If a real character of a person emerges during times ofgrave crisis or shock, the character of a society is outlined in the anger inshows against brutality to human kind.
A 23 year old girl, a medical student who received hereducation courtesy her poor family selling all it had, was inhumanly raped by agroup of monsters on a bus. Her male companion was hit and thrown out of thebus and then began the orgy of abuse. As she fought back an iron rod wasinserted into her vagina and twisted till her insides were gorged out. She wasthen thrown out of the moving bus. As she lay nude, no one even covered orrescued her for an hour. She fights for life but by the time you read this shemay not have lived to fight any longer.
Across Wednesday and Thursday, the whole of India took tothe streets. From homes and offices, from schools and colleges, from factoriesand institutions, men and women “ officers, students, CEOs of companies, nursesand doctors and home makers, made the streets of their towns their theatres ofprotest. Most of them were aware of, if not experienced sexual harassment, fromthe trivial to the traumatic. The back alleys and villages of India areepicentres of rapes every day and yet, as this girl fought to survive, her bodyand soul torn apart, India cried and bled in anger and sadness.
But Goa didn’t. Infact we took recourse to recounting the incident in its nauseating detail in anedit, because Goa wasn’t bothered. For Goa this didn’t happen at all, or evenif it, it was a news item. As candlelit processions, marches and fiery speechesrent the air across towns and students in Delhi had to be water sprayed as theydemanded a meeting with the Chief Minister, Goa went about its businessnonchalantly. Rock shows and music shows were held, paintings were displayedand music was played in neatly redone gardens. It was a holiday you see. Goa’s“liberation” day, when Goa became a part of India. On that very day, thisWednesday last, Goa showed that it is part of no one or no body. It survives,thrives, rejoices and regrets only for itself. And the itself is its ownbackyard, then the village, perhaps the panchayat or town and then the largerworld of its district and perhaps sometimes the state. Even that is ararity.
As The Goan went looking for reactions, since none wereemerging, the reactions ranged from disinterest to surprise, wondering why thefuss, since it didn’t happen in their drawing or bedrooms and the girl didn’tcome into their geographical or social fabric and had no chance to. A lady headof the Congress youth organisation said “yes I have seen it on TV, others saidthey would “study” the issue and get back.” Goa’s youth have failed the nationtoo. College students mumbled clichés about the safety of women and so on. Someexpressed shock, but our reporters realised that the reactions were forcedbecause they were asked to react.
The environment minister Alina Saldhana’s reaction revealedmore than what she meant to. “I have not been to Delhi but the complaints Ihear are very sad. Rape and eve-teasing seems to be a major worry in thenational capital.” And then she goes on to admit that “students are sexuallyharassed by their teachers” and she is ashamed.
Sorry Mrs Saldhana. As a woman, a teacher and as a Goan, inthat order, we expected better. Firstly, this isn’t a problem with the nationalcapital alone. Molestation and rape happens in your village and constituency,Perhaps the state is too big for you to consider. Secondly, you shame womanhoodwhen you use phrases like ‘eve-teasing’. All across India, hundreds of women (andmen) spoke on air against this horrible phrase, which reduces the stripping ofa woman’s dignity to a childish boy joke. When a rod is inserted in you anddestroys your organs for life, it’s not teasing. When you get brutally abusedmentally and socially, it’s not teasing. In Goa, women are beaten up by theirdrunk partners and husbands daily and society does not condemn them.
Can Goa take to the streets only if there is garbage on thestreets, or if hills are cut, or if mega projects come up in their buildings ortheir political leaders give speeches? How can Goa not bleed when one of India’s daughters is virtually killedin a manner such as this? Goa is clearly out of sync with whatever happens inthis country. The perils of thissplendid isolation will hit home, once our own homes are vilified and bloodied.This indifference is criminal, unacceptable and dangerous for our society. We are bringing up our children in a Goa thatis careless and callous.
