Sexual malpractice and misbehavior is a devious vindictive activity, which not so surprisingly finds itself at the heart many tragic life stories here in the subcontinent. Many souls have been trapped, childhood terrorized and lost, honor besmirched at the altar of societal thrust and superficial respect. It is unfathomable how deep-rooted the problem is, and the manner in which it has successfully curtained itself behind the shadows of silence, and traditional mass market gibberish of ‘log kya kahenge’.
#Metoo campaign seemed it had finally cracked the enigma code, something litigators and protestors had struggled years for people to do, ‘talk about it’. The campaign was a roaring sensation in its efforts to start conversations and getting sufferers to open up, in order to create an ordeal of how far-reaching the effects of this hideous exercise were. The idea was a textbook lesson for all who all who wish to create a dialogue about something because it was simple in its ideation and execution.
But it then quickly began to fade away and took an ugly turn, the internet once again played host to a battle between the two sexes where the male counterparts protested how everyman is a not a sexual predator. How they too are victims of inappropriate sexual advances but never hold that against an entire sexual orientation. Women rightfully defended this notion with factually correct information on how they more often than not are on the receiving end of horrific sexual advances. The debate took another woeful turn when comments began to do the rounds of how this campaign is a façade launched by ‘feminazis’ to upheld their propaganda via the internet.
That’s where we need to pay attention, towards a notion which has not only hampered the campaign but other similar steps which aim at bringing into spotlight light the appalling grievances women in our society face. India’s recent memory is exhausted with cases of false accusations of rape and sexual misdemeanors. A 2014 report by the Delhi Commission of Women (DCW) revealed that 53.2% rape cases filed between April 2013 and July 2014 by women in Delhi were found to be false. The 2015 internet circus where Jasleen Kaur who falsely accused a biker guy of eve teasing fell out of comebacks, when she was overwhelmingly outwitted by eyewitnesses. In May this year, Rewari court put 4 women on trial for filing false rape cases after their testimonies turned to dust upon police investigations and court trials. These are a few examples of many cases which are doing the rounds and gauging unprecedented success in the backyards of this nation. This opinion is in no way a hapless attempt to sway everyone from the matter at hand, which is the aggrandizing concern of different forms of sexual abuse plaguing millions across. But if this continues to evolve, we’ll lose sight of all the efforts which currently or in future will focus on bringing into the spotlight, the distressful tales of people abused. It’ll become the classic tale of the boy who cried wolf, and all the howls which fell on deaf ears.
The preposterous ‘trolling’ culture has made it impossible to raise matters of grave concerns over the internet. The sad tale of 13-year-old drug addict Kamlesh is its newfound tool to experiment with, memes and trolls steadfastly suppressed the point the video wanted to make. Accounts of ‘Mukesh’ the cancer guy struggling to make it in Bollywood are still classic dank meme material. Our nation struggles to grasp upon what and who a feminist is, but is quick to pop open their eyeballs in banter led internet altercations. As long as evidence which says otherwise continue to accrue in nature, things which really matter will struggle to find their voice in today’s internet. The #metoo campaign is a harsh tutoring lesson for all of us here.