No Country for Women?

The Shameless man!
Image courtesy : Google Images

Woman – She is the sole reason for our existence and she is the sole reason for our survival. No man could ever become great without a woman, and there will be no man without her. But that’s a fact that we have taken for granted as we have started to ignore the atrocities being done on woman all around us.

Some incidents happen and are forgotten, and some others though are forgotten as well, they prove a certain point and they throw a question at us. Such is unfortunate incident which happened some days back at Guwahati. Around 30 men with not even a hint of shame, molesting a girl in public with hundreds of people watching it happen and not giving a damn about it. The incident has drawn large public outrage but has also put forths  some questions – Is this country no longer safe for women? Do the men of this country have no respect left for women?

What happened at Guwahati came to light because it was recorded (although many think it was a really unethical thing to record it), but had it not been recorded it would have been another chapter just like several others which don’t even come to notice and are buried somewhere deep down in the hearts of the sufferers. But does that lessen the impact of being molested or harassed? No, it doesn’t! Women with whom these things happen choose to hide it (What other choice do they have given the hypocritical attitude of our society) because they know this society blames the woman for every thing that happens. In retaliation, some women became the bandit queen’s in front of the world (not that they wanted too), and some became in their own lives putting aside what has happened to them and trying to move on!

There’s a friend I’ve, who moved to a metro city post her masters for a job in one of the software companies. We don’t stay in touch that much, but we’re the best of friends. One day, I gave her a call. She seemed happy as ever but I could sense of tinge of sadness in her voice. I asked her the reason, she didn’t say anything. On not letting it go, she finally told me. She told me that something had happened to her when she was on her way back home. She just told me, “Some guy did something on the bus to me and I don’t want to talk about it. Others on the ride didn’t even give a damn! They just kept watching!” That girl whom I always knew to be sensitive developed a certain hatred, hatred against the society because of that incident. She abused which she never did and she cried while telling me about it. When I told her to complain about it, she got scared and instead told me not to tell anyone about it. But then that's not her mistake, that's the lack of support the woman in our lives have from our side. They know, nobody is going to do anything about it!

There’s a famous dialogue from one of the movies – with great power comes great responsibility. But do people in our country really understand that? It’s a common sight to see goons disguised as politicians having their way with things. And there are people who are close to these politicians and do the same thing. One of my friends who works in a company in Delhi faced the brunt of this power sometime back. As she was returning to her office from a meeting, a car with a red light (it was a government vehicle) over its top, dashed against her car. The moment that happened, the driver came out and hurled abuses and started beating her in broad day light. The gentleman (a top PR executive in one of the nationalized banks) who was at the back seat didn’t feel the need to come out. And when he did, he declared that it was the girl’s mistake and tried to scare her away by flaunting his political connections. It was only when her friends came; she was relieved as they took her to the police station to complain against it. This incident was being watched by hundreds of people passing by, but none of them bothered to help her out!

I’m sure there are plenty of incidents which happen almost everyday and go unnoticed. The problem is not that that they go unnoticed, the problem is that they happen and we are mute spectators to it. If you’re saying no, look around and you’ll realize you’re wrong. Are we waiting for it to happen to our sisters or mothers? Is that when we’ll act and retaliate? A dirty hand laid on a woman in any part of the country is not only a hand on her integrity but also on our integrity and respect as well. The middle class man of India can’t do much they say. It may be right in one way, but it’s not right entirely. He may be weak but he is also the person who runs the largest democracy in the world. If he can’t retaliate, he certainly has the choice - a choice to not be a mute spectator to any atrocity. He has the choice to keep them safe and stand for them. It's time to take a stand against atrocities against women, for they are where our world really is!

The person writing this post is a middle class man and he refuses to take any kind of injustice against women.