I recently attended a protest rally against the brutal gang rape of a woman in Delhi. Fewer than 200 people turned up. Bangalore has a thriving theatre and arts community, writers, actors and an IT community that drives the economy of this city. But we don’t seem to have even a thousand people who could make time on a Friday evening and come out in strong numbers to protest against the law and order situation in our city and the country at large.
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What it it going to take? Rape and murder of children? We have that. Molestation and sexual harassment of women on buses? We have that. Eve-teasing ( I abhor the term – it denigrates the seriousness of the act) on the roads? We have that. Apathy and sheer callousness of the police in the face of complaints by women? We have that. Dowry deaths? Domestic violence? Child marriage? Tick tick tick.
Then what is it that stops us from lodging a strong vociferous protest when the opportunity presents itself? Most people would be happy giving sound-bytes if a camera is thrust at them. Most people would be happy to do the same if a newspaper quoted them, preferrably accompanied by a photograph. But no one seems to want to do something concrete about it.
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Sure, rallies and protests are certainly not going to change the mind-set of the kind of people who commit such heinous acts. The frequency of rape and sexual assault will definitely not go down. But unless we come out in numbers and show that we are no longer going to stand passively by while such incidents continue unabated, we are never going to see a change in the system. It is all very well to watch TV, read newspaper articles, ‘like’ Facebook updates and say such a terrible thing should never happen again. Standing around at parties discussing the sorry state of women in our society, drink in hand, denigrating politicians and police is also common. But unless you do something about it, it will continue as it is.
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Rock concerts, shopping streets, fairs, exhibitions, movie openings and more’ see people turning up in droves. No matter where its at. Even a third of these people don’t feel strongly enough to come out in support of a cause like this. To paraphrase a speaker at the protest rally – This is no longer a ‘woman’s’ problem . It is a father’s problem, a husband’s problem, a brother’s problem, a son’s problem. A man’s problem. A crime against everything decent and civilized. I think most of us, in the very deepest depths of our minds, think that this can never happen to us. We might never voice it, but we nevertheless think it. I’ll take adequate precautions, I’ll dress appropriately, I’ll make sure I’m not out at a certain time of night etc. Or so I think. But can we guarantee the same for our children? Because this is the kind of sick, degraded society they are going to inherit. People who look the other way or tell you to look the other way. Who stand passively by when a woman is paraded naked. Who watch while an entire mob heckles and taunts a woman in public.
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Arm-chair activism is well and thriving in Bangalore. Everyone has an opinion, everyone knows what should be done, no one has the will. So what is it going to take? A gang rape in a moving bus going through MG Road and Commercial Street? No, we have’nt had such an incident in Bangalore. Yet.
Kavya Thimmaiah-Prasanna is an Associate Architect with Thimmaiah & Prabhakar and a mom. And when she is not building residential, commercial and recreational projects or doing up the interiors of residences, she is busy travelling to exotic places, reading, sampling food and life and enjoying it all in equal measure.