To treat cancer, one has to first admit that something in their body is not right. Then they go to a doctor. Based on the doctor’s reports, they might confirm that their body has cancerous cells, and then they discuss the course of treatment. It should be the same when it comes to women’s safety. However, Indians are too overwhelmed by ‘the glory’ of their country to admit that something is not right. So you can forget about going to experts to seek advice (the equivalent of going to a doctor in the case of cancer).
India is not an individual person but a nation among many others who share this common place called Earth. But ‘the doctor’, a.k.a the Thomson Reuters Foundation, went ahead and did the examination anyway and provided their diagnosis:
“India ranked world’s most dangerous country for women.”
The doctor provided a diagnosis, but also provided a course of treatment telling us about the six areas where this ‘cancer’ is infecting India:
I realize it is not nice to hear from a doctor that your worst nightmares are confirmed—that you do have cancer. You may cry, get angry, and seek a second opinion maybe. But what you sure as hell don’t do is start jumping on the doctors head, call them a liar and say: “My eyes and my kidneys are working fine, did you even bother to applaud that?
This thing called denial is weirdly interesting. Especially the kind you can see in Indians and politicians in particular. The Central Government of India has called this report an “effort to malign the country“. Yeah, like the Thomson Reuters Foundation belongs to ‘enemies’ Congress or Pakistan or China, right?
What’s most pathetic about the denial is the comparison based on data. It is like saying “The cancer in my brain is not 91%, but 19% and the doctor is crazy.”
Reuters is a global organization, so I personally believe them more than India’s Central Government, but the point here is not to fight about the silly numbers. The fact that India is even mentioned in the list, whether first or last, that alone should be worrying the government. That is something to feel appalled about. And if we aren’t worrying, it is like kids claiming, “I came third last in the class, so at least there are two worse than me.”
Anything and everything that is critical about the country is being dealt with this exact same attitude—denial and name calling. And if there is something more outrageous than the above denial about data, it is this about ‘personal experiences’.
So, since no one has tried to molest BJP MP Shefali Vaidya, India should be declared as the safest nation on earth. Also, I just had food so world hunger is cured.
By the way, this is the same woman who is followed by 19 BJP MPs (hence the unrealistic claims), and was one of the top trollers abusing and harassing Sushma Swaraj for helping an inter-faith couple get their passports in Lucknow last week.
This is the kind of denial that confirms that India will never be a safe country for women, and feminists here will always be treated with the same hatred as they are now.
Heck, the majority of people don’t even know what feminism is and what it stands for! They think feminism is the same as man-hating. How ironic to think hating abuse and violence and inequality is the same as hating men! I wonder if people now think the word “men” is synonymous with abuse and violence? But anyway, as far as hating and abusing women goes, we’ve topped the world, so congratu-fuckin-lations!
Still living in denial?
Ask Sushma Swaraj who was called a whore, to be beheaded, last week.
Ask Sonia Gandhi who is constantly photoshopped as James Bond’s movie actress and slut-shamed widely.
Ask Shabana Azmi whose major crime is to be a Muslim and also pointing out misdoings as an MP (it’s actually her job to do so).
One of these is the Minister of External Affairs of the Government of India and a former Supreme Court lawyer; the second is the Chairperson of the National Advisory Council and also the President of the opposition, the Congress party; and the third is a veteran actress, a former MP, a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Population Fund, and recipient of the fourth highest Indian civilian honor, the Padma Shri.
Let’s not forget women like Priyanka Chopra, Swara Bhaskar, Rana Ayyub, Gurmehar Kaur—the list goes on.
If these women of such valor, courage, and esteem have been reduced to grime, what safety can the average Indian woman expect?
Right now, women’s safety in India is like a cure for Cancer—IT DOESN’T EXIST!