Sunday 20 January 2013

I am ASHAMED


I am, maybe, one of the few people who did not put a black dot instead of my profile picture on Facebook (the social networking site) to show that I am ashamed at the heinous crime committed against Nirbhaya. I did not do it because this is not the ONLY thing that I am ashamed of and here are just a few other things that I am ashamed of that I can recall at the moment. 

1. I am ashamed to hear reports of cases where young girls are raped by their own fathers or brothers. 

2. I am even more ashamed of that mother who stands by & allows it to happen. 

3. I am ashamed to know that my country is unsafe for women foreign travelers

4. I am ashamed when I hear commoners, politicians & religious “scholars”, saying that a girl is responsible for her own rape because of the way she dresses or behaves. 

5. I am ashamed that we are scared of helping victims of road accidents for fear of being persecuted by the police. 

6. I am ashamed to see caste / community based politics being played in my country. 

7. I am ashamed of parents who urge their daughters to “adjust” with their husbands and in-laws despite knowing the trauma that the daughters are going through & later have to mourn her death. 

8. I am ashamed of “educated” women who misuse the law against domestic violence (498a). 

9. I am ashamed that when a young boy shows interest in cooking, his supposedly educated family comments, “why ? are you a girl ?” 

10. I am ashamed to admit that when I was 12 or 13, I saw my cousin (same age as me) being molested in a crowded bus by a decent-looking man in his mid 20s & I couldn’t summon the courage to scream & alert others.