Flawed Culture, Appalling Generation

Why Indians are so brazenly proud of their viciously flawed culture and tradition that hardly accentuates the esteem of women in our society? Perhaps, this distorted social attitude in a male-dominated society has eventually trickled down to the modern adolescents, and the result is how boys and girls in the age group of 15-19 strongly feel that wife beating is justified. Thanks to the UNICEF's Global Report Card on Adolescents 2012 that reveals 57% of boys and 53% of girls in India consider physical violence against wife is legitimate.

The history of domestic violence against women dates back to the period of Ramayana and Mahabharata, and still we Indians, rather than evolving to a progressive society after many thousand years, still live in the shadow of an obnoxious precedence. When we claim that India is shinning on the economic fronts across the globe, the one pivotal point we often miss is how shinning our attitude towards women. Reports after reports get published via various social organizations and government agencies regarding the status of women in our society; however, we never mind, given a chance, to molest a woman when she is alone or helpless. The increasing crime rate against women in all parts of India, both urban and rural, is only a silent reminder of our corroded mindset.

Our judicial system that is supposed to uphold justice for all irrespective of caste, creed, gender, and social status, is embroiled by a heap of archaic laws those are hardly relevant to the current social conditions. Particularly, in case of crime against women, the legal measures are so docile that even a victim approaches the court for justice, it takes years together to land at a conclusive point. By that time either the victim changes her stand due to social conditioning or the perpetrator gets acquitted because of insufficient evidence. Either way the woman suffers the ordeal till her last breath.

So, what's essentially pertinent at this point of time is a complete overhaul of our social and legal system. A stringent legal framework backed by an expeditious execution of justice can only bring in a visible change in our society. But till then we must not slip into hibernation and forget our civil responsibilities. We must raise our voice against all sorts of crimes against women and keep this campaign going from strength to strength. Someday, I am sure, we can proudly claim women in India are adored and safeguarded.

Ugly Truth

How many Baby Falaks and Baby Afreens have to sacrifice their innocent lives for the sick mentality of Indian society? How many female fetuses are forced to be aborted even before they experience the first light of this planet, just for the whims and fancies of a feudal, patriarchal mindset? How many women are to be battered, brutalized, ravished, raped, and finally pushed into death for no reason, but being the easy target of boorish criminals? How long the judicial system of this country will be fettered by the archaic jurisprudence and let those bloody criminals run scotfree because of the damn loopholes in our legal system? How long the executives and legislators of this country support those criminals in perpetrating the crimes against women in broad daylight and still not get convicted? And how long the insensitive citizens of this country notice all these heinous acts like unabashed nincompoops and forget it next moment in the pretext of false resilience?

Certainly, there is no concrete answer to any of these queries because we as integral part of this rotten system are so engrossed with our own selfish agenda that we have hardly a moment to think about the larger society around us. And what we do? Twit a couple of harsh or sarcastic comments, write a bashing blog, or, in the worst case, given an opportunity, force our fiery arguments in a television debate and forget right there that the issue is so deep rooted in our collective mindset that even the severest ever tumbler can uproot a mountain, but it may be too feeble to shake the collective conscience of this nation.

In a sense, the 21^st century Indian mindset is still shackled with the rituals of Iron Age. We are the slave of a dangerous notion that men are dispenser of this evolutionary civilization. We still worship goddesses like Laxmi and Saraswati, but given a chance to exploit our free will, we instantly get infected with chronic dementia and infest upon the physical body of women like wild vultures prowling upon a corpse. Is there any resurrection for these crazy, barbaric tribe called men? And we claim civilized? Shame on these monsters who live behind the facade of hypocrisy and still project themselves as emancipator of women.

Now is the time to overhaul this status quo mentality and gear up for an altogether new civilization where there would be no discrimination against women. Let's completely forget those vilified learning that man is superior to woman in every dimension. Let's unshackle us from the spell of those false doctrines and dogmas that paint women as inferior, weaker, helpless and they need man's support to exist in this society. Let's banish all those literatures that glorify man as superior being. Let's move away from those archaic, worthless rituals and practices that in their infinitesimally small measure even differentiate man as holier than woman. Let's remember that according to the indisputable laws of nature, men and women are compliment to each other – without one the other is meaningless.

Delhi's Date with Slutwalk

If we look at the history of heinous crimes against women especially in Delhi, one slutwalk falls miserable low an agitation against the constant assaults against women over centuries. Some people argue whether a slutwalk can change the perverse mindset of men against women, but the logic remains so long as there is no movement against any social evil, society at large takes it for granted a birth right to tread the wrong side of the law, and hence to shake up the status quo a protest like this is essentially desired. Well, yesterday's slutwalk around the Jantar Mantar area of New Delhi if vociferously reflected something was nothing other than a bold attitude of participants towards those nincompoops of our society who fundamentally think violence against women is an indication of their chauvinism.

Over a period of time Delhi has been the most unsafe place for women. When a woman is born the fight for her survival begins simultaneously. Our feudalistic mindset has become another anathema for her tribulations. Whenever she establishes her legitimate presence our male chauvinistic society always takes it as an offense. As a pluralistic society we have failed to understand the fact that the growing violence against women is an obnoxious index of our alarmingly rising insensitivity. The more we tolerate the crimes against the women, the further we destroy the balance of social fabric. Is there any resurrection from this impending danger?

Of late the same society has sensed the urgency of a change in attitude towards the women folk. Perhaps, that's quite evident from the recent slutwalk in which the men also came forward to participate in the campaign. Now that's undoubtedly a plausible change in the male chauvinism that otherwise was centred around “I, me, and myself”. Every one is equal irrespective of gender. The message has certainly percolated down the society that the time has come now for a complete overhaul in our narrow mindset.

We must take cognizance of the fact that any advanced civil society doesn't carry room for any amount of social discrepancy. In the name of frivolous tradition and culture we can't sacrifice the tenets fundamental civil rights that are essential for our progress in a liberalized world. We must shun our conservative mindset to embrace the reality of 21st century. And I wish many such slutwalk campaigns would bring in a visible change in our attitude towards civil rights of women. Long live slutwalk!