The Unputdownable – by Sumangala Bhattacharya

 The whole Indian system feeds the kind of attitude that is visible in such incidents. Starting from idiotic mothers of pampered sons, who think that when their boys tease or rape a girl, it must be the girl’s fault in one way or the other (I stress on the word ‘idiotic’ here); completely relieving the boy/man from the responsibility of his actions, totally oblivious of the fact that he will never be respected for who he is and the first person he will harm is himself. Parents who kill their daughters because they are daughters, who love and privilege their boy child over the girl day after day, giving the boy an illogical sense of superiority; have built this barbaric society where an innocent boy-child is converted into a predator and a girl is raped every 18 minutes.

 Surprisingly, the so called wise men and women, sympathetic to the victim, feel, it was the girl who was humiliated, whereas all the humiliation should be the rapist’s! Yes, the girl suffered extreme physical pain and mental agony for no fault of hers, and finally lost her life but she has nothing to be ashamed of… we are proud of her! She died with honour.

 Anger and disgust overwhelms me when I think of this kind of affair. This little girl was nurtured by her parents with all the love, care and concern from the day she was born. She was educated to hold one of the most respectable positions in human society, as one who is capable of saving lives… and suddenly, out of nowhere these men, incomparably inferior to this girl in every way, appear and destroy everything her parents had built for all these years. What a loss to the society! What a threat these unscrupulous men are to humanity! They rape the right to be free; they rape the honour of humanity!

 The efficient yet corrupt police officers and politicians of India make me even more frustrated. I feel so ashamed to be a part of a society which is moving backwards in spite of the undeniable light ahead. At the same time, I am proud of the people of Delhi! They have shown, that India has not lost its voice to protest, India will not take any more filth! She will fight for her daughter’s right to live and prosper! It is time show her sons the consequences of disrespecting her daughters!

 As an immediate step, the schools should make martial arts compulsory for every girl, as part of their school and college education. If no one does anything about it, let us do it our-selves. Like Rabindranath Tagore said, ‘Jodi tor daak shune keu na ashe tube ekla cholo re’ (If no one responds to your call, then go your own way alone).  I strongly encourage and insist all parents to give their daughters a complete education on martial arts. It is time to arm the ‘goddess’!