OVER?

No…I am not talking about the year gone by….am referring to the raging protests that aroused nationwide a month ago in support of the Delhi rape victim? Are the protests over? We lost a constable who was honestly doing his duty to maintain law and order due to the interference of ‘hooligans’ in the peaceful protests. Students got beaten up by police.

But now, people are busy with their usual chores in the new year, profile pics back to their usual glossy images of the profile owner. Are we waiting for another such grave incident to pop up again?

But Thanks to the protests nationwide, the ripples have resulted in many molesters & rapists being arrested in many places. Yet 15 women gets raped in first week this new year.

Seems like such horrific crimes have now become obvious. Why would it not be? Studies show about 20% of police forces are just on paper. Only one cop for every 761 common citizens against 3 cops for one VIP!

What happened to the Hisar rape case where a poor Dalit girl was raped? How many of us tried to find out if the zamindar culprits have been arrested? The helpless girl immolated herself in shame and so the case is forgotten.

One of the reasons of the swift actions by the police in the Delhi case is that the culprits belong to lower strata of the society. Would it have been the same if the gang comprised of politicians’ sons? First the laws must be equally enforced for each and every citizen of the country, irrespective of caste,status or power. There are still cases whose trials are running on for 30 years or so. Therefore,apart from a severe punishment to the convicts, the Judicial System must learn to act fast and pass the judgement as soon as possible so that the message reaches everyone loud and clear.

India is the largest democracy in the world,but is the lame and corrupted government actually acting ‘for the people’? Members of the Parliament and son of our President making sexist and derogatory remarks against protestors. Such insensitive comments by our ‘elected representatives’ boosts up the wrong-doers and they will continue to mock the law and the enforcing agencies.

But at the same time these remarks must not discourage us from our demands, rather it must add fuel to the fire. We must strive to defend “women’s right to freedom without fear”.

638 women raped in Delhi alone in 2012, imagine how many might have suffered throughout the country. Also take into account the number of acid-attacks, molestation and other violence against women. In addition to that so many cases remain unreported and never come out in the open. The thought itself gives goosebumps.

Are the ‘fairer sex’,we girls/women an item to play with? To be subjugated in every sphere of life? Why are we always supposed to step out wearing ‘decent clothes’ and accompanied by patriarchal ‘safegaurds’?

Machismo can never be a solution to this problem. If it were so, there would not have been cases of girls being assaulted and raped by their own fathers and brothers and uncles. We must do away with the narrow mind-set that women are weak. All kinds of violence against women is outcome of an attitude towards women that is deep rooted within all of us due to different factors like religion, region, caste and faith .

We have to bring an end to this Rape Culture. Yes, it has now become a culture because the perpetrators have a sense of impunity that they will go unpunished(only 26 in every 100 rapists are punished…SHAME!). Rapists are not born, they are created - by a society that demeans and disrespects women.   The society comprise of us, the next rapist/assaulter/murderer may be thriving among us. So BE THE CHANGE YOU WANT TO SEE IN THE WORLD.

I came across an article on Facebook about the Delhi rape victim which said “The girl cannot live a normal or married life”. For God’s sake! The girl was fighting to survive and we by sharing such posts were suppressing her brave efforts…. Let the society be aware but not in a way that all despise her. We must honour her dignity. Ultimately the doctors could not save her and she succumbed to her grievous injuries. May her soul rest in peace.

Be responsible for your actions. Protest against the wrong but be wise. Boycotting the Republic Day celebrations will do no good as our Defence Forces practice hard to make it a success. On this day we must salute to their efforts rather than giving a free holiday to our (dumb)Prime Minister and other inept politicians.

Its an earnest request to all, STOP having alcoholic drinks. It has been found that in most rape cases either the culprits are drunk or the victims are inebriated and hence taken advantage of.

Let us pledge to do your best not to douse this fire in us… let it arouse and along with it arouse our determination to bring about a positive changes around us. We must protest in our own small ways in our localities, in public vehicles and in our education hubs. Let the country awake, into that heaven of freedom where each one of us live and laugh around safely and fearlessly in peace.

We ought to keep up the pressure on the Government so that justice is delivered to each and every victim of such heinous crime. Do not let the numerous sacrifices of NIRBHAYA/AAMANAT/DAMINI, NILOFER AASIYA, SONI SORI,RUPAM PATHAK,ARCHANA KUMARI,SONALI MUKHERJEE and so many others go in vain.

Brace up security at all places, Comprehensive laws against sexual violence, set up fast-track courts to ensure swift and sure punishment, punitive measures in case of failure to register complaints of sexual harassment/rapes/acid-attacks, wiser use of technology to track criminals, and lastly the most important one,ending the culture of justifying gender violence by promoting gender equality in every field. These are some of the demands to minimize such crimes.

And girls, be courageous… create an intimidating image of yourself and imbue fear wherever you go,so that the delinquent beings are scared to even stare at you,let alone stalking & harassing. Our safety is in our hands until we start governing the government. Its high time now, enough is enough….we must be OVER with all these evils.