For the New Year

(With regard to the recent death of a 23-year-old girl who was gang raped in Delhi, and the consequent nation-wide protest.)

Let’s not debate over the difference between genuine outrage and armchair activism. Every person’s expression of sadness, disapproval, anger or frustration is crucial to not letting the movement die down. If the government can have two girls arrested for one Facebook status, it can very well be influenced by thousands of them. It may be an entirely different matter, though, to consider why action against serious criminals has been slower in comparison to the arrest of two young girls who merely exercised their Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression.

Let’s not debate over Delhi being or not being the rape capital, or other phrases being used. The issue is multiple times larger – let’s not trivialise it by indulging in personal debates and linguistic snobbery. Let’s not use it to feed our egos. Let’s not stoop to the level of those we loathe right now. Let’s show some respect. After all, India is a country that goes on and on about respect, ad nauseam – for elders, for religion, for family, for traditions. Let’s function in sync with this particular “Indian value” and show some respect for a 23-year-old girl who is no more, and for her family.

With that, I want to reiterate a point, in simple words, that some of India has been trying to make, and not just for the last 15 days: the country does not treat its women right and action needs to be taken against it.

No matter how proud I may feel of my generation for its activism, it is unfortunate, if not shameful, that it took a lurid incident to shake us out of our slumber. It’s ridiculous that it took the loss of an innocent life to spark such “outrage”. Let’s be fair and acknowledge that we had kept shut all these years. And that it took this long for each conscience to give in.

I recognise that there have been strong movements like Slut Walk that emerged much before this incident. But let’s face that it was this particular incident that was the last straw for a revolution of this scale. If the government is inefficient, we’re not faultless either. I call her brave because she had the will to live, even amidst all the unimaginable pain. It’s beyond sad that she didn’t have her wish fulfilled but she definitely did not have this done to her just so the nation could be awakened. As much as we blame the politicians and the police, we need to look inward and blame ourselves for being complacent all this while.

The generations before ours did what they did or didn’t what they didn’t. However, at present, it is fortunate that India has people who are willing to stand up for their own rights. Let’s be thankful for that, encourage that and continue to be a part of that. It offers hope, if not assurance, that leaders of the country who are in a state of inertia right now can’t remain this way for long. The strong momentum is bound to make them mobile, too. It testifies that we’ve acknowledged the need for a change in attitude and for urgency in action, and that now, we won’t settle for anything less than concrete results.

Over the past two weeks, activists, journalists, writers, actors, directors, singers, doctors and students have appeared on various debates hosted by Indian news channels and expressed their views with what needs to be done now. And that should be the focus of the nation at this point, in my opinion. Quite a few rational ideas have been put forward to supplement the obvious. A good example is TV presenter Gaurav Kapur’s suggestion of instigating sex education in schools so that young Indian boys can learn to stop treating sex like “candy” and girls like mysterious, foreign entities. A point was rightly made stating that sex is actually not a taboo in India; considering our current population, the country is clearly having tons of it. So, let’s not be hypocritical about it.

An observation by theatre producer and director Kaizad Kotwal accurately put the spotlight on how religion in India can be blamed for a value system that teaches women to consider themselves less than men.  Oh c’mon, why else would karvachauth exist?

However controversial they may be with a considerably narrow minded section of society in existence, these observations show the reality that India lives in. Changing age-old thoughts is not easy but it definitely isn’t a fantastical ambition, either.

Candlelight marches may have been greeted with tear gas bombs, water cannons and lathi charge but that led to plans of reclaiming the streets for New Years Eve and boycotting Republic Day. We need to keep this chain reaction going. It’s the only way. Those who are in India, attend as many protests as possible. Utilise every opportunity to voice your opinions and reiterate required solutions. Get your lazy friends out of their houses. Get your inactive relatives to contribute. Watch and read the news regularly. Social networking is helpful in reminding us of other serious acts of violence that have been committed against women in India before, with people being encouraged to share old news. Don’t laugh at it. Let it intensify your anger. And don’t think that a Facebook status or a tweet goes to waste. It’s just as important as a protest involving a thousand people.