YET AGAIN----ONE MORE LYNCHED

A 70 year old ex-cop has been lynched in Allahabad today. Don't have anymore details. But does it matter? All that matters, is a fellow citizen's life, a senior citizen's life, has been taken by a bunch of goons who have been running amuck in this country with the protection of powers that be or by the belief that they should take the law in their hands as otherwise it takes too long for justice. So killing somebody in a mob which is faceless is so much easier and faster in dispensing justice. And you rarely get caught or punished when FIRs are lodged against unknown people.

The atmosphere is so vitiated you can be killed for anything. Of course, mainly if you belong to the minority community. The brutality and cruelty of people involved in these killings is mind boggling. If they cannot manage to kill, they will cut off a limb. The incidents happening, are a testimony to the fact that criminals are emboldened by the tacit support of the ruling dispensation. No CM ever expresses regret, ever visits the families of those killed, does not take lasting action against local thanas for not stopping the crime.

In Rajasthan, in Rakbar Khan's case, the lack of helpfulness of the cops and their deliberate attempt to delay medical help was clearly visible. They even first went to drop the cows in the cow shelter, instead of taking the man who was badly injured to the hospital. Infact, they even took a tea break and made him take a bath to wash off the blood. Are these people worthy of wearing a uniform? Do they have any allegiance to the constitution, on which they took oath when they passed out from their training academies. Or have they  become complete  slaves to their political masters. And to all this, CM Vasundhara Raje, in an interview, said that lynchings happen all over the world. Yes, madam in lawless places. Not in civilized countries. Don't know which country she had in mind. And it doesn't happen with such regularity, almost becoming routine. Nothing to be defending.

Hindus have always revered the cow and minorities living in India have respected this sentiment. There may be stray cases of theft but mostly because of poverty. Earlier, when cattle got old they were sold off. But today no one wants to buy them for fear of being killed. So they die of starvation as once they are not worthwhile the poor have no money to feed them. And what about the government shelters? 700 cows died in government shelters in Rajasthan. Should the CM be held accountable? After all, the great love of Hindus for cows does not seem to reflect among the government caretakers.

The other set of lynchings taking place in this country is by rumour mongering. Where some innocuous statement is soon spread on Whatsapp and technology arranges for crowds to collect very fast. Even if police arrive they are outnumbered and mostly helpless. Also, they rarely act on information, so, even if they know such a rumour is being spread they are too lazy or inefficient to take timely action.

Vigilantism in this country clearly has two faces---one is communal or political which is intentional, mostly with political support; and the other is sudden by a frenzied mob.

The second kind seems to be because people in India seem to be on the boil all the time. Majority are struggling with their day to day lives, traveling distances to work, traffic, inflation, unemployment, corruption, no honest politicians in sight, no roads, no water, no electricity, no toilets. And no visible action ever taken against real criminals. The list is endless. Everyone seems to be on a short fuse. Not only have they lost their sensitivity and sense of responsibility to another human being, but they watch and click pictures. They don't even bother to call the police. In fact, mentally unstable persons have been lynched. One beggar was beaten to death for stealing food. Only when society becomes so indifferent, human lives are totally dispensable and someone else's pain becomes irrelevant.

As a human and as an Indian I feel so angry, so helpless, so ashamed to be part of this atmosphere, where hate and suspicion lurks around the corner every second. Never know which hapless citizen will be next.

INDIA'S EPIDEMIC: RAPE

India is grappling with an epidemic of rapes; not just rapes but gang rapes; not just gang rapes but gang rapes of minors as well; not just gang rapes of minors but their brutalization and murders. What kind of a country have we become? Where such news is our daily diet. Even outrage and disbelief is exhausted. Us common citizens, no, us women, don't know what to do anymore. Who and where to appeal to for the protection of the female citizens. Are these really men who do these things. Yesterday a woman was burnt alive in a TEMPLE for resisting rape. In Kathua a minor was raped in the precincts of a TEMPLE. No place awakens the conscience of these animals.Today, the news comes of an 11 year old being raped by 17 security guards over a period of 7 months in Tamilnadu. Security guards? Really? Who do you trust.

Over 34,600 cases of rape have been reported across the country last year with Madhya Pradesh and Delhi topping the list of states and union territories respectively. Among these, in 33,098 cases the offenders were known to the victims, as per National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). The rape victims were among the age group of below six years to over 60 years. Madhya Pradesh has reported 4,391 rape cases, a highest among the states. Whereas, the national capital has reported 2,199 such cases–highest among the union territories.

Rape in the capital city and adjoining NCR region went up by 277% in last 5 years between 2011-2015, inspite of the huge hue and cry and protests of ordinary citizens after the Nirbhaya case. Stricter laws have not deterred men from indulging in this national sport. They cock a snook everyday at the law makers, with complete fearlessness. In any case, the rapists of Nirbhaya have still not been hung. So, that is the speed at which, even a case which evoked national outrage has been dealt with.

The reason is obvious: the complete decay of values and social fabric in India, knowledge of the fact there is poor policing and investigation, tardy and long judicial system, and powerful perpetrators who threaten victims and witnesses often leading to their suicide or murder. Also, victims mostly belong to very poor families and no one really cares for them. Their parents are daily wage earners forced to go for work, while, their children play by the roadside. Easy targets of rapists.

We are a country of people who don't have food to eat but have technology to watch porn and grab the first vulnerable victim that comes our way. No role models, except their fathers and politicians who they see treating women like dirt. Objects of their lust, victims of their power. Fathers, brothers, uncles, cousins are raping their daughters, sisters, nieces and even elderly female relatives. What can you expect from such men on the streets. And then you have our politicians making misogynistic statements on serious crimes. Parading with rapists, draping them with the national flag. You have a minister who garlands murderers.

No amount of candle light vigils and protests has awakened those who need to be awakened. It is the women in power who have to come to the rescue by speaking up in their own political parties, communities, villages. A single woman standing up often gets pulverized by the all powerful patriarchal system. They have to combine, come together and speak up up, even if the culprit is their family member. Like the girl in Gurugram who reported her own father for raping her friend in a sleep over at her place; and the woman who reported her husband trying to rape his own 10 month old baby. Sick. Nauseating. Don't defend your men when they do a single act of ill treatment of a girl/woman. Only you alone are the custodians of your female specie. The machos are only trying to prove their virility.