Ummid Assistant

Applications open for Manmohan scholarship at Cambridge

Opportunities for Indian students in US

Welcome Guest! You are here: Home » Special Reports

30 days that bound a nation - in shame and concern

Tuesday January 15, 2013 07:28:45 PM, IANS

Related articles

New Year Day: Cry for justice undimmed

People had started gathering from early morning to pay tribute to the physiotherapy intern, who was cremated Sunday, exactly two weeks after a trip to see a movie with a friend resulted in brutal gang-rape and torture.   »

'Let's turn Jantar Mantar into Tahrir Square!'

A quieter India, at stroke of midnight hour

Protesters hold ground despite biting cold

New Delhi: She was the faceless woman who bound a nation in concern and shame and made India a talking point across the world. A month after a young physiotherapy intern was gang-raped in the Indian capital and 18 days after she died of her injuries, the spotlight stays resolutely on India's women and their status.

It was on the night of Dec 16 that the 23-year-old and her male friend got on to a bus in Delhi's usually busy Munirka neighbourhood after watching a movie. After assaulting her for what seemed like hours, she was left battered and bleeding on the roadside with her friend, both stripped off their clothes. On Dec 29, she died in a Singapore hospital where she was taken for specialised treatment.

The incident touched a historic chord - one that still resonates. And the discussion has covered the entire spectrum - from the reasons for aggravated sexual assault and public response to issues of patriarchy and the law.

And in what many women hope will be the turning point in the fight for their rights, the horror of what happened to the young woman continues to occupy mindspace, debated endlessly in colleges and coffee shops, homes and offices.

In an unprecedented development, the story hasn't moved from the front pages and protests still continue, not just in Delhi but elsewhere in the country. Seldom before have Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi spoken out on the need to improve safety for all of India's women.

The safety of women in public spaces is the one issue that concerns every Indian family - from the richest, whose daughters and wives go clubbing, to the poorest, whose women go out to work.

It was also the one incident that put India on the front pages of the world's newspapers, putting an unwelcome spotlight on the country's patriarchal and feudal traditions, sitting uneasily with the India-on-the-move image.

The central government and those in the states, particularly Delhi, have indeed moved to stave off some of the criticism.

Two committees were set up, the Delhi government set up a helpline and put more police on the roads. Activists promised that the movement for change would not be allowed to fizzle out.

The young intern's death, for which five men and a juvenile were quickly arrested, should not be in vain. Sensitisation has to be a continuum. Discussion on the way forward must continue.

As leading lawyer Vrinda Grover put it, this cannot be a one-off case.

"The case should not be looked at in isolation... it should become the benchmark of how rape cases should be handled," Grover told IANS.

"And we should ask the government on the 16th of every month for a report card on the progress made on reform, on what they have done so far," she added.

A month after the incident that shook the nation's collective conscience, Kavita Krishnan of the All India Progressive Women's Association said: "No, we will not let the movement peter out."

One positive change that she noticed among many of the male protesters, Krishnan said, was their coming to terms with their "discomfort" of thinking of women as equals.

The protests, she said, had spurred a major movement among participants to set up anti-sexual harassment committees in their offices and colleges.

Vikas Sharma, a young protester, said: "The movement will never end till we have achieved our goal - till the anti-rape laws and anti-sexual harassment laws are made more stringent."

He is a sales executive who said he manages to be present at Jantar Mantar, the 18th century observatory that became the epicentre of the protests.

The anger has been sustained. And it must continue to be so, many thousand Indians have resolved.


 

 

 

 

 




 

Home | Top of the Page

Comments

Note: By posting your comments here you agree to the terms and conditions of www.ummid.com

Comments powered by DISQUS

i

I

More Headlines

Chavan visits Dhule, announces judicial enquiry into Dhule riots

Supreme Court orders Pakistan PM's arrest

Military train derails in Egypt; 15 killed, 103 injured

Britain launches milkshake that helps fight Alzheimer's

7-year-old girl raped in school toilet in Goa

Animal sacrifice: Prohibitory orders clamped in Odisha village

Probe ordered into inflammatory poem in Mumbai police magazine

Include Nalanda University in Unesco list: Nitish

BJP files complaint against Goa activist over vulgar image of 'Christ'

Hundreds of thousands take part in anti-gay marriage rally in Paris

 

Top Stories

Chavan announces judicial enquiry into Dhule riots

More than a week after riot broke out in this North Maharashtra city, state Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan on Tuesday announced a judicial enquiry into the Dhule riot by a retired  »

It was a police action, not riot: Maharashtra legislator

Dhule Riots: Now Dy Mayor, Muslim councilors threaten to resign

Upset by son's death in Dhule firing, Dy Tahsildar to resign from post

 

  Most Read

India lodges strong protest at flag meeting

Won’t remain passive when attacked, says Army chief

India Monday took a tough stance against Pakistan over the killing and mutilation of two of its soldiers with its army chief asserting that his forces  »

Swami Kamlananda jailed for hate speech

The president of Hindu Devalaya Parirakshana Samithi, a committee fighting for protection of Hindu temples, has been charged with promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, language and doing acts prejudicial to  »

Owaisi gets jail for 14 days, pulled up by judge

 

  News Pick

Dilip-Saira return after performing Umrah, want to do Haj together

Saira Banu is extremely joyous after performing Umrah in Saudi Arabia with her husband and Bollywood thespian Dilip Kumar and says now she wishes they get an opportunity to go for Haj  »

India concerned at South Africa suspending buffalo meat imports

India Monday voiced concern to South Africa at the suspension of frozen boneless buffalo meat imports from the country. Commerce Minister Anand Sharma told South African Minister of Trade and Industry, Rob Davies,  »

European media: From India shining to India tarnished

The dire situation of Indian women is now under the spotlight in European media and daily incidents of violence are being reported with alacrity along with statistics and analyses to show India's disastrous record in ensuring women's rights.  »

Indian origin Canadian Muslim woman wins Queen Elizabeth Jubilee Medal

Volunteering for community help decades ago, a Canadian Muslim in Ontario’s city of Mississauga has  »

 

Picture of the Day

President Pranab Mukherjee, Union Minister for Communications and Information Technology Kapil Sibal, Union Minister for Minority Affairs K. Rahman Khan and other dignitaries at the release of the Commemorative Postage Stamp on Shaikhul Hind’s “Silk Letter Movement” & 60th Session of Shaikhul Hind’s Silk Letter Movement Centenary, in New Delhi on January 11, 2013.

 

Recommend the story to your friends

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

RSS  |  Contact us

 

| Quick links

News

 

Subscribe to

Ummid Assistant

 

National

Science & Technology

RSS

Scholarships

About us

International

Health

Twitter

Government Schemes

Feedback

Regional

History

Facebook

Education

Register

Politics

Opinion

Newsletter

Contact us

Business

The Funny Side

Education & Career

     

 

 

Ummid.com: Disclaimer | Terms of Use | Advertise with us | Link Exchange

Ummid.com is part of the Awaz Multimedia & Publications providing World News, News Analysis and Feature Articles on Education, Health. Politics, Technology, Sports, Entertainment, Industry etc. The articles or the views displayed on this website are for public information and in no way describe the editorial views. The users are entitled to use this site subject to the terms and conditions mentioned.

© 2012 Awaz Multimedia & Publications. All rights reserved.