16th December 2012, started off as a normal day for most of the Indians but ended up shaking everyone
That night a rape case was reported in New Delhi, the (rape) capital of India. In the year 2012, about 600 rape cases were recorded in New Delhi alone but the brutal case of a 23 yr old physiotherapist served as an eye-opener.
The girl , 'Nirbhaya', as the world recognizes her, boarded a private bus with her male friend on 16th night. What happened in the bus to her and her friend is known to all. She was mercilessly raped by 5 men , beaten up with iron rods and thrown out of a moving bus with her friend and left to die.
The young girl who otherwise had a bright and budding future, lay bleeding on a deserted street in the middle of the night.
She was hospitalized but eventually after a 13 day ordeal she succumbed to her injuries on 29th December.
This case brought the whole nation together
Even while battling against death, she triggered a national movement and her death has shaken the "People of India".
She has become an icon, a national hero as the barbarism meted out to her has catalyzed a national debate about atrocity against women and also the mindset of seeing women as an object of pleasure. Today the entire country is debating about the same mindset and people are asking themselves as to why we can't see all women with the same eye that we have for our own daughters, sisters and other women family members.
Several hundred people from various religions, castes and age.groups unitedly prayed for Nirbhaya and held protests to bring her justice. The public was lathi-charged and tear-gassed but this act of the police rather fueled the public than deterring them. All new channels and papers gave a full coverage of this case.
Out of the thousands of rape cases that occurred in 2012 in India, why was this the one which served as an eye-opener?
Why was this the one Which became so famous? It may have been because Nirbhaya came forward. Because Nirbhaya wanted to live. Wanted to fight.
Nirbhaya, of no choice of her own, has become the inspiring leader of this new India’s movement against this horrendous crime. She must not be treated as a symbol, but her spirit should live on in all of us and keep inspiring us to be brave- which does not mean ‘not fearing’, but rather acting bravely and with integrity despite feeling fearful. I would have rather christened her ‘veera’ or ‘rani laxmi bai’ as they had both fought bravely for their honor and despite first appearances, their efforts did not go in vain – as they kept inspiring whole generations
Who is to blame for such incidents? The police? Government? The law? Or the public?
It is actually all of us.
Agreed that we need a stronger law and a stronger police force. But what we also need is to be brave. We , the common man. We many times do see an accident victim bleeding on a highway or a woman being publicly molested but we turn a blind eye just to escape all the "jhamela".
but as the famous quote says, 'When you see a mistake occuring and you dont fix it, it is your mistake'.
Let us all decide to adopt zero tolerance. Nirbhaya, like Jessica Lall, has provided us another opportunity to both look within, and reform as a society, and to enforce strictly the laws of the land and get speedy justice for the victims and their families. With Mother India itself having adopted Nirbhaya as her daughter, the entire nation waits for justice and retribution
Let us all pray for Nirbhaya and all those crores of women worldwide who have been subjected to such cruelty. And let us all demand a stronger law in whose eyes rape and cruelty to women is not a mere offence but a serious crime!
Niraja
BPT(1)
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