One World. One Soul. Time shall pass but river won't roll.

As I mourn the death of the victim of Delhi Gang Rape Case, there is a sense of growing resentment within self, a revolting sorrow that is immensely disturbing and a feeling of helplessness that fiddles untrammeled with the peace of mind. Delhi, the city that is constantly moving, has seemed to stop to pay homage to a brave heart that succumbed to death after stirring the collective conscience of an otherwise resistant nation and its indifferent people.  However, as people unite to partake in Solidarity protest at Jantar Mantar and elsewhere, the Government stands ready to plunge daggers and puncture the brewing spirit of rebellion, the spirit that shall only be mitigated by justice and assurance. The media vans have been cleared from sites of protest and photography has been prohibited (as reported by some journalists). It is a day of double mourning: we mourn the death of Delhi Gang Rape Victim; we mourn the death of Indian Democracy.

It is in times when it is most unwanted that the follies of the fools become transparent and fall within the grasp of worthy attention. All societies are deeply entrenched with unparallel ideologies that rarely converge into a point of concurrence. However, when during times of turmoil, these diverse ideologies become points of argument rather than meaningful observations, their existence become futile and unworthy. Even in the Delhi Rape Case, the clashing ideologies have been a cause of much rancor. The issue of safety of women which should have been at the real locus of debate has been pushed to the periphery as irrelevant discussions revolving around Muslim Conquest of India, effectiveness of Sharia’ Law, detrimental influence of Western Culture etc. take centre-stage. 

No, Sharia’ is not the answer

When partition took place, the two sister nations were each given a choice and each chose a different fate- Pakistan decided to implant its roots in theocracy, India embraced Democracy. The journey that the two countries have made should cast some light on why the makers of modern India felt abalienated with the concept of theocracy. As soon as the news of Delhi Gang Rape reached the masses, social media sites were overtaken by gory pictures of bloodstained culprits being punished for the crime of rape as per the Sharia’ Law. Thousands have hailed the Sharia’ as the need of the hour completely forgetting that by adopting Sharia’, we are also adopting the ugliest form of violence against which we protest.  Stoning the culprits to death, castrating them or feeding them to stray hungry dogs may pour ice cold water on burnt hearts but in the long-run, such a system of law and justice will promote violence and barbarism. Most of all do we really need a justice system where not only the criminal but also the victim is punished (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qatif_rape_case)?

No, the ‘Muslim Conquest’ did not bring along the Rape Culture

There is no dearth of mindless Hindus who blame the Muslim invasion/conquest for an increase in the number of rape cases in India. The other day a bunch of zealots who believed, and perhaps very wrongly, that the Hindu culture was absolutely devoid of any instances of rape or adultery, blamed the Islamic conquest for the prevalence of rape culture in India. If, indeed, the Islamic conquest is to be blamed for the birth of rape culture in India, how is it that all the six accused in the Delhi Gang Rape Case are Hindus? If Islam brought along with itself the crime of rape, shouldn’t it be the followers of Islam and not that of Hinduism, who should have been caught as culprits?

No, it’s not about the increasing influence of the Western Culture

Khalid Hossaini wrote, “Like a compass needle that points north, a man's accusing finger always finds a woman. Always.”  There are some men who want the women of India to make peace with a horrendous crime that is rape only because they have opened their life to the Western Culture. The hidden insinuation states- either learn to live as per the norms we have set for you or do not expect us to protect you. When men make such diktats, they forget to browse through their phones and delete those porn clips, which to me are the most damaging of all Western spawns. If the short hem of a woman’s dress is capable of inciting the beast within a man, I wonder what devils get awakened when men who pass decrees see nude women on their screens. Ironically, nobody wipes the cell before asking the women to wipe off their rights.

No, the protest did not expose the malice of Delhi’s Underbelly

In a write-up about the rage that followed the rape of the victim, a journalist wrote that the protests exposed the malice of Delhi’s underbelly. How wrong can one be? The protest at Jantar Mantar and elsewhere in India did not expose the malice of Delhi’s Underbelly. On the contrary, if it all it did anything, it was to evince the fact that the people in this country are not immune to pain and injustice.  They are not heartless and selfish.  They won’t suffer in silence and life will not move-on when incidences that provoke stillness happen and happen repeatedly. 

The death of the 23-year old victim of Delhi Gang Rape Case is a cause of great sorrow to the country. The question that her death leaves unanswered is not about where do girls go wrong. It is not about what is wrong with people. It is also not about what is wrong with the media. The question is not about what or who is to be blamed for rape or an increase in the number of rape cases. The question is: What did you do to make women safer in this country? There will always be somebody who you can blame. There will always be a mistake that a woman might have made. There will always be a way to find you diverging from the prime say: Nothing, absolutely nothing, justifies rape. But there is also one thing that you need to remember, if you don’t do enough to make women safer in this country, there will be a soul up above in the sky that will not be able to rest in peace.