The
thing about distractions is that they are mortal. Sometimes they have
long life, sometimes they last for a very small period of time.
The girl who was struggling to survive after the heinous assault
which rocked the smug foundations of Indian society, whose each breath
was a ripple of hope for the Indian nation, finally succumbed to her
injuries. The not-so-subtle diversionary tactic has backfired on the
government. So much for giving her, 'all the help she needs'.
But
no, it isn't over yet. Not by a loooong shot. Nothing can appease the
livid nation now, not even if the entire Indian cricket team retired
together.
Although the girl has moved on to a better place, the
flame that her trauma had ignited still burns in all our hearts and the
light from this fire illuminates all the the government has been
skating over for years. This is it. A harsh, painful wake-up call. There
is no turning back now.
It is time for change; Time for everyone to wake up and smell the stench and actually DO something rather than just sit and shake heads at 'today's generation'.
The best part is some people are actually putting the blame on the girl. Apparently getting brutally gang-raped and tortured was her fault as she had been out after 9 pm with a friend and had probably dressed provocatively.
These infuriating, baseless and utterly moronic reasonings indicate just how hard it will be to bring about a change in our society. The ultimate root of the alarming elevation in the number of rape cases comes down to how children are raised and what values are taught to them during their childhood days. They should be brought up in such a way that intermingling between girls and boys will be considered normal. The misogyny that flares deep within Indian culture should be be extinguished and male and female should be considered as equals.
While our so-called leaders hasten to somehow gloss over this sticky situation and wait for the public fury to die down as it usually does as Time marches forward, it is perhaps best that, however embarrassing, disgusting and gory the incident may be, we should NOT FORGET. It'll do good for it to hover in the mind of India as a harsh yet strong reminder of the battle for survival of a girl, no, of all girls, who had had a whole life ahead and who had wanted to live. We deserve to live with dignity too.
