Honour Killing: A heinous crime in the name of respect...

Till a few decades back, social evils like Sati, child marriage & dowry deaths were eating the foundation of Indian society like a termite. In new age India, a barbaric and atrocious form of crime called HONOUR KILLING is on the rise. Shamefully most of these killings are caste based, that makes it more than a crime, the worst form of social evil. It actually brings us to the conclusion that it may take several decades before India as a nation, as a society can become truly and practically progressive.

The recent case of murder of Delhi based journalist Nirupama Pathak by her own mother for falling in love with a boy from a lower caste is just one of the examples. If you flip across the newspapers of past few years, one might find it a regular activity especially in the northern states of UP, Bihar, Haryana and Punjab. Shockingly most of these killings are "socially" approved by the local authorities; therefore, there might be so many cases that just go unregistered as there is no one to file a complaint against the perpetrators. It is a harsh truth that the stigma of caste and creed still sticks to the Indian mindset; the caste hierarchy still dominates the very structure of our society. Moreover, it’s doubtful whether any form of education or awareness will help us to rise above such social issues. But the question is that, are these killings really for the honour or the ego, whether these are in the name of religion or in the name of just a community which is trying to prove its social dominance. No form of honour or religion teaches you to ruthlessly kill your very own children or propagate violence and murder of innocent people. It’s a matter of shame that in the world's largest democracy, a rightful and legal citizen of the country is still devoid of the privilege to exercise his/her fundamental rights.

The problem is grim and the statistics show it’s increasing by the day. So where and what exactly the solution is. Is it education, awareness, stringent laws, active policing, or innovative policies to support the vulnerable? Education, I really doubt will be able to do the needful, no sermons in the text of school and college books could teach us to stand against social evils. There has to be very different form of education, there is a need for “social” education which can be better imparted through advertisements, TV shows & films, street plays and most importantly bringing forth live examples. All these form of media have a big impact on the psyche of viewers especially those from lower and middle class. There needs to be laws specific to honour killings, and not to mention these laws need to be stringent, with fast court trials so that the perpetrators have something to stop them before they attempt such a heinous crime. There needs to be special organizations or "active" organizations and NGOs that can provide special support to those who fear such consequences for their decision, from their communities. Even with all such measures it will take time to remove this terrorized and inhumane crime labeled as the need of the society by some psychic people. We as the youth of the nation can join hands to introduce those living in the 19th century to the new India. The India that knows of only two kinds of people, the good and the bad. No caste no race no color no community.

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Emancipation of women: Is it just a long-cherished dream???

This post seems to be long to the extent of being unending, but it speaks about something which needs to be adressed as present day's biggest social evil.. Have a look...

“Three beautiful, and vivacious flowers with a light within them that can brighten a million lives and make their family and nation proud of them, but only if they are permitted to empower themselves by the orthodox and conventional society in which they are unfortunately born. Aged ten, twelve and fourteen, these three budding flowers are a part of typical conservative middle-class family where all the hopes are pinned to their brother. Reason for this discrimination, the age-old theory that gives supremacy to the male child and a sense of humiliating indifference and disrespect to the girls. The mother of four young & immature children, an uneducated housewife who hails from a small village in Punjab, who is still stuck with the notion that was put into her mind since childhood that life and dreams of a girl is confined to four walls of the house. She herself was made to leave her schooling after class 8 and was married off at the tender age of 15 to a potbellied businessman who has least respect for women. The three girls consider themselves lucky that at least they are getting the rare opportunity to complete their schooling unlike their mother. But at the end of it all, their destiny might not be any different. They would eventually be left to live at the mercy of some chauvinist male once their father marries them off. And they might also not get the opportunity to fight for their social, political, economical and the very basic emotional rights(human rights). The lives of the three young girls are even now not less than hell. Every moment they witness all the motherly love, the unending pampering and affection of the family being showered on their brother. On the contrary, no one has ever desired to take a deep look into the heart of these girls. Given a chance one of them holds the caliber to make a successful career. To be a lawyer or a doctor or a decent professor. Unfortunately, she knows that she does not even have the right to dream something of that stature. The one who is 12 years of age has been gifted by a talent that can transform her into a renowned poet or writer. But its her bad luck that she was born into a family where one day all her exquisite pieces of poetry would be dumped in the chimney of the household kitchen. And the youngest one, is still too small to envision what the future holds for her and that her life is already etched out by her parents. Worse, as it gets, the three impressionable minds watch their brutal and alcoholic father giving endless beatings to their mother very often. In turn the frustrated mother pours all her anger on the poor girls. I wonder what these girls must be going through and more importantly what impact such cruel scenes would have on their future lives.”

The above story(though its fictional) shows the harsh reality of Indian social setup. Such discrimination in one form or the other is paramount even amongst the most educated and elite families. There are lakhs of girls who are denied the basic human rights and sense of respect, dignity and security. So many young girls are raped, others become the victim of domestic violence, kidnappings, dowry deaths. To add to the irony, there is the growing concept of incest and marital rape. All this throws enough light on the hollowness of government’s claim to have emancipated or empowered the women of our country. Emancipation of women has been reduced to a mere topic for the public figures to give unending speeches on. In reality, most of us are not even aware of the true meaning of emancipation of women. Emancipation of women refers to freeing them from the control of others and give them the right to make their own choices. How can we make this long cherished dream of empowering women a reality? It is difficult to remove the deep- rooted evils that demean the stature of women but with sincere and innovative efforts, it can be dealt with.

# The best way is encouraging women to build the confidence, first in themselves and then others. Each woman needs to respect the other. Don’t forget that charity begins only at home. This is possible only if women stop exploiting other women, which mainly includes mother-daughter, mother-in-law-daughter-in-law, siblings and friends.

# Another imperative step towards emancipation is instilling a sense of confidence and self-faith in girls right from childhood and they should be taught to take pride in being a woman.

This also reminds me of the ballyhoo that is created around the woman’s day every year. I am not exactly against it but I feel rather than flashing greetings and flowers and socialites flaunting their designer labels at the typical page 3 parties; let’s have a reality check. Emancipation cannot be limited to including a handful of names from international beauty pageants or one or two women making it big in sports or winning accolades in science & technology. Educating the uneducated and liberating them from orthodox notions, making stringent laws and making their strict implementation possible are a few basic steps towards true emancipation of women. An environment conducive enough for the suffering women to come up and fight for their rights and security is the key to empowerment of women in the true sense. The mantra is that come out of the fire well in which you are being burnt for the only reason that you were born as the so called weaker sex. Gather the courage, unite and fight, fight because it’s your life and you have the sole right on how to live it.

Think about it till I login again...