The rising innumerable crimes on women, most recently has, as usual, brought out the same reactions, and will once more result in no change. Are we not responsible for all this, since we cannot come out with a solution? What good does it serve to just vent out steam? People are calling for public hanging, shooting, castration etc. From one crime we want to go to another form?
Sadly, what we witnessed in the last 10 days, is slowly making its presence felt in Goa. Recently, we read the news of molestation of a mentally retarded woman. In 2018, there were 32 kidnappings up to November: what is the figure for 2019? Why do we not know?
In Delhi alone, every year, yes every year, more than 4000 children go missing! Do you hear the same kind of ‘noise’ that we hear now post the recent rapes? Do we know what happens to these 4000 odd children? Why are we silent?
And here lies the problem, we only make noise after the media reports: we are controlled by the media. When the latter ‘makes noise’ we involuntarily jump as if the strings attached to us have been tweaked.
Such crimes need to be tackled by the public at the ‘bud’ stage. Today, the media has suppressed the voices of these people. We are not allowed to correct anyone. Every single day without fail, you will see men on bikes starring directly at the girls waiting for their bus, with their heads moving more than 90 degrees while passing. Many even honk to draw attention. Is this not indecent behaviour? Do we stop such people? Goans used to protest but no longer. Their voices have been curtailed: they have been rapped on the knuckles for ‘using’ words to describe such people. Social media has witnessed some people accusing the rape victim for crime with remarks like the clothes they wear, and the time they were out : even that they should not have gone out as their place is at home. We witness these remarks here in Goa too, from the migrants: but no longer can we speak out. Who is it who raps us on the knuckles? They need to take the responsibility.
Everyone knows which clans run the drug scene in Goa. But when the public objected to these very drug peddlers being given taxi badges/working as maids etc.: the press suppresses the same. The latter cannot even investigate and come out with who the drug operators are, as if such ’investigation’ is required! Yet, they will suppress such voices. The press is currying up to politicians, repeating their refrains like: Goans don’t work, they want only government jobs, they are going out etc. Social media has time and again shown how some ministers are supporting drug dealers and even writing letters to hotels to provide jobs to so and so by name: we don’t see such news in the papers: why? We have heard the ‘strange’ remarks of many central politicians whenever there were rapes. Have we seen the press ‘boycott’ such people? Today we ‘bravely’ talk of public lynching of rapists: but simple and easier solution which is allowing the public to pull up such people at the bud stage is viewed as a bigger crime than rape and suppressed.
Some people are opening out Goa to such crimes: they need to squarely wear the cap.
