India’s Daughter

“India’s Daughter”, a documentary film made by Leslee Udwin about the rape and murder of a young woman in December 2012, was released by BBC in UK ignoring the advice of Indian government to ban the screening. Of course, with the film accessible on YouTube, despite the efforts of government to ban it should be a crystal clear lesson to government that ‘ideas’ backed by morality cannot, and should not be regulated considering the immense power Internet has.

BBC said the documentary was filmed to gain an insight into the mindset of the criminal. Clearly, it proved successful and how. Before giving my views on the issue, I would like to enquote some of the harrowing comments made by the participants of the video and other people. These comments are the most integral and important aspect of the write up, so please read it carefully and patiently.

Comments made by Mukesh Singh – One of The Accused of Dec 12 Gangrape:

1. A girl is far more responsible for rape than a boy. Taali kabhi 1 haath se nahi bajti.
2. Boys and girls are not equal. Housework and housekeeping is for girls, not roaming in discos and bars, doing wrong things, wearing wrong cloths.
3. The criminal believed the rapists could get away with it because they were confident that girls would be too ashamed to speak about what happened.
4. When being raped, she shouldn’t fight back. She should just be silent and allow the rape.
5. Acc to him, their death penalty would make things even more dangerous for girls. Now if someone rape a girl he will not leave her alive, but kill her.
6. He spoke about “good” and “bad” girls and that he wanted to teach a lesson to those “bad girls”.

Also, Quoting the “dramatic and proud” comments made by Defense lawyers for the Rapists – M L Sharma and A P Singh.

1. Female is just like a flower. She is soft, pleasant. Men are strong, tough enough. That flower always need protection. If you put that flower in gutter, it will spoil. If you put that flower in temple it will be worshiped.
2. Females are more precious than a gem or diamond. She should not be put on streets just like food. It is upto you how you want to keep that gem in your hand. If you put your gem on the street, certainly the dog will take it out, you can’t stop.
3. That girl was with some unknown boy who took her on date.
4. In our society, we never allow our girls to come out of the house after 8.30 in the evening, only if v imp then she should go only with the family members. She should not go in night hours with the boyfriend.
5. They left our Indian culture.
6. They were under the imagination of filmy culture in which they could do anything.
7. She should not be put on the streets just like food.
8. Men and women as friends does not have any place in our society. Women means I immediately put sex in his eyes.
9. We have the best culture.

Police officials in police stations warn parents bringing a child victim of rape to file a complaint to “think twice before you do it because your girl will be defamed and she will never get married. Better to keep silent”.

Supplementary to their comments, I would like to enquote some of the comments made by the representatives of people. Courtesy – Indian Express of 6/3/15.

1. Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav said in an election rally in UP, “You are hanging people for rape… Boys tend to commit mistakes.We will try to change such a law. Those who do it will be punished and the law will also have provisions for punishment of people who file false reports”.
2. JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav confessed in Lok Sabha about having stalked girls.
3. Manohar Lal Khattar, now the CM of Haryana, prescribed a dress code for women. “If a girl is dressed decently, a boy will not look at her in the wrong way. If they want freedom, why don’t they just roam around naked? Freedom has to be limited,” Khattar had said in the run-up to last year’s Lok Sabha polls.
4. While campaigning for the same elections, Trinamool MP Tapas Paul had threatened supporters of rival parties with rape. “I will send my boys to their houses to rape them.”
5. In June the same year, in Bhopal, former Rajya Sabha MP and currently vice-president of BJP, Raghunandan Sharma, had said, “Girls should stop wearing skin-tight jeans because they show the body in its natural shape, and that’s not good. Nari ki ek maryada hoti hai.’
6. Reacting to the Guwahati gangrape in September 2013, MP Cabinet Minister Kailash Vijayvargiya had said, “Women should dress in a way that earns them respect… they should not arouse (sexual) excitement.’.
7. A so-called godman say it would have been better if she had held the rapist’s hand and pleaded with him that she was his sister.
8. A godman says females to produce 4-5 kids.

All these comments are a testimony to the deeply entrenched Patriarchal, Regressive and Medieval mindset of our society which is a very disappointing fact. These comments send negative vibes and fears in the hearts of people of India. Further adding to my frustration, the topic of discussions that airs on News channels are Ban of BBC documentary, Freedom of Speech, ‘Why disclose the name of victim and rapists in the video’ etc. They provide many solutions – safe public transport system, cctv cameras, proper street lighting, setting up help centres, provision of well-lit public toilets, ensuring conditions for safety at worksites and so on. But all these solutions does not address the regressive traits of human behaviour and Indian society. All these solutions will be useless, unless We, The people of India change ourselves.

This Article is my attempt to intensify that change. Whatever I have written in this Article please adopt it in action and spread the message to as many people as you can.

Obviously, It would be a futile effort to rectify and change such strong extreme opinions of the regressive and adamant people that the Indian society which we live in and some of the conventions that we accept as a part of our society is morally wrong. But my appeal is to all the people who realize the depth of such negative traits of the society and who want to be a part of the change that I am talking about.

1. Please make an effort to understand the Indian society and culture that we live in.

It is very effortless and easy to depend on somebody else to teach us Historical traditions of our society and then we tend to accept a general convention about our Indian culture which is not always right. That is the reason why we do not make an effort to go to the bottom of the problem that lies in History. It is very important to be conceptually clear about Indian History. You would then realize that clearly, all the above comments that the rapists, or even the representatives make are due to the no study of history or understanding of distorted version of History. If you do not believe me, go to the following link when you have time. https://engineeringmescopehain.wordpress.com/2015/02/15/this-will-enrich-your-knowledge-and-thought-process-about-the-status-of-women-in-the-society-things-that-we-dont-know/

2. Please express yourself in a way that would be visible:

Freedom of Speech and Expression has been granted as a Fundamental Right (Art 19) with a specific motive. The medium of expression does not matter, unless it is a violent expression which should not be resorted to. One can use Pictures, Awareness videos, Social media, Print Media, Dance, Campaigns, whatever. Internet is such a strong and egalitarian medium, one should utilize this medium for the progress of our society. We have with us evidences of the change that it beings with it – Anna Hazare Anti-Corruption Campaign, Charlie Hebdo attack and the protests that followed, Nirbhaya Protests, etc. Expression of discontent is the only way to secure the proactive participation of the concerned and constructive elements of the society without which we cannot progress. If you are not happy with the comments of Politicians or Celebrities or

3. Stand up to the regressive patriarchal traits within your personal sphere.

It is not the fate of Women to cook or to look after kids or to clean the house or to look after the family. Men have equal share. If you see your mothers and sisters cooking and cleaning up the house, help them in their chores. Women of the house are not suppose to eat after their male counterparts eat. Physical strength should not at all be a criteria in distinguishing a boy and a girl. Do not blame the girls for inciting boys, it the responsibility of the individual at first and then the peer groups of the individual to morally educate themselves. If incidents like Rape, Eve teasing, etc are happening then it is only the boy that has to blame. Do not protect the so called flowers or gem or diamonds, instead get a good moral and intellectual education and then practice your professions. Do not comment on how a girl should dress, instead teach your sons how to behave with them.

4. Discuss such issues within your peer groups and Provide a Constructive Solution instead of criticising the Government and solely relying on them for the solutions – Democracy functions from Bottom to Top and not from Top to Bottom: Do not keep the solution w you – instead share it with the government:

It is rather good to criticize and it is the first reaction for any controversial issue. Discussion is the only solution to get diverse opinions. With diversity in the opinions one gets to know different aspects of that topic for analysis and we can get an effective solution. But make it a point that the solutions are constructive enough. Share those solutions with the government platforms where they ask for it. And yes, mechanisms like these do exist in our political system. It is just that we are busy with our own lives that we confine ourselves with only the criticism part and then we resume. My appeal to you all is to provide a solution and share it with the government.

All these things may not provide a direct solution the heinous crimes like Rape, Murder etc. Government authorities are well equipped with the means to deal with such situations. But on an individual level, I am clear in my opinion that it would surely be a long term solution for majority of the issues of the society.

I had to edit this Article to provide my Stand on some more issues:

Is it an insult to Nirbhaya to reveal her name? Did they have any commercial motive? Is it an insult to India in the global scenario?

I should seriously clap for the people who are too enlightened to debate on these topics. Mrs Jaya Bachchan said in an Interview that ‘Is this documentary going to change anything for Women safety?’. I would like to make it crystal clear to her that ‘Neither is her Interview on such concerns going to change anything for Women safety’.

A documentary is being made by a TV channel BBC automatically means that there were commercial motives involved. I don’t find anything wrong in that. It is obvious that they had invested in this venture and they are not a Charity organization, so they are entitled to make money.

It is frustrating to accept how can we even confine our debate to such issues like ‘Revealing her name’ and ‘insult to India in global scenario’. A girl was brutally raped and killed, Final result by Supreme Court and the issue of Juvenile Justice is still pending, The incidences of Rape is still increasing, Our society still remains patriarchal, Women are still subjected to subordination, and what do we care about our image as a country and Indian culture. Indian culture is this. And I agree that we are known for our greatness in the global scenario, but we are infamous for things like these too. And that is not because of a documentary which is released internationally, it is due to the inherent nature of Indian society and traditions and superstitions like Sati, Child Marriage, Female Foeticide, Patriarchy, and Class divide that we are alread infamous. We should face the mirror shown by a documentary.

Following are the things that would insult ‘Jyoti Singh’ more than anything:

1. Prevalence of such a mindset of millions of people.
2. Criticizing a thing up to any extent just to engage yourself in an interview which millions of people see and form their opinions. Your debates and news rarely talk about any solutions.
3. Teach people to find out constructive solutions from the debates. Do not end a debate creating more controversy.
4. Talk about the mindset which the lawyers have and they still stand on their views. Not only that but they are courageous enough to make a statement that these are the views of millions of people in India. Retaliate on such issue and make them realize that they are horribly wrong.
5. Take offence to the remarks made by responsible representatives of people more than ‘Revealing her name’ or criticizing about their commercial motives.