The rapists in the Nirbhaya case have all been given the death penalty. There is a feeling of justice being served and that too within a reasonably short frame of time. I took the news rather cynically because there have been ample precedents of the actual execution being delayed for years due to the long-drawn process of appeals. In the meantime, the guilty continue to live on. The fact that they do so within the four walls of the prison is a small consolation. I hope and pray that this doesn't happen in this case.
But going beyond that, I wonder if the justice is truly and completely being served here. Some might argue that such death penalties will only result in the rapists killing their victims so as to prevent them from being identified and punished. Some others might say that the life imprisonment would have been a more fitting punishment for the rapists rather than killing them once and for all. As far as I am concerned, what might and might not happen in future should not be a factor in meting out a punishment to the guilty in a case. And rather than risking the early release of such maniacs for so-called 'good behavior' (not a question of 'if' but 'when') sometime in the distant future it is better to make sure that they are not part of this world anymore.
That said, my idea of a complete justice for Nirbhaya demands some concrete steps to make sure that this doesn't happen to other women down the road. At the risk of sounding cynical, I would say that one cannot expect 0 cases of rape unless one is living in Ram Rajya (And this has got nothing to do with BJP!). But we have to do all that we can to ensure that we don't have a repeat of the Delhi or Shakti Mills incidents. No two opinions about that!
First and foremost, there is an urgent need to bring about a drastic change in the perception that women are inferior to men. I won't label it as the problem of the uneducated folks or the rural folks. God knows there are enough educated people and city-dwellers who believe that women should confine their activities to home and hearth. In a traditionally patriarchal society like India, this is about as easy as cleaning up of the Augean stables. But someone has got to do it and soon! The only people capable of doing it are women - educated or not, employed or not - and men who are sensible enough to understand this. Like charity, this has to begin at home. Be it your dad, husband, brother or son - every time they try to project you as the weaker gender, prove them wrong. If you have sons, bring them up with the notion that both genders are equal. Teach them to respect women. If each one of us can bring about a change in our family, the whole country will change, it will have no choice but to change. Maybe I am being too idealistic. But in the present scenario, we could do with some amount of optimism.
Changing the opinions at home is one side of the coin. The other side is to improve the image as depicted in the media. When I read a statement by Kareena Kapoor that she feels unsafe in Mumbai, I wondered if she would care to re-examine her stance that item songs had nothing to do with the increasing instances of crimes against women. I am not saying we go back to the black-and-white era - it either showed a very idealistic world or it was perhaps a reflection of the Indian society as it was eons ago. But whosoever said that we have to consider only the extremes? Words like 'Chikani Chameli' accompanied by gyrating moves of scantily clad females aren't doing anyone - except for the producers and actresses - good. If spines could be grafted, I think our Sensor Board should be the first one in line to get the operation done. And we women need to make some serious noise against this commoditization of our gender.
Of course, increased presence of law enforcement personnel (instead of protecting the good-for-nothing VIP politicians!), their training and gender equality sensitization, self-defense training for women and a strict adherence to a basic set of precautionary measures by them should go a long way in improving the safety of women.
No one deserves to die like Nirbhaya did. No one. But if we succeed in making this country a safer place for women, justice would be truly served.
But going beyond that, I wonder if the justice is truly and completely being served here. Some might argue that such death penalties will only result in the rapists killing their victims so as to prevent them from being identified and punished. Some others might say that the life imprisonment would have been a more fitting punishment for the rapists rather than killing them once and for all. As far as I am concerned, what might and might not happen in future should not be a factor in meting out a punishment to the guilty in a case. And rather than risking the early release of such maniacs for so-called 'good behavior' (not a question of 'if' but 'when') sometime in the distant future it is better to make sure that they are not part of this world anymore.
That said, my idea of a complete justice for Nirbhaya demands some concrete steps to make sure that this doesn't happen to other women down the road. At the risk of sounding cynical, I would say that one cannot expect 0 cases of rape unless one is living in Ram Rajya (And this has got nothing to do with BJP!). But we have to do all that we can to ensure that we don't have a repeat of the Delhi or Shakti Mills incidents. No two opinions about that!
First and foremost, there is an urgent need to bring about a drastic change in the perception that women are inferior to men. I won't label it as the problem of the uneducated folks or the rural folks. God knows there are enough educated people and city-dwellers who believe that women should confine their activities to home and hearth. In a traditionally patriarchal society like India, this is about as easy as cleaning up of the Augean stables. But someone has got to do it and soon! The only people capable of doing it are women - educated or not, employed or not - and men who are sensible enough to understand this. Like charity, this has to begin at home. Be it your dad, husband, brother or son - every time they try to project you as the weaker gender, prove them wrong. If you have sons, bring them up with the notion that both genders are equal. Teach them to respect women. If each one of us can bring about a change in our family, the whole country will change, it will have no choice but to change. Maybe I am being too idealistic. But in the present scenario, we could do with some amount of optimism.
Changing the opinions at home is one side of the coin. The other side is to improve the image as depicted in the media. When I read a statement by Kareena Kapoor that she feels unsafe in Mumbai, I wondered if she would care to re-examine her stance that item songs had nothing to do with the increasing instances of crimes against women. I am not saying we go back to the black-and-white era - it either showed a very idealistic world or it was perhaps a reflection of the Indian society as it was eons ago. But whosoever said that we have to consider only the extremes? Words like 'Chikani Chameli' accompanied by gyrating moves of scantily clad females aren't doing anyone - except for the producers and actresses - good. If spines could be grafted, I think our Sensor Board should be the first one in line to get the operation done. And we women need to make some serious noise against this commoditization of our gender.
Of course, increased presence of law enforcement personnel (instead of protecting the good-for-nothing VIP politicians!), their training and gender equality sensitization, self-defense training for women and a strict adherence to a basic set of precautionary measures by them should go a long way in improving the safety of women.
No one deserves to die like Nirbhaya did. No one. But if we succeed in making this country a safer place for women, justice would be truly served.
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