India, awake?

I am beginning to wish that news on TV was more like what it used to be in the eighties, serious somber and soporific. Its getting too stressful to watch and listen to Arnab Goswami and others go on and on without a break. This last one week has been full of such disturbing news that I wonder if I should allow my 9 year old daughter to listen to the English news at all. I think I'd even be better off with Tamil news as the language is a little more archaic, atleast to my daughter.

You must have guessed by now, yes, I have to mention the Delhi rape case. It is a shame that we have to stage such violent and non-violent protests to induce the police to do its duty. Its difficult to separate the media from the story of the girl now. Why was this case so special? As we can see, there are rape cases being reported everyday in every big city of India? Half of them don't get any media attention. Is it because of the South Delhi connection? Should our TV channels make this case as the headlines every single day?I hope the media focuses on all acts of public violence with such enthusiasm. I hope a beggar getting beaten up by the police in Delhi gets as much attention.

Violence against the weak is prevalent in all societies. Women are considered physically weak by men and no matter how educated people are, there is no way of stopping such acts. What is important is to realise that the fault is not with the woman but with the man in that particular case. Its not because of liberalisation or the influence of western culture or degrading morals of the society. It is just a blatant act of violence in a society where there are many unhappy people.

What we should be concerned about is public apathy towards acts of violence whether it is against a woman or child or an elderly person. If there was no such protest or public outcry, we have to be really worried about the collected psyche of the Indian society. I am glad that this topic has been discussed and debated so much all over the social networks and public spaces.

The year 2012 has been full of political turmoil. Most politicians and public figures seem to have been part of some scandal or scam. We need a much more disciplined and accountable policing system in India. The various cases pending in the High Courts and Supreme Court must have a reasonable resolution and must not take an entire lifetime to get resolved. Finally, we have to be grateful to Anna Hazare's movement. It  has finally hit its target. People have started realising that they needn't sit back and watch things unfold, they have to play an active role in making changes in the society. I hope the year 2013 brings in more positive changes in the society in India and all over the world too.