Time to introspect...

Yet another heart breaking news from my country India. 5 year old girl in Bihar raped and killed. As if the Delhi gang rape incident was not enough to make me go restless. Day after day one hears about such traumatic and unfortunate incidents taking place in one or the other part of our country. We give an ear to it and then as usual continue living our lives because we are so confident of the fact that "IT CANNOT HAPPEN TO ME, SO WHY BOTHER". Exactly what we think about another menace called CANCER. We have this feeling that it is something that is not meant for me. Sadly but the fact is that I/WE can be a victim, today or tomorrow.

Time to think and take these incidents seriously and ponder upon. What is it that we as a part of civil society can do to STOP these shameful acts?. It is not only our responsibility but the people governing us also have to play a major role in it. BUT again we all know how it is back there?. To expect our Leaders to do something out of box for us is unimaginable unless and until they dont see their benefit or we don't force them to come forward !.

We have to continue mount our pressures and make the Governing bodies realize that RAPE is something which we wont tolerate happening anymore in our society. We will not subject ourselves, our daughters, sisters, mothers, friends, wives to this heinous crime and if it happens God forbid, we will raise our voices and throw you out.

The laws regarding RAPE need to be mended. We need application of law and not the application of personal views. We need a faster criminal justice system. We need police doing their job. It is here where lapses take place, it is here where a case is decided. It is here where a judgement is passed weather to prove innocent or to prove guilty, it is here where a women's integrity and honor can be restored back. We as a society have to force for an effective Policing which will be a beginning for removing such shame from our society.

Then back at home we have to ensure that we treat our kids at par. We have to ensure that we don't differentiate and make boys feel in any which way superior to girls. We have to stop growing that male ego attitude at homes and also have to encourage our daughters to be self dependent, strong and someone who carries her own opinion. We have to teach our children to respect humanity and the  Laws of the land. We also should start with sex education at schools and home as early as possible. The more we suppress issues related to SEX the more curiosity and opportunities to experiment with it are thrown open, which in turn is and can prove very harmful.

We also have to ensure that our Films, TV serials, theater and other visual mediums send  positive messages in the society. We take our films and dramas very seriously and are used to getting influenced by them very easily. In Films and dramas we should stop glorifying unnatural things which is beyond the reach of a common man. We should stop projecting our female character as showpiece, helpless or as suppressed "NAARI" who is always at helm of some Superman. Project our females as they are today, strong, stable, independent and with her own mind and someone who can be fat who can be average looking who can be wheatish and yet emerges as a winner without the help of a so called called Superhero or for that matter anyone else. Remove this image of "ABLA NAARI" and portray us as we are strong, intelligent, independent and capable of taking care of ourselves.

Also our NGO, Corporates, Clubs etc will have to come forward to help in spreading education amongst the poor section of our society and from time to time giving various motivational tools which will encourage them to think in a different way.

I also think  that we need to bring more women to education and jobs, especially on streets. 

As Brigham Young has rightly said “You educate a man; you educate a man. You educate a woman; you educate a generation.”

LET US BEGIN!

Be determined, say women fighting for justice

New Delhi, March 6 (IANS) Neelam Krishnamurthy, Neelam Katara, Indu Jalali, Sabina Lall...They are all women who have been moved by personal tragedy to step into India's courts day after day to bring culprits to book, inspiring in the process hundreds of thousands who had lost faith in the system.

So what does International Women's Day March 8 mean to them?

Krishnamurthy, convener of the Association of Victims of Uphaar Tragedy (AVUT), who lost two of her children in the Uphaar fire tragedy that claimed 59 innocent lives in 1997, believes it is about determination.

'Women's Day is not about someone taking a prize in the auditorium amidst a small crowd, it's about their empowerment at the grassroots,' Krishnamurthy told IANS.

She said women's empowerment starts from home where a father gives equal rights to his daughter, a husband gives due respect to his wife and a brother gives equal liberty to his sister.

'Strong determination is the only way out if women want to make their presence felt in a male-dominated society,' Krishnamurthy said.

She has been at the forefront of the Uphaar case, which last year saw a lower court convicting business tycoon brothers Sushil and Gopal Ansal along with 10 others. But nothing has been able to fill the vacuum created by the death of her children.

'People say life moves on, but only those who go through pain know that it never does. I feel as if I have been served a living death sentence all these years, fighting for justice,' said Krishnamurthy.

'All my friends and relatives wanted me to adopt a child, but I could never do it. They didn't understand my pain. That is when I realised that no one can help you and you have to deal with your grief on your own,' Krishnamurthy said.

Indu Jalali, who fought for justice for her friend Priyadarshini Mattoo under the banner of 'Justice for Priyadarshini', said: 'In the beginning we were not taken seriously by anyone and instead everyone discouraged us. But our determination helped us in sailing through the tides of sorrow and pain.'

Priyadarshini was brutally raped and murdered Jan 23, 1996, in broad daylight in a south Delhi locality by her senior at the Law Faculty, Delhi University, Santosh Kumar Singh, the son of a senior police officer. He was given the death sentence by the Delhi High Court in October 2006.

'No one supported us but with time and the help of people belonging to various sections of society, justice was achieved,' said Jalali.

'Women need to get rid of taboos prevailing in our society and come out strongly against injustice to them. Until they make themselves heard, no one will help them,' she said.

The resolute face of Sabrina Lall was one splashed in the media time and again as she fought for justice for her sister Jessica who was shot dead by Manu Sharma, the son of a powerful and wealthy politician, in April 1999.

Even as her parents died during the course of trial, Sabrina carried on her fight, inspiring the nation to back her with all its might. In 2006, the Delhi High Court sentenced Manu Sharma to life imprisonment and two other accomplices and co-accused to four years in jail.

Neelam Katara, the mother of Nitish Katara, is another such woman. Nitish was kidnapped and killed allegedly by ex-Rajya Sabha MP D.P. Yadav's son Vikas and his cousin Vishal Yadav in February 2002. The case is still pending in a trial court.

As she waits for justice, Neelam Katara said: 'The system needs to be more sensitive towards women, especially in cases of rape and molestation where the protection of their identity is more important.

'Education of women needs to be strengthened and only then will they be able to take important decisions of their life themselves.'

(http://in.news.yahoo.com/indiaabroad/20080306/
r_t_ians_nl_general/tnl-be-determined-say-women-fighting-for-b9e311f.html)