Welcome to India , the rape capital of the world

For  the first and probably the last time i’m writing an article based out of sports. I’m writing this article on all the anguish that has been brewing inside me of the countless rapes that take place in our country. The thing that angers me even more is the callous attitude of the lawmakers, the so called dormant society ,the media,of the fathers  and the brothers and uncles.

Amidst all this chaos i just want to look where are we going wrong systematically..Like the security situation, the aftermath, the attitude of the lawmakers and their insensitive remarks in the media. I lived in Gurgaon which for people who don’t know is located just outside Delhi is part of the national capital region(NCR).  They call it the millennium city and its also the city supposedly modelled on Singapore. We just think that we can ape Singapore by having high rise buildings. I lived in that city for two years and its crying out loud for help. Absolutely  no public transport, no infrastructure and its a land owned by the real estate barons. Why is that in our capital city, one of the biggest cities in the world and in the land of democracy woman have to think again if they have to go alone after 9 in the night without a trusted male to accompany them. From my personal experience i have to say that i have accompanied woman after nine in Delhi and i have never felt very comfortable doing it.

   So where do we start in controlling this mess because if you have been watching the news channels you would have a fair idea of the multitude of rapes that take place in our country.Sadly in our country i have come across almost an authoritarian code on how women should walk ,sit ,dress in our country and even the educated class believe that women don’t deserve much of respect. I’m not generalising but there is a huge majority who still believe in this farce. I feel one of the major reasons is that kids come across domestic violence right in their homes where the father beats up the mother and the very idea that women does not deserve respect  gets imbibed in to his system. So the same callous attitude continues when he comments on the girl on the road,school or college.Another major roadblock is the security situation in the country. I believe we are terribly understaffed in the police department. In India the ratio of number of policemen per 1000 people is perhaps the lowest for any country. Sadly with the  number of rapes growing there is an urgent need to bring a strict, vigilant law to tackle and fast track such cases. I also firmly believe that accused in rape cases should be handed out the strictest punishment. But this can be a double- edged sword. The judicial system also should make sure that this law is not abused and used to trap the innocent.

The another thing that’s irking me so much is the irresponsible comments of the lawmakers and the media’s role in highlighting them. The Khaps of Haryana, who i firmly believe should be driven out for their draconian laws come out with comments like ‘girls should be married at 16 cos they will have men to look after their sexual needs and this would avoid rape. There was another person from the Khap community who said that fast food was a reason for the increasing rapes and not to forget Didi who said boys and girls should not mingle with each other as it would lead to rape. Not to forget her reaction to the Kolkata Park street rape when she treated the case as agenda by the opposition and media to malign her government. The fact that the media have tried to sensationalise these issues when it benefited  them and then to conveniently ignore them is a painful reminder.

I want to conclude by saying that whenever i have seen or taken part in a public forum on the issue of rape i have always found a large majority trying to restrain the woman community on what to wear,where to go,how to behave i think its high time that fathers treat their mothers as equal partners at home and then little boys should be strictly taught how to respect women and their choices and also to treat them as an equal entity of the society. Its a painful reminder and a warning.