Wake up India: If not now, when?

Scene 1: A young couple is traveling in a bus around midnight near South Delhi. They are going home after watching a movie. Delhi looks different in the night and so is the mindset of the people. The girl appears panicked as a group of drunk men sitting in the bus is making her feel uncomfortable. One of the men starts abusing the girl and tries to molest her. The boy sitting with the girl couldn’t tolerate this and slapped that man. The other men of the group latched on to the boy and what happened after that we all are well aware. A gang rape – that changed girl’s life.

Scene 2: The couple is traveling in a bus at around midnight in South Delhi. The girl gets panicked as a group of drunk men sitting in the bus is making her feel distressed. One of the men starts abusing the girl and tries to molest her. This time boy dials 100 and informs the police. The police traces that bus and even though boy and girl suffered minor injuries during that time yet a big mishap that could have happened, was avoided.

Of course in the second case, the assumption that police will do its work perfectly might not be hundred percent reasonable but we cannot eliminate this possibility as well.

Delhi gang rape case was one of the worst acts that humanity could witness. Quite understandably the culprits in this case deserve capital punishment or probably worse if possible. But does that assure there won’t be more cases of rapes, harassment or eve teasing. Looking at the statistics, we can easily conclude that Delhi is also a rape capital of our country. It’s high time to find the long term solution for that. Before that, we should have a look at the short term options. First and foremost we have to be in a state of readiness for such situations. Relying on police, governments and laws can’t be a safe bet. Let’s talk about the crimes in general and their short remedies before we get in to the rapes and harassment.

Studies suggest that a criminal doesn’t think about the punishment while committing a crime. What drives them is the urge and desire to get what they want by going against the law. And we all shall agree upon a simple thought that- prevention in case of criminal acts is  better than any cure. Given the large population of our country, it becomes almost impossible for police to reach every part and therefore only our own preparedness for such crisis situations can help us.

We use the term Education for our learning that we acquire, share and transfer and that helps in living a life comfortably. So what our Education is doing in such scenarios. Sleeping like our educationists? Most schools and colleges teach a lot of stuff that has zero meaning in real life situations. Why not a education institute gives us training on what to do when Kasab attacks you, or when something like this rape case happens? Why not military training or crisis training for the civilians. Mind you such training not only prepares you physically but also on how to use your brain in crisis situations. But sadly, we prefer to shed a tear or two than fighting against such heinous acts.

Secondly, the role of police- to keep the citizens secure. We are familiar with our police and we also know that it’s almost impossible to file an FIR without giving few thousands. But if we remain silent, that will be equally wrong. We need to make an issue of it every time we face such situation and not wait until such tragedy happens. One of the simplest things that we can do is to dial 100 instead of gong to the police station. That way it becomes mandatory for police to file an FIR and proceed.

Thirdly, the laws and governance which have the right and power to bring reforms and change the system. For example, there is no capital punishment provision for rape cases. What can common man or police do in this case when all the culprits have been locked but the worst they can get is life imprisonment. There are few loopholes in our criminal laws as mentioned about the rape case, even more in the procedural laws due to which people die before their court cases get to a conclusion. There has to be a time limit on the court trials.

Long term solution for harassment against women:

If someone asks me about the solution, I will not say – our own readiness, police intervention, and governments & laws. Instead I will put a simple statement honestly – Dear Indians, Get over sex.

In India, premarital sex is considered as taboo and no matter how much education people get, their idea of sex remains the same. They will do it, that’s for sure but will try to act as if they know nothing about it. My question is- why?

Sex is the basic need of humans we need to accept that reality. So what happens when a young man in his twenties has an urge for sex, specially when he is unmarried.

Let’s take a look at the options he has- Go around and look for prostitutes but that is not a safe option both from Police and STD point of view. Or he can look around for sex but our society doesn’t permit that. So what happens in such cases, is that men start looking for opportunities where they can get from. If they are educated, they will most likely suppress their desires. Even educated men are found these days harassing their colleagues. If you talk about naive uneducated men, they might cross their limits. The idea here is not to justify such actions but to tell the cause and real picture of our society. 4 out of 5 men crave for sex in our country and no matter whether one accepts it or not, reality won’t change. Women on the other hand have comparably lesser desire for sex as the self control in their case is reasonably high.

Two things will have a long term effect- legalizing prostitution and promoting sex education. We have to understand the basic psyche and mindset of men. Sex remains an important issue which remains out of our discussions and therefore people have so many myths about it. As I said earlier, people have to get over it else it will not be possible to eradicate such woeful acts.

One might say that similar laws exist in other parts of India but the rape figures are far below compared to Delhi. Again, it’s just not about the rapes. It’s about the intentions of the men. Also, the comparison of different states will only add to further confusion and no conclusion. If we talk about an educated society, we need to have education system which also addresses important issues like Sex. Today, I dream for a nation where not only rapes cease to exist but the thoughts and intentions of men also get purified. A woman brings us in to this world and we need to give her the respect that she deserves. Hope you all will join me.