Which culture Dr. Harsh Vardhan is talking about?

India's union health minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan during one of the interviews made a statement that the thrust of the AIDS campaign should not be only on the use of condoms as according to him it sends the wrong message that "you can have any kind of illicit sexual relationship, but as long as you're using a condom, it's fine." It seems he also said that citizens' moral fiber will have to be strengthened if the disease has to be brought under control. He also stressed promoting the integrity of the sexual relationship between husband and wife as a part of Indian culture. Now, what does he mean by Indian culture? In a diverse country like India, terms like morality and culture have different meanings and have different sets of values in different parts of the country. Even Hindu scriptures like Ramayan, and Mahabharat openly propagate polygamy and polyandry. Most kings we studied in history books had multiple wives, in most stories that I heard as a child kings used to have at least two wives one favorite one and another not-so-favorite one. In India we have Khajuraho temples where there are sculptures of people engaged in sexual acts, Kamasutra was written in India thousands of years back. So which culture is he talking about? I also wonder how he is trying to link the encouragement of the use of condoms with the encouragement to have illicit sexual relationships. I am still trying to figure out the logic of this connection. Encouragement to use seat belts while driving is not an encouragement to drive but it is an encouragement to be safe whenever you drive. It just means use that seat belt whenever you drive a car, it's safe, it saves lives, and it is good for you and your family. The argument is not about driving but about driver's safety and safe driving. How hard it is to understand? 

In a pluralistic country like India different regions subscribe to different cultural values and traditions. Even in today's world people's religion, and caste play a very important role in constituting their cultural values. In some parts of the world, polygamy is legal. In India, polygamy or polyandry is practiced even though there are laws against it. Dr. Harsh Vardhan is the union health minister, and his main job is to spread awareness about issues related to health. The Spread of HIV is one of the major concerns for the health ministry and sex education is one of the important tools to spread awareness about AIDS and HIV. The main reasons attributed to the spread of HIV in India are extensive labor migration (where people migrate to cities without their families), low literacy levels, and lack of awareness about issues related to sexual health. The use of intravenous drugs and prostitution are also considered major factors that contribute to the spreading of HIV. Now if we look at all these factors there is very little that culture can do to stop the spread of HIV, even prostitution is considered part of every culture as this profession is considered one of the oldest and has been a part of human history for ages. As cultural values are so diverse and drastically vary from region to region or even from family to family it is not a good idea for the health ministry to depend on them for spreading awareness about serious health issues like AIDS. Sexual relationships are personal matters. Each adult has the right to choose their sexual partner, the government or culture cannot dictate these things, there are already laws that dictate the minimum age for having consensual sex and marriage. The health ministry must spread awareness about these issues without going into too much into the cultural aspect of it. The government can try to spread awareness about the benefits of having a single sexual partner, honesty in relationships, and the advantages of using condoms and other contraceptives. They should not complicate it or make it controversial by bringing unnecessary cultural aspects into it. After all, personal health is an important aspect of everyone's life, culture or no culture, public health must be a national concern.

I am sure Dr. Harsh Vardhan's intentions were good behind making this statement Maybe his years of training in RSS or BJP have created an impression in his mind that all Indians follow the same culture and that culture is related to their interpretation of Hinduism but this is not true and as a health minister of India he needs to understand this. I hope he will be more careful when he talks about health-related issues in the future and will use his medical knowledge more rather than using his teaching from RSS or his own culture. Bringing unrelated issues like culture into health will only confuse people. There is enough scientific data available about many health-related topics just use that data to spread awareness, run very aggressive campaigns, and try to develop infrastructure so that the public health department is better equipped to deal with these issues. If he can do this India will definitely see improvement in the sector of public health irrespective of its culture.  

Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic.

[Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing]

Links:
1. Don't wear a condom, wear values to fight AIDS: Harsh Vardhan
2. Harsh Vardhan clarifies on ban on sex education in schools

Climate change - a real problem or false propaganda?

Recently I attended a talk at a local ACS (American Chemical Society) section meeting about Global warming. The talk was not the usual one where they tell you about the harmful effects of global warming and climate change. Rather, this talk was about how this whole theory of global warming and climate change is flawed and how this is overhyped by some groups of scientists and organizations (including the UN) to misguide people. It was an interesting talk and it was more interesting to attend it in the local ACS section because as far as I know officially the ACS supports the hypothesis of global warming and comments about its harmful effects in all its editorials and publications. It was interesting to see that they invited a speaker who not only questioned this entire theory but also called it a total hoax. Actually, this is the true spirit of science. Every view should be welcomed, and every voice should be heard, doesn't matter which theory they propose or oppose, they just need to show the relevant data to prove their hypothesis, and the scientific community can debate about it. It really doesn't matter whose theory or hypothesis is being challenged, the name or the status or age of the scientist shouldn't matter only the data should matter.

Climate change is a very popular subject nowadays for debates and discussions. I guess it has become as controversial and sensitive as religion or the existence of god, people argue very passionately for or against this issue. Climate change covers many aspects related to the effect of human actions on the climate of our planet. Global warming is just a part of it, no doubt it has received the most attention, and this is why it is widely debated and questioned. People who try to object to climate change mainly target the issue of global warming. They claim that data presented in support of global warming is wrong or unreliable and that global warming is a completely natural phenomenon that we don't have to worry about. By questioning data for global warming its opponents try to question the phenomena of climate change. Many try to claim that both climate change and global warming are not real issues or problems but false propaganda by some elite group of scientists. Both sides who support or oppose global warming produce lots of data to support their claims and both claim that their data is reliable and the other side's data is incorrect.  

All these issues can be debated and discussed, actually, debates and discussions are the best way to solve such disputes. But I don't think there can be any dispute about the impact of human behavior on our climate. We can clearly see it and even feel it in many places. We are producing enormous amounts of waste by our uncontrolled consumerism, and this waste is bound to have some effect on our environment. We can clearly see the effects of deforestation, water, and air pollution, and poor management of waste in many parts of the world. This has also created many health problems for people. High levels of water and air pollution, and health hazards associated with them are clearly because of human behavior. Climate change doesn't mean only global warming, it means the effect of our actions on the general health of this planet. Continuous abuse of the earth and its resources under the name of development is having an impact on its health. We can definitely debate or discuss the severity of climate change and the steps required to tackle this problem but I think it would be very wrong to assume that human behavior is not having any detrimental effect on the climate of this planet. I hope supporters and opponents of climate change engage in some meaningful discussion, just playing a blame game is not going to help anyone. After all, we are talking about the entire planet here, the only place in our galaxy where we know that life exists. Let's get serious about this issue and try our best to keep our planet in good shape, this will be the greatest gift we can give to our future generations.

Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic.

[Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing]

My Marriage - an amazing journey

This year (2014) there was the 16th anniversary of my marriage. I can't believe that sixteen years have passed since I and Reena got married. When I look back I can't stop wondering how quickly time passes, it has been a beautiful and rewarding journey so far for me. I hope the same is true for Reena. Like many couples in India, ours was also an arranged marriage. This system is still very popular in India and even today most people get married via this method. The system of arranged marriage has its own pros and cons, one can have lengthy debates on this but this post is not about that, it is about my amazing journey with my wife who now is also my very good friend. We first began our journey as husband and wife and now we are like best friends, I believe that friendship is an integral part of any marital relationship.

Our journey together started when I was still doing my Ph.D. Anyone familiar with the life of a Ph.D. student would know how tough is that life. I was embroiled in long work days in the lab, a very tiring work schedule, and a life full of frustrations and uncertainties of research. It was not easy for Reena to adjust to this new life after marriage. I must say that she adjusted really well with all this and managed very well on her own. There was a learning curve for both of us. We both took some time to adjust to this new reality of life, it also took some time to understand each other. As it is for every marriage there were ups and downs in our married life also and we learned something from each of these phases. I am sure initially Reena must have felt a little unusual to find a person like me as her husband. A person who doesn't believe in going on honeymoon or on exotic holidays, who was so introverted that he would prefer to read a book rather than have a chat, a person so busy with his research work who worked even on weekends, who doesn't like to go out for dinner or watching movies. These are some of the traits that I used to have back then and my stressful research life added additional demands and complexities. I also offered very little help to her in fighting her battle to establish herself in a new city and new family. She did manage well without my help and I am really proud to say that she never even asked for my help after I made her clear that she should not expect any special treatment just because she is a woman and should fight her own battles. I am sure initially it was a big struggle for her as she was in a city where she didn't understand the local language. She learned Marathi quickly and learned so well that within a few months, she could communicate with my neighbors in Marathi. She also learned to do all official work related to banks and other things without my help. Some people might think that what a big deal if some woman can manage these things on her own. They are right, women should be doing this on their own but in my family they were not even allowed to go out of home alone, so, this was a great achievement. In India, ours is a joint family, I am sure it was not easy for her to adjust to this environment but she never complained, or expressed her displeasure towards anything and I really thank her for that.

When we moved to the US almost a decade back, it was the beginning of another new chapter in life for us. It was not only a new city but a new country, and a new culture and we did not know anyone there. Fortunately, we met very kind and helpful people here with whom we now have relationships like family and I must say that Reena was instrumental in nurturing all these relationships. Actually, I have no hesitation in saying that she is the person who makes me socially relevant, she is the main reason all guests feel welcome in our home. I am not that social person from the beginning. But Reena tries to remember what are likes and dislikes of my friends and then cooks that particular dish whenever they visit, she even remembers most people's birthdays and other important days (like marriage anniversaries) and reminds me to wish them. This quality of hers has played a very pivotal role in our survival in this new country which we now can call our second home. We successfully completed almost a decade here and I credit her a lot for this. Apart from her, there are other women like my mom, and my grandmas who played a very crucial role in my life. It is said that behind every successful man, there is a woman but I disagree with the phrasing of this statement. Why behind? They are always with them, these women are not behind me but they are with me, right beside me. We should say "With every successful man there is a woman." These women didn't play any secondary role in my life but their role was and still is a very primary role. So, Reena's contributions are as crucial as my own contributions, she shares my success equally and is as much responsible for it as I am.

Actually, one blog post is not enough to write about this amazing journey. I just want to express my thanks and gratitude towards her for being such an amazing partner. A very supportive and understanding partner is needed for a successful marriage. This is especially true when we have so many uncommon things between us. For example, we both belong to different states in India (each state has a different language and culture), and we both have very different views about religion and God (Reena considers herself religious and believes in Hinduism and I don't subscribe to any such values), our mother tongue's are also different, despite all these differences where some of them can destroy relationships our family is a bunch of happy people. I consider this as a big success. We don't try to force our views on each other and on our kids but try to encourage them to explore on their own and choose what they feel is good for them. Because of our unique backgrounds and exposure to different cultures, our kids have a variety of things which they can choose from. These all responsibilities and challenges in life make it very interesting. We both are trying to figure out our way through all this while enjoying our journey together. I don't think there is any single formula for successful marriage or successful parenting, for every couple or family different things might work, one needs to find what works for them and I guess we have figured out what works for us. So far this journey has been amazing and I am sure it will continue like this. Thank you, Reena, and thanks for all the wonderful memories.

Thanks for reading.

[Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing]

Significance of Pankaja's bold step

A few months back, I wrote a blog post questioning why women are not allowed to lit pyres during funerals in the Hindu religion? That time I never imagined that I would see a revolutionary step taken in this direction so soon. When I saw the daughter of the Late Mr. Gopinath Mundhe, Pankaja, lighting a pyre during his cremation, I was really impressed by her courage and conviction. She stood firm on her convictions and defied all traditions and superstitions that too during such a tragic and emotional event when most of us surrender to pressure just because of the delicate nature of the situation. Her actions deserve praise and applause from all sections of society. It is a very bold and courageous step. This might sound like blowing this news out of proportion, but seriously, when was the last time anyone heard or saw a woman lighting a pyre at cremation in India? At least I have never seen this happening so far, even for people who don't have a son some other male family member performs these rights just because it is believed that this particular ritual has to be performed by some male relative.

I always believed that not allowing females to participate during cremation proceedings is a socially accepted form of gender discrimination in India. It is unfair that they are barred from these proceedings just because of their gender. Historically there might have been some reasons to do this but as those reasons don't apply anymore this practice should have been abolished but it still exists. It is protected and practiced under the name of tradition and culture. Most people practice it without questioning its relevance and validity. Still, people are hesitant to challenge such traditions, I don't know what stops them from doing it, but Pankaja did it so effortlessly that's why she deserves all the praise. The image of her performing the last rights of her father should be a lesson for everyone who thinks that women should not be allowed to perform such rituals. I don't believe in these rituals but many religious people perform them because of social obligation or thinking it will give peace to a dead person's soul. So, if people want to follow these rituals, then why not do it in a gender-unbiased way. Why to allow only males to perform this task? This is why Pankaja's action is very significant as it challenged this age-old belief and shattered it. I hope this incident gets highlighted in the news and media well enough so that many people can learn something from it. No doubt there will be some who are against change and they will criticize her actions, they will blame her for breaking tradition and insulting the so-called culture but these individuals shout no matter what you do, so it's better to ignore them. I hope this will give courage to many other women and families who were hesitant to take this step because of social pressure or because of the burden of outdated culture and traditions. This should give them the required courage to break that barrier. This is a very crucial incident and I hope this sets a new precedence in our society.

Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic.

[Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing]

Links:
1. Why women are not allowed to lit pyre during cremation?

Mr. Babulal Gaur, RAPE IS ALWAYS WRONG, no exceptions

Madhya Pradesh (MP) minister Mr. Babulal Gaur said that rape is a social crime and it is sometimes right and sometimes wrong. Whereas it is not surprising to hear such stupid statements from politicians, it is definitely surprising to see how frequently such statements are made. It's not that long ago when some politicians from the Samajwadi party made some derogatory remarks displaying their ignorance and male chauvinistic attitude. One can not avoid feeling dismayed after hearing such statements that too from elected lawmakers, displaying the deep male chauvinistic attitude prevalent in our society.

These types of disgusting statements make us wonder whether we are really living in the 21st century or not? These statements are largely criticized at least in social media which is somewhat comforting and a sign of encouragement. But in India, no politician has ever lost his ministership or resigned accepting their mistake after making such derogatory remarks. Politicians always try to offer some type of explanation to justify such statements and their respective governments or parties seem to be perfectly fine with their lame justifications. This shows the trivial attitude of India's political class towards such issues, they don't consider the issue of sexual violence serious enough to sack a minister or at least warn or reprimand them. Incidents of rape and sexual violence happen all over India, it is not a problem of some particular state as some people might think. This problem is rooted in male dominant nature of society and patriarchal culture where women are largely viewed as objects, not as persons. Women are treated with respect and dignity as long as they behave like women, and the definition of "behave like a woman" changes from region to region. They are supposed to remain within their limits. The moment they cross the imposed limit they are targeted, victimized, and abused in whatever way these bigots feel appropriate. Rape and murder are the result of this misogynist mindset. To stop or at least minimize such crimes any such misogynist statements must be condemned with the strongest possible words and perpetrators should be dealt with sternly, both legally and politically. Any sympathetic statement especially from people who are in government or hold any political position sends a wrong message. It derails all efforts by many organizations and individuals to create awareness about such crimes. As such it is not easy to curb these types of crimes in any patriarchal society where women are considered second-class citizens. This is why such statements are dangerous, they make the struggle of victims and their families more difficult. This is the reason I don't take any such statement lightly, these are not harmless or ignorant statements but are very detrimental statements. They are like verbal sexual assaults and should be condemned no matter who does it. The collective silence of the entire political class and their selective reactions are very worrisome. Most political parties are trying to seek some political gains from such incidents, they only criticize when it suits them, this is disgusting and sickening.

People like Mr. Babulal Gaur need to be reminded that rape is wrong, there are no exceptions. Rape is sexual violence, it is an attempt not only to injure a person physically but also psychologically. Age, clothing, gender, and desire to have sex, don't matter, rape is a crime and it is always wrong, period. Any sane person won't try to justify rape. Any such attempt should be challenged and defeated. All people like Mr. Gaur need to learn this lesson. This is important and we all need to play our part in it, if we don't fight this battle who else will? So, let's send this message loud and clear, rape is always wrong, with no exceptions, it's a heinous crime.

Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic.

[Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing]

Links:

1. Rape is sometimes right, sometimes wrong: Madhya Pradesh minister Babulal Gaur

Sorry Mohsin, my city failed to protect you

My last post was related to increasing incidents of Hooliganism where people or groups are targeted just because of something they expressed. I have expressed my concern about the low tolerance level and violent reactions in India so many times on my blog and elsewhere. Any country that aspires to become a developed nation and attract world-class talent needs to value freedom of expression. Such a society needs to have an atmosphere where different opinions are encouraged and disagreements are welcomed. Only in such conditions attract real talent. The brutal murders of Dr. Narendra Dabholkar and Mr. Mohsin Shaikh don't indicate that India is moving in that direction. These two incidents that too in one of the most progressive cities of India (Pune) indicate that the country is moving in a reverse direction. There is an atmosphere in the country where people are scared to speak their opinions because they feel threatened. This is such a sad state for a country that claims to be tolerant, inclusive, and open to all cultures and beliefs. These claims are now questionable on so many levels.

What was Mohsin's fault that he deserved to get killed like this? Followed Islam was his fault? Is it his fault that he dressed or looked different than many others in that neighborhood? Are these things enough to kill a person? What was Dr. Dabholkar's fault? He was not a Muslim or dressed anything differently. Why was he attacked and murdered? Both incidents are somewhat related as both these people were targeted because they expressed something. In Dr. Dabholkar's case, he was targeted for opposing religious superstitions and other religious malpractices. There are some inhuman practices that some people want to protect in the name of tradition and culture, he was killed for fighting against such inhuman practices. In the case of Mohsin, he was targeted without even any mistake from his side. Someone distributed some objectionable content on Facebook and WhatsApp related to Shivaji Maharaj. This created a lot of controversy and communal tension, and he was killed due to suspicion. Even if we assume that Mohsin was in any way related to generating those images that created so much controversy, is this the way to deal with such issues? Can anyone with a rational mind justify such type of behavior? Taking the law into own hands to disrupt society, destroying public property in the name of protest, or attacking certain groups is a sign of uncivilized behavior. These acts only deserve condemnation in the strongest possible words and very strict action should be taken against all culprits involved in any such incidents. But all this sounds meaningless when Members of parliaments like Mr. Anil Shirole justify some of these acts by calling them the natural reaction of people whose feelings get hurt. The same excuse was offered by Mr. Modi after the Godhra violence and we all know how many people lost their lives because of that so-called natural reaction which was nothing but cold-blooded genocide. None of these reactions are natural, they are purposeful, planned crimes, nothing else.

It is not important how many people died or who died to judge the seriousness of such types of crimes.  The numbers and names don't matter much, if this mentality prevails then these things will happen regularly only the names of people and places will change. If more and more people go unpunished for these types of crimes, if they find any sympathizers among our politicians then they will get more aggressive and brutal in their attacks. That is why any statement that even remotely tries to justify such brutal attacks on innocent people or the destruction of public property should be interrogated and punished. There should not be any compromise on freedom of expression and any violent anti-social activity should not be encouraged. Politicians have greater responsibility in all this as any sympathetic statement from their side acts as an encouragement for these goons. We cannot afford to have another Godhra in India, enough is enough, already many people have lost their lives because of this fanaticism. We need to fight these anti-social goons no matter which party or organization they belong to, absolutely nothing can justify such violence and destruction. 

The death of Mohsin is really shocking for anyone belonging to a city like Pune. I belong to that city and we Punekars take pride in calling our city one of the most progressive cities in India. I am also surprised that there was no candle march or any protest against Mohsin's murder like it was in the case of Nirbhaya who was gang raped and killed in Delhi. Mohsin's death is not any less shocking to me than Nirbhaya's death, both crimes are equally brutal and heinous. That is why I wonder why people's reactions are so different to both. Mohsin, please forgive my hometown for its inability to protect you. Punekar like me is deeply shocked as well as ashamed because of this incident, I have no words to express my feelings. I never imagined that within so short time after Dr. Dabholkar's death, we would witness another such heinous crime in Pune. I hope that now our politicians and administration take a lesson from it and take all measures to avoid any such instances in the future. I know this is too much to ask for but I just hope that at least people step up and try to stop this madness. If this doesn't happen then I don't know how many more Mohsins or Nirbhayas will have to die before our society wakes up and takes any action. The culture of hooliganism must go before it destroys the social fabric of our society.

Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic.

[Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing]

Links:
1. In Pune, ‘Hindu zealots’ kill man over ‘offensive’ Facebook post
2. Pune techie murder: BJP MP says some repercussions to derogatory FB post 'natural'

Culture of hooliganism

I couldn't believe my eyes when I read the news that the situation in my hometown Pune is critical because some objectionable material about Shivaji Maharaj was circulated in social media. I was not surprised by the circulation of such material but was surprised by the extreme reaction to this in Pune. It is shocking to see that a city like Pune which remained calm even during the Babri mosque demolition and many other sensitive incidents is behaving like this. I guess the spread of social media hatred finally caught up with Pune. People use social media for so many reasons, some people use it to spread good messages, and discuss valid and relevant issues; at the same time, some people use it to circulate junk like morphed photos of people. Their only intention in circulating anything like this is to create social disturbance and such violent reactions fulfill their expectations. Actually, these people who think that they are protecting someone's honor are playing in the hands of those antisocial elements. These two sides help each other to serve their purposes. First, some anti-social elements release something which is derogatory in nature and then some people act exactly according to the script to make a big deal out of it and create havoc. Instead of condemning the actions or opposing them in a nonviolent way they destroy public property and disrupt public life. What do they achieve by doing all this? Nothing. They just waste public money and time. But these people fail to understand this simple thing and keep on making the same mistakes again and again. This has become so regular pattern for some political parties, so regular that it has become their habit, they don't miss any single opportunity to exploit any such incident. 

This culture of hooliganism is not good for any society. Especially for a country that is aspiring to become a superpower. Freedom of expression is a very important right in any developed society. I agree that freedom of expression also comes with some responsibility but it also comes with the right to offend. In any developed society, there should be ample scope for expressing offensive things without any threat of violence. Actually feeling offended or angry about something is not that bad but that feeling should be used to propagate any violence. Silencing the messenger is not the proper way to fight the message, we have to tackle only the message even if we don't like it not the messenger.

I don't understand how disturbing public life by violent acts or destroying public property serves any purpose. How does destruction help in nursing hurt feelings? How more hatred can be the answer to hatred? Won't such violent reactions serve the purpose of people who intend to create social disturbance by spreading rumors or objectionable material?  Why to help them? I think now it is time for everyone to think about how to tackle these types of situations peacefully. For every objectionable material release 100s of messages that portray positive things about that person, rather than getting offended try spreading your own message. This will automatically negate the efforts of people who are trying to spread negative messages. If those antisocial elements see that their tactics to create social disturbance are not working they will automatically stop. By reacting to such incidents in a violent way people are making these posts or materials more popular. These incidents help to publicize such acts and encourage these antisocial elements. We need to realize that no one can insult or hurt our feelings until we allow them to do so. No post, photo, or anything can insult a person like Shivaji Maharaj, people like him are an inspiration for many by trying to insult such people some people show their own level of understanding, and it doesn't reflect anything about these towering personalities. Everyone has the right to study, analyze, and even criticize anything and anyone, criticism is not an insult and should not hurt or offend anyone. We should be mature enough to handle criticism in a peaceful way. Once we learn these simple things then we will stop getting offended by the stupid acts of some people and such violent reactions will stop. It is a must to get rid of this culture of hooliganism, after all, we come from a country where Gandhi used nonviolent methods to fight the mighty British Empire.

Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic.

[Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing]

Why is this collective silence?

Very disturbing news of gang rape and murder of two sisters after almost one and half years of Damini incident has made me realize that nothing has changed so far. I wrote a post after Damini's case (Nirbhaya, these are not her real names to protect her identity). Now, I am writing another post after this incident. I am as disturbed as I was after reading the news about the brutal rape and murder of Nirbhaya. Yes, the first incident was in Delhi this is in some small village of UP, the chief ministers of both states are different, and they belong to different political parties; in the center also that time there was the government of UPA now it is NDA but apart from that nothing has changed. Then also a few fanatic men brutally raped and killed a girl this time two innocent girls were brutally raped and killed. WHY? What was their mistake? Why does our administration consistently fail to protect its citizens and act swiftly when any such crime happens? There was a huge uproar and widespread protests to support Nirbhaya and her fight for justice, why there is collective silence about this case?

Now as this news is reported in the media, few arrests will be made, few policemen will be suspended for lack of swift action, the blame game will start, the center govt will blame the state govt, the state will blame the police, and political parties will criticize each other to take political mileage from this heinous incident. A usual circus will be performed. This circus will go on for a few days like a ritual which they do after every such incident. Then people, government, and political parties will forget about this incident as if it never happened. Administration and government will become complacent until the next incident when this circus will happen once again. During Nirbhaya's case, there was widespread protest all over the country, and this forced the administration to take some steps not only to solve that case but also to reduce the suffering and humiliation of rape victims. Amir Khan's TV show Satyamev Jayate telecasted one episode related to this issue which offered many good suggestions to deal with this issue. How many of those suggestions were implemented or even seriously discussed? What is the reason for this collective silence? Is the frequent occurrence of such incidents numbed our sensitivities so much that now any such news doesn't surprise or shock us anymore? Have we become immune to such incidents? Many questions like this come to my mind when I see the insensitivity of current and past administrations toward such incidents. 

I can understand that there is a new government at the center and for the past few days there was celebration time for BJP and its allies for their impressive victory in general elections. Because of all this media has many more things to report. They are trying to report each and every step the new government is taking, which is good, people should be informed about the actions and plans of their government but was this news not important enough? Doesn't such incidents indicate the ugly reality of our society that needs urgent attention? How many more boys and girls need to die like this until this issue becomes as important as Article 370 or reservations or educational qualification of some minister? I don't know what will it take to make sexual violence a major national issue? Does the place of incident matter in such cases? Whether it's Delhi or Badaun the seriousness and cruelty of crime are the same, so they should get the same response and same treatment from administration and people. 

Incidents like this are not only about rape or murder, they are about caste, the attitude of the administration towards their citizens, efficiency, and accountability of the administration, and society's views towards such crimes. These issues involve many such aspects and at each level, we have some serious problems, that is the reason these incidents happen so frequently. The major problem is society's attitude towards women. Men who feel they are superior to women as well as women who think they are inferior to men need to realize basic faults in their thinking, they both need to understand the concept of gender equality. I hope talk of equality and women empowerment doesn't only remain on paper or in discussion forums, political parties and ruling governments show will and courage to implement policies that can make this happen in reality. We must raise our voices from whatever forum we can, blogs, FB, Twitter, protests, or whatever. Make the government realize that we are serious about such crimes and need very swift and appropriate action from the government. Criminals need to get punishment at least to show that no one can get away from crimes like these. Legal action will be the first step in this direction and then we also need many social and political reforms to remove gender bias which still exists in our society. I hope that I don't have to write another post on any such incident again. It's not easy to read about these things. Silence is not an option. Let's not wait for another Nirbhaya to die or another Badaun to happen, let's raise our voices against any such incident no matter where it happens and who is the victim.

Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic.

[Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing]

Links:

1. Sisters Killed After Alleged Gang-Rape In UP

2. Outrage over gang rape, murder of cousins in U.P. village

3. Yes, We all are guilty..