Another Falak And Nirbhaya - How Many More To Go?

Does anybody remember the story of baby Falak? The unamed two year old baby girl who died in a hospital after being beaten up most brutally? Or does anybody remember Nirbhaya, the medical student who was gang raped in a moving bus? These scars are still very fresh in my memory and ever since the gang rape and murder of the medical student I have read only about women being gang raped in moving vehicles, children being kidnapped and raped and murdered; young women and girls being raped in their own home sometimes in front of their beloved parents in the national capital and the areas surrounding it. Even sacred visitors from other countries are not spared. Sacred because of our ‘Atithi Devo Bhava’ legacy.

Do I take this as a positive sign that crimes against women and children are finally getting the attention they deserve or must I be shocked at the brutality of these acts? Honestly I am numb with fear with what the Indian male is turning into. 

Yesterday I read about a 6 year old girl’s rape and murder in Aligarh and how her parents were assaulted by the police. Now, right at this moment I am reading about the brutal rape of a 5 year old girl and I do not have the courage to read it all. In a way I am glad that I do not get the Indian news channels on my TV and only have the Internet for my authority. 

I wonder what would be a real ‘wake up’ call for the authorities be it our political leaders or the police. What will really be breaking news for us Indian audiences? Will it be Modi wanting to be the Prime Minister; Nitish Kumar joining the UPA in exchange for a Rs. 12,000/- Crore package for Bihar; or will it be which devotee donated how many several crores of rupees to which god or will it be which actress/actor wore which designer on which red carpet?  

I honestly do not care about any part of the ‘NEWS’ right now except for those stories which are testimonials of criminal acts against women and children. I am sure a lot of people feel the same and hence are protesting and demonstrating against it. Isn’t a public protest the very pulse of a democracy? India will go to elections next year, are the political parties and the leaders who wash their dirty linen in public for the ultimate job reading the pulse of the country right? Will they come up with stronger laws? Will they come up with something much stronger that the dismal Anti-Rape Law and actually implement it? Those who are responsible for implementing the law think they own the law and assault parents of a victim or an angry protester. If this is implementing the law, then I wonder whether they have any understanding of the law they are implementing. One must wonder what are they really waiting for? 

The Indian Judiciary is awarding death penalties very often these days, if that can be allowed then what on Earth is stopping the Government from issuing shoot at sight orders for men who brutally rape children and women repeatedly? My mind is only coming up with violent ideas to punish these monsters; that is the kind of anger pent up within me. 

Are other parts of the country safe; the East, the West and the South? We do not hear of such violent acts from these parts of the country at this frequency, does that mean that bad things don’t happen there or do they go unreported? Or is it that women and children are somehow more respected as individual human beings and not seen as objects of lust. No man can defend these men saying they acted in lust and made a mistake. What they did was what even the most dangerous predator will not do. 

Why is India so cursed with men who have such a mind-set, a mind-set more base and barbaric than the wildest animals known to mankind? How will the country rid itself of such evil elements? When will the Government take any real steps to come up with a solution or curb the violence?

When we recite our National Pledge we begin with ‘India is my country and all Indians are my brothers and sisters…” and I remember reciting it almost every day when I was still in school and I was so proud of it. Do these principles still hold any value at all? I can no more say ‘Mera Bharat Mahan'; I am ashamed when people in my host country ask me why things are going so wrong in India. Yes, the world is watching.

And so the Motherland cannot protect her daughters and children anymore. Must we all flee it?