Clearly the recent happenings in Kathua and Unnao are blots on our country. Whatever changes we make in the law or whatever the Prime Minister says, the black spots on our nation will never be removed. Never ever in the history of independent India, we have belittled our standings to such a low. The incidents were not only the failures of our law enforcing agencies or the government of the day, but also every citizen of the country should be held responsible. Why? The murderers and the rapists were waving national flag, we remained silent. They chanted ‘Bharat Mata ki jai,’ we decided to look at other direction. For their narrow political gains, some political parties tried to reap maximum advantages from these incidents, we simply allowed them to do so. Where are our consciences? Are we the descendents of Mahatma Gandhi, Rabindranath Tagore, who taught us non-violence and plurality? Is India the land where Lord Buddha and Mahavir were born? Without being too harsh, it can be safely concluded that this is not the India which they dreamt. The preaching of those great sons no longer inspires India and its people. The Indians in their own land have now become the aggressors. Earlier, foreign invaders were the culprit, now their role has been taken over by the Indians. They are looting the country with such a regularity which the invaders didn’t do. They are destroying the social fabric of the country in such a manner which the outsiders never thought of. Today, India is facing more danger from within than outside forces. How long will we continue to suffer in the hands of those people who always put self-interest ahead of national interest?
As mentioned earlier, the knee-jerk reaction of the government to change the law is not sufficient to check the menace. More stringent laws with severe punishment for rape were introduced after the infamous rape and murder of Nirbhaya. Has the number of rapes come down because of stricter law? No. Rather numbers of such incidents are on the rise. Only visible change we can see is that earlier the rapists used to leave their victims alive but not now. These days the rapists after committing the crime burn alive the victims to remove any clue for the police to trace. 64 such incidents were reported only from Madhya Pradesh alone in 120 days. From this figure itself national scenario can be judged easily. Similarly, provision for awarding death penalty in case of raping a minor will put no brake on such incidents. Rather, we will see more cruelty whenever the rapists will find an opportunity to commit the crime. Besides, such incidents will adversely affect the gender ratio of the country. Because of dowry system, girl child is unwanted in most of the families in India. Gender ratio in northern states, such as Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, is in real bad shape. For records the government have enacted a law, but it is nothing more than a toothless tiger. But despite all odds, the saving grace for the country is the Northeast. Always painted in negative colours, the region clearly is the champion of women rights. Forget about rape, even incidents of eve-teasing are unheard of in the region. The Northeasterners do not need a law to protect its women. Traditional values, education, upbringing all helped the region to stand as an oasis where rapes become the order of the day. To avoid further shame, rest of India should learn from Northeast how to respect women and protect their rights.
