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Will Narender Modi Step Up His Game #JusticeforAsifa?
The rape and killing of an 8-year-old girl are evoking major religious tensions and political fall out in India. Where the major celebrities are tweeting about this gruesome act? The Prime Minister Of India Narendra Modi Remains silent.
The police report claims that the motive behind this gruesome incident was to scare away pastoral nomadic community living from years at Kathua’s Rasana village in Jammu and Kashmir. The gruesome facts of rape followed by the murder of 8-years old, Asifa Kathua, in Rasana village near Jammu has once again spread the wave of anger and fury among masses.
Was it a death of humanity … Or has it turned out to be the face-off of vendettas of communal, ideological or political masses … The perpetual debate over the safety of females in India seems will never come to any conclusion.
The incident took place to scare pastoral nomadic community, but what about the sacred places in India?
Throughout childhood and throughout teenage the female child is raised to believe the world is generally a good place to be a girl. The world is perfect and they have no danger. Until, they grow up and see a dangling organ hanging through a man’s pants showing it to a little girl who has no idea what it is on the trains, buses or on the road.
Where there is a part of the world where a woman like Kim Kardashian own their bodies and fearlessly expose them every day on social media? There is the other part of the world where women are reminded each day that they must not expose their bodies, or put their hair down as it will, or laugh out loud because it attracts men.
Similarly, on 29th June 2009, two sisters-in-law went missing in Shopian district in Jammu and Kashmir. Their bodies were found on the next day, they were raped and killed. No FIR was registered and when the protest went uncontrolled police registered FIR on the 11th day.
India has witnessed several such cases, where either the accused got minimal punishment or are walking free or if any action was taken, it was merely due to media and public pressure, whether it was Delhi Rape case in 2012 or Bhanwari Devi case in 2011 respectively. An array of rapes remain covered or un-noticed in India, on the name of ‘family honor’. In 2016, Indian’s Cultural Minister Mahesh Sharma banned foreign tourist from wearing skirts and dresses in India, which according to him was a probable reason of rape cases. The list is long and seems to continue.
In a recent development, two Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders have resigned, after drawing criticism by attending a rally in support of the accused in a rape case.
The question here is – Was Asifa wearing scanty clothes, was she at wrong the place or there is some designated appropriate time when women of India can walk free on the roads. Does the minimal act of the Indian government in punishing such criminals, provide the answer to women safety in India.
Clearly, India needs drastic changes, from legal to social perspectives, if the country is to safeguard its women. Will Narendra Modi take any actions to protect women and children? Or its time when women in India need to be equipped with weapons for there protection before they go out in the world?
