Nirbhaya bhava

One of the battle fought, and half-won was against a terribly malignant, but shallow beast. This beast, a malevolent creature full of sexual aggression, who is soulless himself as he perceives the fairer human as a mere instrument for his carnal pleasure, as a piece of meat which is only fit to be subdued. Who is this ‘beast’, and why does he indulge in such putrid and pernicious acts? Well, this beast may be anywhere, even in within the secure periphery of our home. The answer to why is simply that humans aren’t the rational, kind and caring creatures, made in God’s image, not all. He has stooped unimaginably low, lost his conscience, unapologetically harbours exploitative libidinous desires, a rotten hedonist; no longer deserving to be called a ‘human’. But this beast, in the form of a human, has only been recognised recently. Earlier, the humans were blamed for it. It was said that it’s the humans fault, venturing out late, not being appropriately covered, or for simply being bold, daring to face the beast alone. And they were the humans themselves who blamed the victim instead of encountering the beast and teaching it a good lesson. I know, sounds ludicrous. But this is exactly what happened, till a horrible attack shook us all, and no one could give an excuse for the beast. Every human felt threatened. We were helpless, despairing and desperately needed a revolutionary change. We needed to buck up, and soon. We did it. The whole nation gave up it’s supposed propriety and spoke against the innumerable hideous assaults they had endured. Now, everyone refused to bite the bullet the decided to crack the whip. Thankfully, this is a hurdle we’ve overcome. The next step in the quest is to empower the victim, now called the ‘survivor’ as well as all other humans. Also, needed is a good justice system and strict policing so that the no danger shall befall the humans, and they may live freely, anywhere. Also, what we can do at personal levels as humans is to spread humanity, equality among ourselves so that none of us turns into a beast. We can teach our close ones to respect one another, inculcate gender equality just they way we do with the basic gentleness and social manners.

Source: muftah.org

I attended the NDTV’s tribute to Nirbhaya and other survivors. Nirbhaya, a Delhi-girl was gang-raped on the night of 16 December, 2012, a tragic incident that lead to India’s cathexis. The show reiterated everyone’s opinion to shift the blame on the horrible culprit, and severely punish him so that neither he nor any other beast, or prospective beasts dares to harm any human in any way. The program also had assault survivors and “thrivers”, narrating their horrid experiences and pleading for a change, a safer environment, a stricter law. Together we can bring a change. Let’s make this world a better place for all humans. Let’s make a resolution that slowly, we shall wipe the gender inequality off Earth’s face, and make is a peaceful haven.

Source: Getty Images

It’s time to becomes fearless, it’s time to show that we are not going to bow down to the beast. We will fight against the preposterous and suffocating notions that absolve the real culprit, and strives to quell a woman’s sexuality. It is not a women’s issue; sexual assault is a crime against humanity. And we will win. The winds of change are blowing. Neither endure any iniquity, not let it see it happening. Raise your voice against any injustice meted out to you or anyone you know about. The law considers stalking, voyeurism and sexual harassment a crime, with a provision of a death penalty for repeat offenders or for rape attacks that lead to the victim’s death. The law also makes it a crime for police officers to refuse to open cases when they receive complaints of sexual attacks. Enforcement has been lax, but now even the police and the government has been forced to become sensitive to this issue, and the result is showing.

You can watch NDTV’s full tribute to Nirbhaya and other survivors here