Wednesday, December 26, 2012

No More Gangrapes says, Young India

The young, vibrant and shining India was a joke that was cracked few years back by the then BJP government. The slogan “India shining” backfired for the BJP and brought Congress back to power. I was one of the millions of Indians who could not relate to the slogan, simply because for me the voice of young India never existed. When I saw thousands of young students on the street of Rashtrapati Bhavan protesting against the recent gangrape in Delhi, I thought I was hallucinating and couldn’t believe it. They say, “Everyone has a breaking point” and certainly the series of gangrapes in Delhi turned out to be a breaking point for the country. The independent protest by the young college students, (most of them girls) is the young and vibrant India that BJP might have been talking about.

Coming back to the larger picture and the great on-going debate of capital punishment, one must look at the other alternatives to capital punishment. Capital punishment for rapists could be a step forward because there is no crime more brutal and inhumane than rape, not even murder. There are many countries that have strong punishments and sentences for such crimes. Our government’s lack of desire to communicate with the masses is baffling and inexplicable. They have made the humongous mistake of taking its citizens for granted and have resorted to lathicharge to curb the ever rising voice of young India. Congress lead UPA government has erred and has brought the nation to shame. Utilizing the brute force of the police on the old and young protesters at the India gate can never be forgotten. The nation doesn't care when the C.M. talks about her vulnerability to take decision. Her constant denial and blame on Home Ministry is nothing more than a farce. She should immediately resign on moral grounds, wait, does Congress ministers have any morals?

I must confess that bashing and criticizing the politicians gives me great pleasure, but at the same time my conscience asks me, is the country suffering only because of the politicians? Are we not responsible for this? Haven’t we created this society? If the answer to all the above questions is a ‘Yes’ then why are we waiting for the government or a superior power to change things for us? We must realize the fact that those who raped the young girls were not criminals, so, why and what made them do it? There have been so many incidents in the recent past where a girl child has been raped by her own relatives. How can one stop it? 


It’s high time that we start questioning ourselves and may be we could find some answers. We were a country that once had values, principles and ethics and believe in morality, but sadly we have forgotten our own roots and have moved on with the fast and brutal life. Morality is not learnt in adulthood and certainly not taught in school or other educational institutions. Its only teachers are the parents and elders and its only place is the society that we all breathe in. Let us stop playing the blame game and take the ownership and responsibility of the things we do. Remember it is not to stop crime against women but to stop crime against humanity.