Vigil Human Rights Diary - September 2011

We men grow up in the lap of luxury of a woman who is not only the mother of our being, but remains the source of our strength and power, and the architect behind the “aura of men” in contemporary society.  ‘Man’ as a word was apparently derived from the word ‘woman’ as God perhaps first made the Woman and later inseminated her with spiritual power to give birth to man; just as Kunti gave birth to Karna by using the blessings of the Sun God in the Mahabharata.  A woman from time immemorial, has always chosen to give as a mother, as a wife, as a daughter and many other derivatives of the relationship between a man and a woman and got what in return?  Mostly pain, suffering and abuse.  Sadly, young women of today are lifted with impunity in broad daylight in the national and state capitals in contemporary automobiles (read SUVs and MYVs) and raped, bruised and in some cases murdered brutally.  Eventually, those men go scot-free under the guise f insufficient evidence as the doctor in the hospital, policeman in the Thana and judge in the court are mostly men and keep their sympathy with the assailant who commits the crime against the woman and in a sense, against the civilized world.

As it is true, many men harbour a tinge of sensual pleasure outside matrimony.  One question that should invariably be asked to those men who commit crimes against women is: Can you offer the same behaviour to your mother?  One is not sure if such people would say yes or no.  In a way, society is condemned to excuse the rapist as they are considered lesser humans.  How about those who kill women at homes for dowry, for honour and on many other flimsy grounds?  These men must and should be given to the “Guillotine” forthwith as they commit the crime in the grab of civility.  Society would come to know that capital punishment is reserved for those who dare to denigrate our mothers, wives and daughters.  Woman in flesh and blood is the epitome of beauty, sacrifice, tolerance, patience and above all love, caring and compassion; therefore, woman is rightly compared with Mother Earth or nature.  The earth is also a creation of nature and those who ever wanted to play with nature have actually turned into fossils to be discovered by successive generation.

The choice is ours to make.  Men should lead the movement for equal rights for women in their own interest.  Women should get at least 33 per cent seats in Parliament and in all state legislatures without, of course, compromising merit.  This measure itself would go a long way in bolstering the confidence of women and making them less vulnerable.  The other important thing that needs to be done on a priority basis is to file all cases of crimes against women in a special and fast-track court with all women personnel while completely protecting the privacy and social status of each ill-fated woman and her family.