The thing about the Delhi incident is that every one of us wants to do something about it, but none of us knows what we’re supposed to do. We post beseeching messages on Facebook, we tweet in righteous indignation. We call for equally unlawful murders of those responsible. We call the act inhuman, whereas the shameful fact is that it is all too human. Murder may be the oldest crime in the Bible, but rape must surely run a close second.
The problem doesn’t end with punishing the perpetrators, for India is the second most populous nation in the world, and there’s no shortage of similar men. Punishments and fear of consequences have failed to stop them for millennia, they’re unlikely stop them now. I listen to people calling for chemical castrations and public shootings, and I imagine the Mahatma turning in his grave, so to speak.
There will be war on the streets, of accusations and counter-accusations, of protests, marches, and flash mobs; against the police, the state, the centre, against those in power, and those striving for it. There are as many people to blame as there are fingers to point. But are any of those pointing in the right direction? Just take a closer look at the Delhi protests, and some really disturbing questions come to mind. How many perverts, eve-teasers and would be rapists do you think are a part of that mob? How many of them are there just out of curiosity, or worse, ogling the female protestors? How many actually brave the lathi and the water cannon? In absence of Police intervention, how long would it take for one violent outburst to spread like wildfire, and turn on the protest itself?
How long would it take us to realize that this isn’t some foreign oppressor we’re protesting against? The government is just as ineffective (or effective) as we are. The policemen aren’t imported commodities, they’re us. Even those accused are as much a part of us, as their victim. It may be too bitter to swallow, but I accept that as truth. For a country so obsessed with change, how many of us actually dare being a part of it? How many average, middle class background teenagers wish to enlist in the Police, to actually make a difference? Even if they do, how many parents support them? I don’t pretend to know any answers, but I ask of you to start asking the right questions. It’s not their government, and their laws, and their responsibilities. It is ours. We pay for the sins of our fathers, and our children would pay for ours.
