Nothing much!

Editorial By- Sukhpreet Giani

Happy New Year!

One of the simplest and sober ways of wishing good for the coming new year. It’s the human desire to be part of celebrations. Every person on this Earth yearns to love, to be loved, to know love and to celebrate. The best of celebrations are reserved for New Year’s Eve. However, this year the celebrations in the Information Technology hub of India,Bangaluru turned horrible to watch and embarrassing to acknowledge when incidents of alleged mass molestation were reported in the media.  It was shameful to see how hooligans in Bangaluru were running after girls and brazen displays of sexual violence were reported. Drunk hooligans bit certain women, and as per reports a woman was terribly bitten on her tongue leaving her hospitalized for days.

Reactions in the form of outrage came from celebrities. Women’s groups came out to remind the country and its lawmakers of various promises they have made whenever such incidents have been reported in the past. Media too went into tizzy and an attempt by a leading TV channel to get a sound bite from the lawmaker exposed too many actualities of the lawmakers.

The reaction of the state Home Minister to the incident was equally culpable. Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwar said, “Such incidents do happen on the New Years’ eve and Christmas and that they do take a lot of precautions.” His statement exemplifies the level of complacency the authorities exercise in dealing with such issues. Such incidents are nothing new for India and so are the statements from the ministers. In an ideal world, if the home minister and law enforcement agencies anticipate such incidents then they should have done everything in their power to stop them from happening. However, the minister perhaps couldn’t comprehend that such a statement would erode the confidence of the common man and would cast aspiration of its competence to maintain law and order and ensure women’s safety.

One would like to pose a simple question. What can be done in India to make its cities safe for women? In April 2014, the former defence minister of India, father of the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, Mulayam Singh Yadav had said “First girls develop friendship with boys. Then when differences occur, they level rape charges. Boys commit mistakes. Will they be hanged for rape?” That’s the Indian mindset! Close on Mulayam’s heels, comment by Maharashtra head of Mulayam Singh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party Abu Azmi left a bad taste. He compared women to petrol (“You have to keep petrol away from fire”) and to sugar (“If there is sugar, ants will come automatically to it”). Basically, he blamed the victims for provoking the culprits.  G Parameshwar, Mulayam Singh Yadav, Abu Azmi and host of other leaders not only make misogynist remarks but also bring focus of world media to India that reflects poor on the country.  These leaders’ intent to say that it is a woman’s responsibility to protect herself-that a fire can break out and ants can make an appearance just about anywhere, anytime.

At a prime time TV discussion, one of the women panelists did try to infuse some sense for all those kind of mindsets. She mentioned that in Hindi speaking belt of India, ogling at women is a full time occupation and men take a pride in calling women as maal (article of trade), patakha (firecracker), while they like to have their own sisters, wives and daughters safely locked up at home! That’s a true, realistic and hard hitting analysis.

Cops in India are known to not move an inch till they are directed to do so that to when influence is the catalyst. If the government claims despite having footages on the CCTV cameras that it needs evidence, it would be sham to expect them to act. If the government is expecting the traumatized women to come out and narrate their incidents, it’s a shame. Evidence speaks and the police should take suo moto action. There are many efficient police out there but we all know the kinds who discourage them. They are the likes of G Parameshwar, Mulayam Singh Yadav, AbuAzmi. If cases are not being filed, it’s a message to the public that the system doesn’t care for them and is not approachable.  The traumatized women continuously have to evaluate –“And if I do file a case, will I not fear for my life later? Will police take responsibility for my safety?”

From hooligans to cops to political leaders they all display the same kind of mindset. They perceive troubled women not as the grieved party and prefer to issue bizarre statements that bring more bad light to the country.

What can be done in India to make its cities safe for women? Nothing much!