In 1997, the ice-cream parlour sex scandal rocked Kerala. PK Kunhalikutty, a minister belonging to the IUML, came under the scanner in this case. The scandal relates to allegations that an ice-cream parlour in Kozhikode was being used as a cover to lure young women into prostitution. Kunhalikutty quit as the industries minister following the charges. He, however, did not figure as an accused in the case. In 1978, Jagjivan Ram could have been the first Dalit prime minister of independent India, had his son Suresh Ram not got entrapped in a sex scandal. It came to light when everything was going in favour of Jagjivan Ram.
Unfortunately, for the then deputy prime minister, nude pictures of his son Suresh were published in a magazine named Surya that showed Suresh in a compromising position with a girl named Sushma Chaudhury. What was interesting was the fact that none other than Maneka Gandhi, the daughter-in-law of Indira Gandhi, edited the magazine. “We need to build a consensus on how to prevent individuals with a criminal record from contesting elections” —a necessary, even obvious fundamental you would think of building the world’s largest democracy. And when Sonia Gandhi, India’s most powerful politician, uttered those words three years ago, even her main opponent, the leader of the BJP agreed. Yet since then, things have gone in the opposite direction – with more alleged lawbreakers among India’s lawmakers than ever, a third of the current Parliament according to a watchdog called the Association for Democratic Reforms. By some calculations, politicians with a criminal record are more likely to be elected than those with a clean slate — because, says the ADR, they have more illicit funds with which they buy votes. Since 2007, political parties issued tickets to 20-rape accused to fight in state elections. Unless the political scenario changes and tainted ministers are punished, the rape cases will not take pause.
All the criminals should be executed, for all the rapes in the country. The Indian society that is manifested through Hindu-Muslim society/religion is a disgrace and an epic failure. They are inherently toxic and cancerous. An immoral and barbaric society that is yet to learn morality, humanity, love and the true meaning of equality and justice and not the perverted version as seen in India. There are many such unimaginable crimes and yet nobody is willing to do anything about it except punish the victims and let the crimes keep on happening.
The problem also lies in the mentality of the patriarchal Indian society wherein a woman is considered inferior to men. It lies in the thought that a man has the right to rule over the body, mind, and soul of a woman; that a woman is incomplete without a man. It also lies in the thought that a woman dressed “provocatively” wants to be raped. A woman going out to discotheques and pubs, drinking, smoking or going out with a gang of boys is considered to be an easy catch. She is labelled to be characterless, ‘a bad woman’ and is considered to be giving an ‘invitation to rape’. The question arises in the male minds is, “She is a woman. How can she?” On parallel lines, a man dressed fashionably is cool. This patriarchal mentality itself is the main cause of the increasing rape scenario. Of course, it is not true for all sectors of the Indian society and cannot be generalised, but it stands true for a majority of the cases.
There’s no doubt that rape is the biggest and most harassing act performed by males on females (generally) but that too also demands some questions to think about why this problem is taken with such a magnitude in Indian society. It is one of the most burning, hard-hitting and sensitive social problem existing in developing India which demands a high level of comprehension, observations and practical outlook to find its solution which majorly includes what and how India has transformed from in last 20 to 25 years; the most important is how it has affected the huge sub-classified socially variant people existing in Indian culture and space. It should be done not only for keeping a sympathising outlook for the victims of such a deed but also as an attempt to understand the psychology and condition which a “culprit” usually undergoes that makes him so offensive to perform this act.
One of the most prominent reasons due to which developing countries like India are facing this problem with this intensity is — the traditional, conservative and highly restricted outlook of both males and females in all sections of life; majorly when egos of both men and women contradict each other. Also the class division of Indian society in recent years into many subclasses (particularly on economic criteria) also has provided an enhancing drift to narrow minded, conservative people, who are obviously and naturally highly egoistic and self centric person who adopt this act as a revenge from their “clever and cunning” (in their view) counterparts — more easily accepted when they find it as an answer “in a language in which they usually play” to get their easy cup of cake — where they have to put tremendous efforts sometimes.
Actually in recent years, Indian people, Indian culture, and environment have undergone drastic and vertical transformation in every aspect whether it may be sociological, philosophical, biological, psychological, economical or whatsoever; but, when sudden changes to this extent is observed in traditional and conservative society like India is the situation found is more hard-hitting. Sometimes incapability to withstand with ancient traditions like high prestige issues, egoistic behaviour, male dominance, dowry etc. seems hard to accept and a clever and intelligent move to come up with such a situation is sometimes found in fake emotional involvement which after its conclusion results into a revengeful act of rape. Actually in traditional countries like India, sex is considered as a prime taboo whose ill effect is the psychological trauma which victim feels after rape. In most of the cases, victims are not offended but the psychological trauma and ill-treatment from their nearby personals makes them feel offended thousand times more than the people in developed or liberated countries where this act of rape is just considered a little more than being robbed or molested which positively helps a victim to overcome the situation.
The only solution can be to understand and flow with the pace of change and try not to adopt and define the primal characters of the western world in our words and benefits, as our society is definitely not going to adopt western intellect, tools and techniques with that ease but instant follow of trade and traditions like openness, free-living, financial liberty etc can lead us to a situation of tug of war where many severe consequences may result just in order to overcome the lacuna developed because of mismatch of western culture in Indian situations.
Another major reason is that women have started to speak up. They have started to come forward and report the rape and molestation attempts they have faced with enough guts. It is not that earlier there were lesser rape attempts, but women wouldn’t come up and report them. However, the most important change that India really needs is a change in society’s perception of women, a change that involves viewing women as equal to men, neither goddesses nor sex objects.
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