Finally the dust has settled and all the "Facebook revolutionaries" are done with their idiotic rants,symbols and subjective opinions about the Delhi gang rape issue which occurred in December. I also would like to thank the Indian main-stream media for their highly opinionated hype because rape is one of the most under reported crimes in India and I wonder as to why only this case is being secluded?
What shocked me the most was the national conscious in judging the accused with horrible verdicts ranging from hanging to mutilation of genitals. A Majority of people on my Facebook's friend list flooded my wall with some horrible images of how the punishment should be delivered to these men involved. Some moronically blaming the ruling party to this incident with-out understanding the fact that this issue deals with the bureaucracy and the judiciary of our Country and not the executive branch of our nation.This hypocrisy of pseudo rage stupefied me for a week or so. As the days went by I saw a lot of agitation and protest which almost ended up in chaos. There were very few attempts to try and understand the root-cause of this horrible crime without resorting to violent options.Following will be my honest and a rationale approach as I try to retrospect this horrible crime which has plagued our society for ages.
Our society unlike its origins is a patriarchal based society where the male is the authority figure central to social organization. This very foundation is harmful not only for women but also for men. However, I would like to stick more towards its effect on women. Since they are subordinate to men, women in our society have been victims of various biases. Apart from political,financial and heredity discrimination; the one which physically affects the most is sexual. Women are often objectified as a man's need rather than a mutual delight.This further gets twisted in to faulty pretext of tradition where radical religious agendas are to be meant. Let me be more specific,our libido i.e sexual drive(men & women alike) is something natural and nothing to be ashamed or felt guilty of. yet when a woman with a healthy sex drive turns out to be a social outcast while men with the same drives are left unspeculated some times even looked up for.
Sex is not intended just for procreation but has been a strong recreation for bonding and building relationships in our evolutionary history. Therefore, acknowledging sex as something mutual and fun is very important to understand his/her sexuality without any guilt. Since sex is looked up as a taboo by our "pure" religious authority(i.e-Chastity) it distorts the essence of it to the common masses.This distortion with a strong male chauvinism which religion creates results in to many sadistic repercussions in to the subconscious of a young sexually frustrated male. The recent remarks by the godman Asram is,"Only 5-6 people are not the culprits. The victim is as guilty as her rapists... She should have called the culprits brothers and begged before them to stop... This could have saved her dignity and life. Can one hand clap? I don't think so." such obscene comments are a perfect example of how male chauvinism is championed by the religious authorities.
Male chauvinism is a common behavioral trait found in our society. It becomes more of a trouble when it clashes with our natural drives. A perfect example would be eve-teasing which is common in major cities and towns. We all at-least have witnessed it apart from been a victim or perpetrator. We all are equally involved in this act of sexual harassment since it does not bother our conscious to stop it. The only plausible solution I vision is sexual emancipation of women. We all need to understand that it becomes easy when you treat someone the way you would like your self to be treated. With respect and dignity.
Finally we should not forget the group of six men accused of this gruesome act are a part of our society. Their acts are also included in to a collective reflection of us as a society. Hanging them or castrating them is not going to eradicate sexual crimes on women of India.
