By Sanket Gogoi:
The girl molestation incident of Guwahati has brought the city into lime light of the Nation. Every other person of the country, some of whom have never heard the name of the city before, are actually busy commenting upon the safety of girls over here and are claiming that Guwahati has been the hub of all molestation and rapes.
How insane can be that? Let it be very clear, Guwahati is the home of some very broad minded people in the country. I can still scream with pride that unlike Delhi, NCR and Uttar Pradesh, where crimes are committed wide open and people hardly stand up, in Guwahati we had a mass uprising against the culprits and people are actually protesting and making a mark, even after knowing the fact that some of the hooligans have serious political backings.
It is also a fact that compared to such incidents in some other areas of the country, the number in Assam or Guwahati is quite negligible. But, it would take a long time for the mass to understand as the national media has projected the issue in a manner showing that such molestation is a common day phenomenon in Guwahati. But what actually the media had not focused on, in an appropriate manner is the attitude of the Assamese community towards the incident. How really the people of the state, particularly the youth reacted to it.
I question the citizens of the country, where in India have you actually seen people putting up hoardings mentioning the name as well as the photograph of the criminal and asking them to be punished. We have done it in Assam. There have been so many rape incidents in Bangalore, Delhi and Mumbai, but how many times has there been a protest march against the rapists? And if yes, how many people have joined it.
Look at us, no one is behind, everybody is actively condemning the incident. Even the students and youth have taken solo lead in protesting against the the injustice towards the girl. There have been various instances where the spirit of people of different cities has been mentioned. But we the Guwahatians are not any less. The way people are reacting, protesting and supporting, it is truly commendable.
The culprits have been banished from the society and have been dealt with utter strictness. So don’t we deserve some support from the nation? Isn’t it true that the spirit of the city should be saluted? The citizens of Guwahati have made the authorities act. How many times has an uprising made any differences in a case?
This is Guwahati, though people are calling us unsafe and shameful, more than all the devils, humans live here and no devil can rule us just as they do in other parts of the country.
Salute the city.