Have we done enough?
So judgement has been passed on the Nirbhaya case. There has been mixed reactions from the general public, some rejoicing the justice finally delivered, some regretting the few that walks free. But almost all are in unison in believing they deserved death penalty. It is an easy judgement to pass, such deviants deserve no place in the society, heck not even on the face of earth. They don't deserve the basic right to life since they are not human, they are an outcast- outside of social boundaries and bear no semblance to any of us in the society. But by assuming they are outside our moral and social domain, are we overlooking something?
The devils that did this are not monolithic tombs of aberration. It is not purely bestial lust that caused this nor is it solely criminal tendency. It is a concoction of several social malice such as male chauvinism, social inequality, moral deprivation colluding with individual traits of these animals. Such disease exists in all of us, walks among us in plain sight. But by training our swords on a single crime, we are turning a blind eye to all such illness. By alienating the rapists, we fail to acknowledge the inherent devils within us.
Even today, the first advise that comes out of such ghastly event is that women should dress less provocatively. A girl is judged more readily than a guy against a pile of moral etiquette designed by a patriarchal society. Etiquette that treats them as property and designed to minimize that property loss. Whereas a guys moral etiquette begins only so far as his actions interferes with another person, a girls etiquette is rigid in defining what she can or cannot do with herself. Because she is a property.
And that judgmental and condescending attitude permeates everywhere, from respectable families to bottom-fed criminals. That attitude which manifests as condescension in the civilized will manifest as violence in radicals and social outcasts. I see no difference between the rapists and those culture mafias who attack women in parties, advice them on the length of their skirt. Their attitude is the same, only its manifestation is different.
Finally the topic of capital punishment. Whether any crime justify capital punishment or not, is a different topic of discussion. Whether capital punishment for rape would help? I think not. The reason such crimes still exist is not because the punishment is lax but because people think they will not get caught. Time after time, studies suggest that improving the efficiency of law enforcement is a greater deterrent for crimes than the severity of punishment.
We should have the courage to deny ourselves the gratification of such simple punishments, to expose the wound and dig into our moral fabric to clean it. Let us not rejoice at justice done, for justice will not undo the dead. There is more at stake here. For every Nirbhaya for whom we shed tears, there are thousands of other silent victims with no hope in the horizon, too afraid to shout, too suppressed to flex.
Do we need excessive violence and media frenzy to warrant our attention? Do we just boil at the extremes and tolerate the therebetween? What have we done for the rest? The road to victory is not just of tightening of a noose, but of slackening of in-numerous knots of social malign. If we acknowledge victory, we give up the struggle. Instead let us use the judgement to remind ourselves of the challenging path ahead.
The devils that did this are not monolithic tombs of aberration. It is not purely bestial lust that caused this nor is it solely criminal tendency. It is a concoction of several social malice such as male chauvinism, social inequality, moral deprivation colluding with individual traits of these animals. Such disease exists in all of us, walks among us in plain sight. But by training our swords on a single crime, we are turning a blind eye to all such illness. By alienating the rapists, we fail to acknowledge the inherent devils within us.
Even today, the first advise that comes out of such ghastly event is that women should dress less provocatively. A girl is judged more readily than a guy against a pile of moral etiquette designed by a patriarchal society. Etiquette that treats them as property and designed to minimize that property loss. Whereas a guys moral etiquette begins only so far as his actions interferes with another person, a girls etiquette is rigid in defining what she can or cannot do with herself. Because she is a property.
And that judgmental and condescending attitude permeates everywhere, from respectable families to bottom-fed criminals. That attitude which manifests as condescension in the civilized will manifest as violence in radicals and social outcasts. I see no difference between the rapists and those culture mafias who attack women in parties, advice them on the length of their skirt. Their attitude is the same, only its manifestation is different.
Finally the topic of capital punishment. Whether any crime justify capital punishment or not, is a different topic of discussion. Whether capital punishment for rape would help? I think not. The reason such crimes still exist is not because the punishment is lax but because people think they will not get caught. Time after time, studies suggest that improving the efficiency of law enforcement is a greater deterrent for crimes than the severity of punishment.
We should have the courage to deny ourselves the gratification of such simple punishments, to expose the wound and dig into our moral fabric to clean it. Let us not rejoice at justice done, for justice will not undo the dead. There is more at stake here. For every Nirbhaya for whom we shed tears, there are thousands of other silent victims with no hope in the horizon, too afraid to shout, too suppressed to flex.
Do we need excessive violence and media frenzy to warrant our attention? Do we just boil at the extremes and tolerate the therebetween? What have we done for the rest? The road to victory is not just of tightening of a noose, but of slackening of in-numerous knots of social malign. If we acknowledge victory, we give up the struggle. Instead let us use the judgement to remind ourselves of the challenging path ahead.
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