GENUINE GRIEF

 

PRESIDENT Mrs. Droupadi Murmu has touched everyone’s emotional chord when she appealed to the nation to wake up and end crimes against women. ‘Enough is enough’, she has insisted, as she grieved deeply that women are not as safe as they should be in a civilised society. Hence her appeal to ensure that crime against women is eliminated from the larger Indian society and that any perpetrator of such crimes is brought to book as immediately as possible without any protection to him or her from any quarter. As a newspaper, we stand with the President in her effort to inject some sanity into the heads and hearts of common Indian people. The President’s appeal deserves a full attention by the people in the streets as well as people in positions of power, political or non-political.

 

The Kolkata rape-and-murder case involving a woman medical doctor has stirred the nation’s conscience so much that nationwide protests erupted -- forcing the different parts of the power-pyramid to take notice and take subsequent action. But that also has kept the people unhappy, since they accuse the administrative and political machineries to have woken up terribly belatedly. True, there were protests even in the political domain, but the overall system took its own time to respond strongly and correctly. A person of the sensitivity of President Mrs. Droupadi Murmu could not digest the manner in which the larger society was responding to the call to its collective conscience. Hence her appeal to the nation’s good sense to initiate strong movement to stop crimes against women. That the President herself needs to move in such a matter is a matter of shame for the nation and the larger Indian society. Greater shame, however, is in the unfortunate reality that the woman is not as safe as she should be in a nation like India. This is a blemish on the Indian society and a blot on its culture and character. The blot is not just on the criminals who perpetrate the crimes against women but also on the larger society in which such people are born and bred. Factually the Indian culture embodies immense respect for women in its grain. Yet, crimes against women have always been there in the societal folds -- making the average Indian feel ashamed and guilty.

 

This situation cannot be allowed to last in any manner. That is when the President’s appeal comes into sharp focus. Mrs. Droupadi Murmu has acted in dual capacities -- as President as Head of State, and as a sensitive and sensible woman who cannot accept the ugly truth of the Indian society. It is out of that anguish that Mrs. Droupadi Murmu has made the fervent appeal to the good sense and conscience of the people. Her appeals deserves full attention by each and every Indian person of every age and gender. Most importantly, the President’s appeal deserves the fullest attention from the people occupying different positions in the power-structure of the country. The Kolkata incident sparked protests all over the country, was only one point in the larger story. For, even as the protests were going on, other cases of crimes against women were taking place across the country -- so much so that some even suspected that sudden spurt in crimes against women was a planned conspiracy by some elements to bring disrepute to the country and the society.When Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi was assuming a moral high-ground to mediate between Russia and Ukraine, conspirators rallied back home to create serious disturbances in the country on ugly issues. This is hardly expected when the Prime Minister is on an important mission of global importance. That should also make all of us think hard on the issue.