The first scream was for Help. The second is for Justice.

As I sit down to write this, the media is reporting that some khap panchayat in west Bengal has ordered a gang rape of a tribal girl who is as young as 20 years old. Soon, announcements about protests, dharnas, probes will follow. And if I am not wrong, we have already been here. These kinds of incidents have been aired way too many times. The only fact that remains is we have listened to it, and got used to it. Now, we don’t find this worthy of our heed, until it comes to haunt one of our loved ones. 

This is the most appalling question of the century. Are our girls and women safe in our own country ? And if not, who is responsible for that ? Can we just keep calm and blame the police, parties, people and politics ? Can we rise to the need of the hour to prevent and abolish these heinous crimes against women ? Are we really not concerned for our mothers, sisters, daughters etc. ? Can't we just do something to ensure their safety ? Are we simply incapable of that ? Or are we crippled to the extent of being unable to answer this ? I believe that the question is not about capability or anything similar. It's just that until our own houses are on fire, nothing else bothers us much. I hate to admit it, but the world is just not a safe place anymore. Our country, as much I love it, is not definitely a paradise, at least not for the so-called ‘fair sex’.

We cannot say that men are immune to all the problems but it has been observed that the statistics are aligned to the counterpart of the story. We should be well aware of the fact that safety of women and their empowerment has been on our national agenda since ages, but has it served anything ? No. I advertently say it. I will tell you why. Because our netas and parties are still busy in extracting dollars and rupees from the exchequer, even after massively scoring in swiss banks. What can be more ironic than the fact that West Bengal witnessed the highest number of gender crimes in the country in 2012, a number that is alarmingly increasing and which now stands at more than more than thirty thousand cases, despite having a female chief minister. I will quote a classic example. While everybody (esp. all the parties including INC, BJP, AAP) watched and was aware of this barbarous act against that tribal women in Bengal, no party had the guts to come out, take a stand and say that we will abolish or eradicate or at least take action against these khap panchayats and kangaroo courts. And we know why. Because here comes the vote bank politics and rural votes may get scattered due to this course of action. So why care to venture one ? People in India do care much more for their chairs than the mere life and self-esteem of a poor girl.

Collecting information and consciousness regarding that incident, the woman has been through the heights of brutality, having been raped by 13 men and most awkwardly, it has been acknowledged by almost an entire village. Am I the only one who thinks that this is completely inappropriate ? How can someone approve of such a fatal, brutal and inhumane act ? Definitely, there are a few more than just me. But can we have some voices ? This is just one case which got pushed to the headlines, while there are innumerous others which barely make to the one piece column in the local magazines and dailies, countless go unreported, untold, deeply dug and drown in the heart of the victim.

We have to build an India, which we would like to live in and like our children to inherit. We will have to take responsibility and help people in spreading awareness. Identifying violence should be our first step. Learning to stop it and going by the law should be the next and subsequent steps. Moreover, supporting victims, helping people, not judging someone by her clothes, stricter laws and government policies will help us to grow vertically, leading to a healthy environment and making the world a better place to live in. We mistakenly believe that we are very educated, developing fast as a nation in the 21st century. But we know that the saddest stories have been written here. Some acknowledged. Some unnoticed.

We are yet to multi-directionally develop as a nation where our women are safe and do not conform to the vulnerable and weaker sections of the society. They are to be given enough empowerment to grow and succeed, so that their picturesque worth is realized by the society and mankind. Else, days are about to come when we will envelope more pain and tears than our eyes can barely hold and our hearts can possibly bear. And no one else, but we, ourselves, will be the ones at blame.

“and when all the wars are over, a butterfly will still be beautiful.”  - Ruskin Bond.