also worth noting that crime while not to be condoned, isnt unique to india although its increase seems to indicate a disturbing trend. but our culture does show respect to women. its decline seems a bit of a retrogade mindset. Abbe J.A. Dubois, observed at the beginning of the 19th century;
“A Hindu woman can go anywhere alone, even in the most crowded places... A house
inhabited solely by women is a sanctuary which the most shameless libertine would not
dream of violating .so we as indians , a nation thats rising must strive to preserve the best of our past too but not outmoded customs like veils, etc, which have no sanction in the scriptures. or else it will be like shakespeares play measure for measure"some by sin rise and some by virtue fall". and these practices have no sanction in our texts. and the responsibility lies with us as decent citizens. all of us should fight it individually. for if we do not stand up for our prerogatives we will never get what is our due
Dear Vishnu,
First of all I do not know what you meant by India rising! And then what glorious past are you talking about? We have a history of treating women like animals; even you go back to mythological ages.
Consider some facts that came-out of the 2011 population census-
1. In the age group 0-6 years, the gender ratio is 914 girls to 1000 boys. Which means, for every 1000 boys, there are at least about 60-70 girls under the age of 6 years who were killed before or within 6 years after birth.
This is the lowest gender ratio recorded since India’s Independence in 1947. Still you think India Rising?
2. It is important to note here is that this data is not just about the systematic prevention of birth and continuity of females through sex-selected feticide, but it is also about the widespread and systematic killing of girls who are 6 years and under. How are these girls being killed?
3. It has long been known that little girls in India are often deliberately subjected to hunger and neglect. Many are dying of malnutrition and/or starvation. If a girl falls sick, the family often will not take her to the hospital or buy her medicines. A 2007 UNICEF report affirmed that girls under-5 years in India had a 40% higher mortality rate than boys the same age. This essentially is negligent homicide.
4. A 2011 report on a study conducted jointly by the Indian Council of Medical Research and the Harvard School of Public Health confirmed that girls under 5 years in India were dying at an abnormally high rate because they were being subject to inhumane violence at home by their families. The study observed that girls were 21% more likely than boys to die before their 5th birthday because of violence. And infant girls, who were one year and younger were 50% more likely to die because of violence than boys that age.
5. Female infanticide has a long history in India, and chillingly each region has had its own established, traditional way of killing infant girls, methods that include drowning the baby in a bucket of milk, or feeding her salt, or burying her alive in an earthen pot. In a study by the Registrar General of India published in 2010 in the medical journal “The Lancet,” a curious factor came to light. Girls in India of the age 1month to 5 years were dying of pneumonia and diarrhea at a rate that is 4-5 times higher than boys that age.
The answer is provide by author and journalist Gita Aravamudan, in her book Disappearing Daughters (Penguin Books, 2007), which is based on her research from more than two decades of field investigations of female infanticide and feticide in India. She observes that old, traditional methods of killing infants can be immediately detected in case infanticide is suspected and an police investigation is launched. She says
“[To avoid arrest] families adopt more torturous methods of killing [infant girls]…Female infanticide I found had become more ‘scientific.’ Inducing pneumonia was the modern method. The infant was wrapped in a wet towel or dipped in cold water as soon as it was born or when it came back home from hospital. if, after a couple of hours, it was still alive it was taken to a doctor who would diagnose pneumonia and prescribe medicine, which the parents promptly threw away. when the child finally died, the parents had a medical certificate to prove pneumonia. Sometimes the infant was fed a drop of alcohol to create diarrhea: another ‘certifiable disease.’ (pg.22)
Anyways, no harm being optimistic. However remember the first step towards change is acceptance. At the moment we seem to be in denial mode.
Best,
Debashish
http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/editorial/article3654444.ece
dear sir do follow the above link it seems to be a case of atavistic behaviour towards children
http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/editorial/article3654445.ece
dear sir do let me know if the above link is indicative of reflexive obedience of the japanese nation
dear sir
the statistics you have provided are doubtless correct. but many historians have written that women were respected although their individuality was not guaranteed. and indias rise has been predicted as a global economic superpower by thomas friedman sir so i was merely reflecting his opinion. the recent incidents are doubtless retrograde. but culturally women are supposed to be accorded respect. http://www.historytuition.com/position_of_women_in_ancient_india/2500b.c-1500b.c.html is a link about vedic law and its impact on womens rights sir.of course its based on my limited knowledge. that said their freedoms were restricted. there are excellent practices among the ancients for property education and marriages too. thats the cultural aspects im alluding to.as far as the veil on the face is concerned, it has no sanction in any scriptures, at least none i have come across,. even if there are sanctions in texts against freedom of women, then that version of law is to be outmoded sir. truth as gandhi said cannot be confined to a book. of course i would be foolish to assert that all things good and great came from india to the world. that is simply not the case. some lessons can always be imbibed from the past though.
there is no denying that these singularly shocking incidents seem to be on the increase. they should be stopped. and i believe its time decent citizens were accorded the right to self defence.in india anti social elements seem to have no problems getting hold of weapons, while decent people seem to have no end of trouble
July 19, 2012 11:17 PM
Hi Vishnu,
Are we more worried about our cultural greatness or treating our women with dignity?
Did you follow the recent comment by the NCW chief Mamta Sharma?
I am convinced we collectively fail to see the point!
And the day we shall see the same, things shall start to change. When that will happen...well going by the present trend may be in the next 100 years!
I am not giving-up but the hope is bleak...
However, I appreciate your interest and comments. Please continue to stir discussions in future as well.
Thanks,
Debashish
Right from their school days, girls must be taught at home to differentiate between a bad touch and a good touch. Girls also must be encouraged to fight back/slap/kick whoever molests her.
It would be better if a workshop on street sexual harassment and molestation could be conducted in every college including ours.
Hi Sandhya,
Self Defence is a good idea, however that probably would be simpler for females compared to fighting the Societal Dogmas.
Best,
Debashish
http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-karnataka/article3680619.ece
dear sir the above link is a bit worrying. as Emile durkheim mentioned that excess crime of all sorts represents a pathological state in the society and its very very worrying.
what were a dozen onlookers doing. its pretty bad. if one fights injustice in a united way then these incidents will reduce. there is too much of a decline in the collective social feeling and its just incorrect. collective feeling is no impediment to development as the japanese have shownm
this is truly shocking. we live in a country where men and women have equal rights. from my perspective the mind set of such people should change first and the government must enforce stricter laws in order to ensure safety for women. justice will be done when the perpetrators of such barbarous act are hanged till death.
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