Switching Channels came across "The Big Fight" on NDTV. The debate I assume may have originated by the public molestation of a Teen in Guwahati. I suppose the point of this debate was whether girls should dress up more decorously to avoid attention and quite possibly molestation.
This debate was lively. One of the Panelist's, a female Social Activist from Manipur tmaintained that he fault lay with men and, unfortunately in her state, with the Army Jawans. Regarding Apparel, I would suppose girls from the Northeast have the physical structure to carry off Trendy Wear i.e. Jeans and Tops while the women invariably wore the local garb which of course were not voluminous, given the climate. Fair Enough.
And then you had this Maulvi from Kashmir getting thoroughly upset by this dress code. Little realising that given the cold climates in his hometown everybody covered up as much as they could, women included. Who, if they retained their garments on a visit to Kerala would possibly collapse in those humid conditions. Something our ancestors had figured long ago and designed garments to suit the prevailing climate.
The debate then seemed to shift to what girls could do or not apart from the dress code. Like cellphones, go or no go areas for girls , that kind of stuff. On which this terrifying Haryanvi Martiach made her views clear. Only Local dresses, no cellphones and of course being house bound. I suppose to lend clarity to her views her Teen "Poti" was one of the panelists. Making an ass of herself in using her limited intellect to defend her Tyrant Grandmother.
And of course we had Ms Pooja Devi ostensibly to espouse "Bollywood" Ethics. How this lady finds her way into what should be a serious debate beats me given this lady has contributed all her wisdom long back. This may sound mean but it represents my opinion only because she has the same things to say every time she turns up.
Then we had a Haryanvi Panchayati head who seemed to possess quite moderate views. Or maybe my hearing is not what it used to be. And to complete the panel there was one of those grey haired lady probably representing one of those many female empowerment agencies and a middle aged man probably fronting intelligentsia? All moderated by NDTV's Navin Chandra. Or is it Vikram? Senility creeps in unknowingly.
Well like most of the debates of this kind, views were exchanged, people were shouted down, large amounts of sanctimonious outrage were vented by today's GenX and the debate ended on "We agree to disagree".
However, the way I see it, since we are supposedly a democracy, this is nothing but a Law and Order problem. After all, through the ages, ALL human societiess have recognised the fact that there will always be Bad Guys doing bad things and the only way to stop them was to instill fear of retribution on such a scale that it would deter them from even attempting such actions. Justice, the Police, Courts and Prisons evolved from this very need.
So incidents like the Guwahati molestation simply signify the collapse of Law and order as we know it. Today, as far as the populace is concerned the Police Force does not exist. All they see is mercenary bunch of Thugs available to the Highest Buyer. In such a situation, vulnerable sections of our Society like the Poor, the Minorities, lower caste, Tribals and of course the female populace are virtually defenceless, prone to attacks from every Quarter. What happened in Guwahati will happen again and again and there is nothing anyone can do to stop this outrage. Instead, the victims will be vilified for anything from a skirt to a smile as the cause of these horrifying actions from lumpen who rule the streets. And we proudly call ourselves an ancient civilisation. Well, perhaps it was then but is definitely not now.
No comments:
Post a Comment