Dear Editor,
This is with reference to C. Norbu’s letter, “Horrifying rape and murder” (Readers Forum, April 21, 2018). When a rape has been culminated in murder by a criminal, it is a common error to brand him as a rapist. As a matter of fact, he should be called a killer rapist and must get double punishment for his capital offence – if it is a life imprisonment then he must be kept in an isolated cell till his death.
Similar to this common error, our society had accepted rape and murder as, so to speak, an old normal. Then Nirbhaya happened. It was a public tsunami against such an offence. It could have been a watershed in the history of gender justice had we remained as vocal post – Nirbhaya.
Unfortunately, we keep on behaving like three wise monkeys ~ of speaking no evil, seeing no evil and hearing no evil when a Nirbhaya happens to be a socially and economically backward girl. As many as six Dalit Nirbhayas are raped every day in our country. Many of such rapes end in murders. But agonizing series of atrocities against downtrodden girls remain just as “o hota hai” even post – Nirbhaya.
Things came to such a pass that some people, politicians and advocates had gone to such extremes as to openly leap to the defence of the criminals who kidnapped, raped and murdered a small nomadic tribal girl. What a shame that these anti – national forces are trying to cheat their real identity by masquerading as nationalists!
A reverse – Nirbhaya movement, as it were, was staged to create Bhaya (fear) in the minds of the nomadic Bakarwal community to which the Kathua girl belonged. It tells a very sad tale of not only lust but also of greed of some people who must have had a motive for gain in terrorising and banishing the tribal people from the forest area in Jammu province.
Now, when the people are slowly raising their voice of sanity in favour of a tribal victim, it looks like rain on burning desert sands. Let it be a downpour that can wash out our apathy towards our Dalit/ poor/ downtrodden sisters of our country.
Yours,
Sujit De,
Kolkata