We have a strange society. We provide our expert advice when it is not required and when no one is in the mood to listen to our words of wisdom. But still we would say and then make a fool of ourselves. There is a reason it seems. Once we have power or influence we think we can say whatever we want.
The self proclaimed Godman Asaram Bapu dropped a bombshell with his comments when he said that the Delhi gang-rape victim was equally to be blamed as she could have addressed the rapists as her brother and should have begged in front of them not to commit such a crime. In that way she would have been saved.
It seems we have just got the solution to rape crimes happening everywhere across the country. The girls just need to call the culprits brother and they will be saved. Sadly these ‘brothers’ don’t considered them their sisters when they attempt to rape them and they are mere objects to them but as soon as the sisters will give the distress call and address them as brothers they will be jolted from their stupor and instantly stop.
On a serious note why do we state something which has no logic in the present context? Or is it because it contributes to sensationalism? We have this penchant to live in the limelight and have to pitch in wherever we think something is in news. Or we have this age old habit to blame everything on the girl even if she is tortured, raped and assaulted?
The 23 year old girl whose intestines were pulled out and who was tortured with an iron rod should have called the culprits her brother and instantly they would have transformed into good souls, if Asaram Bapu thinks this is so easy he may be given the task to reform the hardened criminals. He may call them son, brother whatever he feels like and maybe we will find solution to all the crime happening here and there. Incidentally the “Godman” is of the opinion that harsher punishment can be misused so he is not in favor of that for the rapists.
The thought which comes to mind is that are we not aggravating the already volatile situation with one senseless comment after the other. Why suddenly there is no holds barred attitude among the ‘stalwarts’ of the society and it seems they are in the race to outdo the other contenders with sensational remarks. Some of the statements made by politicians and other known faces compiled by ibnlive.in.com clearly show the sorry state of affairs. It seems all were in the mood of giving advice. The comments:
- “Mamata is decorating her house with rape victims.” – CPM leader Anisur Rehman
- “Those who claim to be students – I can see many beautiful women among them – highly dented-painted (sic) – they’re giving interviews on TV, they’ve brought their children to show them the scenes.” – Congress MP Abhijit Mukherjee
- “Delhi’s burgeoning population trend is further exacerbated by the continuous and unbridled influx of people from all over the country”. – Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit
- “Have you ever heard of a Rs 50 crore girlfriend?” – Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi
- “Kal tak paiso ke liye TV par thumke lagati thi. Aaj chunavi vishleshak ban gayi” – Congress MP Sanjay Nirupam about BJP’s Smriti Irani
- “Rapes happening because men and women are interacting more freely”. – West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee
- “From which bhatar (Bengali slang for a prostitute’s client) did she get Rs 24 crore to fund the Trinamool Congress’s poll expenses?” – CPM (M) MP Anil Basu
- ‘Jaise jaise samay beet-ta hai patni purani hoti jati hai, woh maja nahi reh jata hai.” – Union Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal
- “Only ‘parkati mahilayen’ would benefit from reservation”. – Sharad Yadav
- “Just because India achieved freedom at midnight does not mean that women can venture out after dark”. – Andhra Pradesh Congress chief Botsa Satyanarayana
- “One of the reasons behind the increase in incidents of eve-teasing is short dresses and short skirts worn by women. This in turn instigates young men.” – Trinamool Congress legislator Chiranjeet Chakraborty
- “I don’t feel any hesitation in saying that 90 per cent of the girls want to have sex intentionally but they don’t know that they would be gang raped further as they find some lusty and pervasive people in the way ahead.” – Haryana Congress spokesperson Dharambir Goyat
- ‘I think that girls should be married at the age of 16, so that they have their husbands for their sexual needs, and they don’t need to go elsewhere. This way rapes will not occur’. – Haryana Khap Panchayat member Sube Singh
- “Poverty and intoxication are the main reasons for rape as well as young people sitting together the wrong way. But also eating chowmein causes a hormonal imbalance which is a big reason for rapes.” – Khap leader Jitender Chhataar
- “There is no need to give phones to women and children. It distracts them and is useless. Why do women need phones? My mother, wife and sister never had mobile phones. They survived without one”. – BSP leader Rajpal Saini
- “If you’re referring to the Park Street rape, see that is a different case altogether that was not at all a rape case. It was a misunderstanding between the two parties involved between a lady and her client. This was not a rape.” – Trinamool Congress leader Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar
- “International love guru Shashi Tharoor should get love affairs ministry.” – BJP spokesperson Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi
- “Ban skirts as school uniform to reduce harassment of girl students.” – BJP MLA Banwari Lal Singhal
- “Rapes happen in India, not Bharat.” – RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat
- “Ek hi shabd hai – Maryada. Maryada ka ulanghan hota hai, toh Sita-haran ho jata hai. Laxman-rekha har vyakti ki khichi gayi hai. Us Laxman-rekha ko koi bhi par karega, toh Rawan samne baitha hai, woh Sita-haran karke le jayega. (One has to abide by certain moral limits. If you cross this limit you will be punished, just like Sita was abducted by Ravana).” – Madhya Pradesh Cabinet minister Kailash Vijayvargiya
- “If you want to sell a BMW, obviously the BMW has to be strategically placed between two bikini-clad women, so that the people don’t notice the BMW, but the women.” – BJP member Sheshadri Chari
- “Women display their bodies and indulge in various obscene activities. Women are unaware of the kind of message (their actions) generate.” – Vibha Rao, the chairperson of Chhattisgarh State Women Commission
- “There is a theory of social contract in the universe. A husband and a wife are bound by a contract which says – you (woman) look after the household chores and satisfy me, I (man) will take care of your needs and will protect you. Till she delivers her duties without fail, he keeps her on the contract and if she fails to honour the contract, he disowns her. And if it is the husband who is not honouring the contract, she can also abandon him. One can go for a new contract then.” – Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat
- “Virginity was preserved (before the British era), but purity has been totally disturbed by these models.” – Vishwa Hindu Parishad international president Ashok Singhal
- “Everyone is merely talking about the rape. No one is asking who did this. So many cases are slapped against me (for speaking against Biharis) but no one is talking about the fact that all these rapists are from Bihar.” – Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray
- “All sex outside marriage including live-in-relationship should be declared illegal and punishable.” – Jamaat-e-Islami Hind
- “Co-education should be abolished and proper education facilities meant exclusively for women should be available at all level of education. Educational institutions should prescribe sober and dignified dress for girls.” – Jamaat-e-Islami Hind
- “Only five to six 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. Had she recited the Saraswati mantra, she would not have boarded any bus after watching a movie with her boyfriend.” – Self-proclaimed Godman Asaram Bapu
What can you deduce from this? It is clear that no one is leaving any chance to speak on woman. That people find it more prudent to restrict the woman but not the criminals can be gauged from the comments above. Of course they don’t represent the society as a whole but it is a fact that they are a section of the society and that section may not be marginal in size we all know. How can we allow such statements? Isn’t it time yet to put a stop to all this? Whom should we blame for this other than ourselves as we listen to this day in and out?