The horror story of Hathras gangrape case is very heart breaking, distressing and blood curdling. The 19 old young Dalit girl was left to die after being raped and strangulated. She was found with her tongue cut and in a pool of blood in the field after four days of search by her family members. This heinous crime is a blot on the collective conscience of our nation. We have failed to protect the life, dignity and liberty of our womenfolk. India, for a very long time, has been considered to be an unsafe country for women. Indians generally boast about their ‘Sanskruti.’ Does Sanskruti teach men of our country to disrespect, torture, rape and mutilate women? Raping a woman is a demonic act. Why are some men filled with so much anger, hatred and violence? Are these men exhibiting their manhood by raping a woman?
The Constitution of India, which is considered to be sacred in our country, has guaranteed to protect the rights of every citizen under Articles 14 to Article 32, irrespective of caste, creed or race, whether it is a man or a woman, rich or poor, children or senior citizens. Are these fundamental rights supposed to be only in the book of law or will they ever be put into practice? One of the pillars of our Democracy is Judiciary on whom our people rely for justice, but there are several cases that our Judiciary, investigation agencies and competent authorities have failed us in delivering timely justice. There is a well known saying ”justice delayed is justice denied”. In Nirbhaya’s case, justice was meted out to the victim after 8 long years. In Hathras case, only time will tell when justice will be delivered in the so called fast track courts.
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Now we hear the news that a Special Investigation Team has been constituted to conduct a probe for justice when the government has failed to guarantee dignity in life while the girl was alive. Also, the girl was denied dignity in death as the body was not handed over to the victim’s family. The Uttar Pradesh police have cremated her body in the night without the consent and presence of the family members. Nowadays, police are in the news for wrong reasons. Either they are involved in covering up of the cases or are themselves destroying the evidences in brutal murders that has shaken our country lately.
The three pillars of our country Legislature, Executive and Judiciary are the custodians of our Constitution. The people who are holding the constitutional posts have to awaken their conscience and take necessary steps and action to ensure and protect the democratic rights of every citizen, as every life matters.
The fourth pillar, fair press has also failed us miserably. The media has become a slave of a few influential and powerful people in our country.
If Mahatma Gandhi were alive today, he would have been so ashamed that he would have fasted unto death to demand justice.
Let us not wait until what happened to the Dalit girl happens to your family. Wake up now and fight, raise your voice as if that Dalit girl were your own daughter or sister. Protest today and right now – tomorrow may be too late!
