Finally hanged or 'Hanging'...

We do not take her name because we don't know. We call her 'daughter of India', 'Nirbhaya', 'Damini' etc.. We don't take her name because of legal reason and also because we think we know a lot about her, she wanted to be a physiotherapist, her last movie was Life of Pie which proved fatal and she was raped brutally and we think we know her in and out.

The thought of the broken bones, damaged intestines and still the desire to live are somethings that make all of us feel that she is very dear to us. We have started seeing our sisters, daughters, friends in her. Every Indian has established a relationship with her.

Incidentally, it was so very natural for all of us to celebrate when the rapists and murders have been sentenced to death. Some people say that justice has been served others say that this will make her soul rest in peace. But I wonder will it really?

With due respect to the court's verdict and the girl's sentiments, I don't support the judgement. Death sentence for me is like 'tit-for-tat'. You killed her so I kill you. Your killing wasn't justified but mine is. I think a person's actions are dependent on the circumstances and his psyche at that point of time. Yes, this certainly doesn't justify their actions but it intensifies them.

What is required is understanding a criminal's frame of mind. A punishment should always try to reform and a death penalty is never the end to any form of crime because a death penalty decides a person's future course of life and not his future course of thoughts. He might remain as evil as he was earlier, in some cases he might be even worse. Aren't we doing the same crime? Aren't we becoming equally sadistic in our actions?

A death penalty gives you a way to forget. You commit a crime, you get death and you forget or a crime is committed against you, you protest against it, the court sentences the criminal to death, you celebrate and you forget. India, is a country where we have this ingenious ability to look away and a death penalty is a perfect way to look away from any sort of crime. But as a society the onus to purify the thoughts lies on us. The onus to make them feel that their actions were severely wrong and that this crime can't be looked away lies on us.

Although no country can stop rapes or sexual assaults against women, but they try to impart minimum freedom to their women. India is one such nation where on the one hand people talk about degrading status of the women and on the other hand notable lawyers (read A.P. Singh) say that he would burn his daughter if she was found roaming around with her boyfriend. I think the battle, despite the death penalty, has been lost.

More than a death sentence, Nirbhaya would have wanted a safer country for women. She would have wanted no silence till the time there are silent atrocities against women. She would have wanted action and reaction but no 'looking away' in the disguise of death penalty.

Justice can never be done when the criminal is hanged but the crime remains hanging.

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Is it lust or male chauvinism

Well a lot had been said about the infamously famous Nirbhaya case and I know a lot will be said about the recent rape of a photojournalist. Oops sorry I should not use the word rape because our law no more recognises, it is sexual assault now. Anyways, one of the implications of this incident on me has been that I have started to reconsider the idea of taking up this profession.  Not because I have freaked out but because it makes me wonder why am I entering into this profession. One of the reasons why I took to this profession was the agitation i felt inside me after the Dec 16 case but I think with this incident things have started to pacify inside me because I no more trust my faith on the power of being a journalist.

Last night I was wondering what has changed in the society? The values or the ethics or is it really something as trivial (read provocative) as a short skirt or increased consumption of noddles and mobile phones. The thought brought me to another thought that the five year old must not have had enough noodles or worn provocative skirts or addicted herself to her cell phone! Then what is it? I believe a five year old can't invite two boys to brutally rape her and leave the objects of their victory (which in the eyes of some of our countrymen should have been given by the kid to invite the 'innocent' accused) inside her body. Was it not a sheer exposure of power and male chauvinism.

But what has led to it. I think one of the main reasons is the way we project this crime.

Calling it a gender issue makes it only a women's issue. In our society, especially in Asia, gender is thought to be synonymous with 'women' like race is thought to be synonymous to blacks in the United States. So when we say it is a gender violence, the male community tend to sidetrack themselves thinking that it is a women's issue and not pertaining to them when in reality sexual violence is not only against women but also against men. And so far violence against women is concerned, it is not their issue but more of men's issue. It is there psychological issue which needs attention and not a woman's issue. Another problem is calling the 'raped' a victim. This demotivates and discourages. A woman who has been raped lives throughout her life as a victim. She is a survivor, a fighter, a brave heart but certainly not a victim. Unfortunately, we never call the rapist a rapist but we call the survivor a victim.

We talk about gender sensitisation. Again the male community doesn't pay attention to the issue because of the word gender. Moreover, we do not need sensitisation. Your and my sensitivity won't help, what we need is 'leadership'. Leadership to change the attitude and ideology, leadership to stop making the victim the subject of our conversation and start talking about the culprit, leadership to think and act, leadership to see women as women and not mere objects of lust.

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