Society
Satyamev Jayate: Do We Really Care?
So everyone was waiting for the Second Season of Aamir Khan’s ‘Satyamev Jayate’ with great expectations. The preludes and the never ending promos fanned the interest. Above all, it is his first Season which covered a variety of topics and problems keeping the viewers fully engrossed.
Well, Satymev Jayate’s Second Season opened on the much publicized and discussed topic of ‘rape’ of the ‘Nirbhaya’ in Delhi last year. The important aspect of rape is it is not an exclusive crime in India but world over. Nevertheless, as many things in India which are paradoxical, anachronism and being blown out of proportion, this topic also keeps finding the headlines and media coverage a lot.
What was appalling to me was that the rape victims’ ages vary from three to ninety three. This clearly proves that the perpetrators are none other than mentally disturbed sick people. The basic apathy of the public, the denigration of women in the Indian society as a whole, the useless law makers, the self centered medical practitioners, the insensitive court proceedings put the rape victims in terrible jeopardy. This must be happening in other countries also. But, in India one should wonder at the high levels of rape cases because India we claim to be a spiritual nation and also a nation where women are considered to be Goddesses of Hindu pantheon. At least in western and other liberated nations don’t make such bogus hypocritical claims and culture.
Further, even in the case of Nirbhaya some arrests were made and the big crowd which gathered and demanded death sentence for the gang never bothered about it later. In fact, within a week or month there were several rape cases were reported and the agitated people earlier went to their activities without caring much about the other victims. With enormous media glare and publicity Indian public today are willing to create stir to hit the headlines and soon forget it and move for something fresh to agitate.
Criminal acts in India are glorified. On one side there are groups and media which cry hoarse to abolish death sentence as barbaric act on the murderers, it sounds strange that another faction thirst for the blood of rapists.
Aamir’s show offered nothing new in this except that he flogged the dead horse once again possibly in a more logical and intelligent manner showing the loopholes in the law, medicine and general indifference of the public most of the times. Two women who are still fighting for justice figured in the show; one, an urban woman and another, a village lady. The major support for them comes from their kith and kin. That is what is needed in the case of rape victims than anything else.
In a recent Tamil soap, a woman has been shown to entice her divorced husband to bed and comes out and screams ‘rape’ tearing her clothes on her own and put the husband behind the bars. An old Hindi movie ‘Do Raha’ became popular in the South because it had a long drawn rape scene. Even the much acclaimed ‘Aaradhana’ had an extended, violent rape sequence.
Do we really care about such
The media is today responsible for most of the crimes. ‘Sex Criminals’ are most of the time schizoids and need to be either treated psychologically or punished strongly. Both are impossible in a completely chaotic and totally undisciplined country like India.
02-Mar-2014
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G Swaminathan
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