In the last few years, I have observed that everything that happens in India is politicised or given a religion angle – from surgical strikes to the Kathua (Asifa) rape and murder case, Aligarh (Twinkle Sharma) Murder Case, to the Citizenship Amendment Bill. This leads to a large chunk of us common citizens suffering and the people, who should be held accountable for the law and order situation in the country, escape easily. I strongly think that bad and irresponsible governance is the reason behind the politicisation of such inhuman atrocities.
The incidents involving Asifa and Twinkle were barbaric and inhuman. In Asifa’s case, some political leaders came out in support of the abused and protested against the arrest of the rapist, merely because they were from the same religion.
According to New York Times, India was in the midst of religious tensions against the backdrop of this rape incident. We are living in an era where our children are not safe, but we are focused on pulling religion out of the problem, using it to our political advantage, but, tell me, is it relevant to find out the religion of the rapist? I saw a Facebook post which drew a comparison of the number of tweets for Asifa and Twinkle, respectively.
I think we need to question our system, the ones with power, and the Government about the safety of women, and the safety of citizens because they promised us safety!
It is really ironic that in a country where we constantly talk about gender equality, women are not safe. In 2012, Delhi witnessed a unanimous and unprecedented protest when people across the country – from students, political leaders, celebrities to religious leaders- came out in support of Nirbhaya, seeking justice for her. The rage and protest during the time had given the hope of a new dawn for India, in terms of safety of women. But again, everything is recurring, every day we come across new incidents of rape, mob lynching; these incidents are cancerous to society. We compare our country to our mother but, in the same country, our mothers, sisters and even children are not safe.
Rape is a barbaric, inhuman crime, no matter which religion the rapist belongs to. We, as citizens, may have political or religious differences but, in situations like this, I think we must stand united and must question the system and the law for the same.