No honor among thieves [354/365]

Incredible India!

A 23 year old paramedic student was 'brutally' raped and is fighting for her life and suddenly every Indian has become the judge, jury and executioner.

'Hang them!' 'Castrate the Bastards' yell the placards.
Some others want the rapists to be diced into 3 or more pieces.
It is said that five of the six who were remanded to the infamous Tihar jail were assaulted by fellow prisoners who detest rapists. So this might explain why our ministers where given special cells during their stints there.

Quick Question:
Exactly when did we start dishing out judgements to the guilty?

The only way to deter future rapists (including the ones who'd have raped a women by the time I finish this post) is to make sure that the crime hits them at the root of their existence.
Men rape because they want to assert their authority over women. They want to remind women of 'her place' in society- That of a victim.
They rape because it's easier to force their penis into a vulnerable vagina than to win her love and devotion.
Men rape because they know their prey will almost never report them to authorities.
They rape because they know that they won't get convicted and even if they are convicted, they will be free in a few years.

Most importantly, they rape because they know we don't care for our women.

Our young men and women are braving water cannons and tear gases because it is fashionable to be seen. After all, we have all been inspired by images of the Arab Spring and erstwhile Corruption Quit India struggles. Will our protesting men stop their parents from demanding and accepting dowries?
Will our indignant women be bold enough to marry without a dowry?

What would castration achieve?
How would a public hanging curb crime against women?

Studies in animals have proven that castration won't really curb a male's sexual appetite.
If public execution curbed crimes, then Saudi Arabia would have been the safest place on earth.

So what could really work?
It is important to understand the inner ruthlessness of a rapist.
Strip away the visage, all rapists are unbelievably passive, impotent and cowardly. They wouldn't stand out of a crowd and they don't look villainous. Psychologically submissive, they are people that you would meet and forget.
Besides the thrill of achieving dominance over a woman's body, rapists bask in the glory of being (in)famous.
Besides the crucial act of convicting rapists expeditiously, rapists must be registered as 'convicted sex offenders' and closely monitored for the rest of their natural lives. Much like credit ratings, their criminal background must be an important factor with future employers, associates, creditors and spouses. They must be made responsible for the living expenses of the victim and her family for the rest of his life.
Convicted rapists and their families should be marginalized and made to experience every bit of the fear, trauma and pain that the victims and their families face.

By engaging the government violently, we are neither enabling an already paralyzed governing structure to heal nor creating a revolution of change for women. We are simply repeating what Team Anna did a couple of months ago - Arm twist the government to act. I wonder how arm-twisting somebody to do what you want could be productive.

Our young women and men will protest today. Their pictures will appear on newspapers and TVs.
Tomorrow, they go back to their offices and will work as meek slaves to a society driven by men.
Our men will go back to their wives, girlfriends and significant others and demand sex.
And they will all brag about how they marched for a cause for the next couple of months.

As a man whose partner is now petrified to open the doors and windows when alone, I demand action.

I want the government to sit down and think how they can fix this once and for all. For a government that mustered courage to pass the FDI as fast as it did, I ask that you take a reasonable length of time deliberating, but act.
Take our collective voice of rage as a feedback and not as a criticism. Don't let the fact that you might loose the next elections bother you. That will happen nevertheless.
This can't go on forever. We need our women as much as you want to stay in power.

The time to act is now.

No Hazare

In what can be described as an epic battle of good v/s evil, the Fight against Corruption has caught the fantasy of a billion people. Whether you are the CEO of a conglomerate or a lowly farmer, Hazare and his million followers have turned the Struggle into television's biggest tamasha.

Now, amidst all the controversy and the mud slung, I still support the cause- That of creating laws that will uphold justice and uproot corruption. Yes I do.
But something incredible has happened. Now, I am not a person who can be easily convinced. As a realist I need facts.
A movement that promised a change in how India is perceived both by its inhabitants and the world in general, the struggle has been subtly hijacked by ideologies and people that are suspect and well, give you that familiar feeling of all is not well.

Couple of reasons why I think Anna needs to pause, think and pull up his socks.

Proof of how 'Role models' have turned this struggle into a free for all fight for 15 minutes of fame

Anna is not India and India is not Anna.
Much like the ominous 'Indira is India. India is Indira' chant that reverberated through the dark years of Emergency, we are focusing on the man and not the purpose.
His well dressed compatriots all who have accomplished a lot in their public lives, are opinionated to a point where there is confusion on what Anna stands for and what the Bill wants to achieve.
This movement and the Bill that it fights for, has become a symbol of rebellion by an resurgent middle class awakened by 'Breaking News' round the clock.
A convenient way of removing the government without the ballot. While the government did miss the train by not reacting swiftly and it floundered badly with poor policies and a weak commander at the top, we should not circumvent existing mechanisms to cover up our weak electoral sense.
How did a guy who introduced sweeping financial reforms in the last decade become the weakest PM the country has ever had?
I am pretty sure Singh would've wanted to quit while the song was still sweet, but his inability to rein in corruption and his obvious submissiveness to Sonia will be a legacy that he will have to live with.

Lokpal is not our magic elixir.
The fact that there are many thousands marching on the streets who do not know what the Bill is nor can lead to, is a dangerous phenomena.
While we are definitely tired of corruption, the Bill is not all that we need.
As a nation of extremely opinionated people, we'd have a million ways to say that corruption cannot be uprooted. Not many can tell us how we can. Naysayers Plenty!
We already have enough institutions that are supposed to fight corruption. The National Advisory Council (NAC), an Institution with powers to veto any bill and monitors the government. Comprised of 14 eminent professionals in their individual fields, our focus should be towards strengthening existing anti corruption institutions like the NAC.
Because, what we need is not yet another Institution. We need a process.

Perhaps Anna can think on this while he is fasting.

What we need is a stronger government. A swifter one. A government that will work for its people while not keeping the good stuff for itself. A government that will treat all its citizens with respect, equality and merit.

'Democracy is where one confused person thinks he can change everything. Eventually we will need to kill him' but again, this is not about one man's fight against another. This is about how we need to change the way we work within the framework of democracy.

We, the people need to exercise better judgement with the electoral process. Resisting the temptation to vote because you were bribed to, we need to show our activism through democracy. After all, we are still the World's largest democracy.

We are not you, Anna. We support your cause though
The Fight is not rocket science nor is it brain surgery.

So, why are we not getting the point?