Moral vacuity of Indian society

A mother’s reaction to ban on BBC documentary on Nirbhaya rape convicts

We did it again. And, this time, we, the so-called sensible, sensitive, intellectual and objectively thinking Indians, joined another call for a ban on broadcasting a documentary – ‘India’s Daughter’ – by British filmmaker Leslee Udwin. This we had done without giving the film the credit of a view. The political leaders who have made it a business of banning have more than happily reacted by calling for a ban on screening the documentary on Indian television channels.

The filmmaker did appeal to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on public forums to remove the ban and “deal with this unceremonious silencing of the film.” When she said it is a counterproductive act, she couldn’t have been more right.

Catering to popular outcry that is purely based on the promotional clip – wherein one of the convicts, Mukesh Singh, suggests during his interview that the girl would not have been killed if she had not resisted – our honourable Parliamentary Affairs Minister Venkaiah Naidu was quick to respond – “We can ban the film in India. But this is an international conspiracy to defame India. We will see how the film can be stopped abroad too.”

It is our naiveté to believe that in the present Internet era, the so-called ban would hold much steam. One got to watch the powerful documentary on YouTube (which was promptly pulled down after a court order) and BBC too went ahead with its broadcast, much before the schedule. And what a fine job of a film it is!

‘India’s Daughter’ brings back to our collective conscience the viciousness of the ‘Delhi Rape’, the dreams of a young medical student, whom we call ‘Nirbhaya,’ which were shattered and changed forever the lives of her parents who broke many a barrier to ensure they give their daughter the best of education and courage to live life on her own terms.

Let’s cross our hearts and reflect – Haven’t we reduced Nirbhaya to another idol to be put on a pedestal to be remembered on all right occasions? How much is being done by all of us, collectively and individually, to change the scenario that’s plaguing the Indian women. Nothing!

When the ‘educated’ and ‘learned’ defence lawyer M L Sharma says in the documentary, “If the woman is going out, she has to do so with family” and that “We have the best culture, there is no place for women in our culture” and when the other lawyer, AP Singh, stresses on how the “girl was with an unknown boy who was taking her out on a date,” to justify the rape – doesn’t it remind you of the Khap Panchayats, the Togadias and the Muthaliks of India who not only adorn the corridors of the Parliamentary house, but are everywhere? Around us in our colonies, in our families and within ourselves!

How many times have I had to tell my daughter to dress conservatively (without truly understanding the standard of being conservative, as a girl can be covered from head to toe and yet be prone to harassment) if only to avoid unwanted attention? How many times have I had to swallow my pride and listen to unsolicited advices on how I must teach my daughter to be docile, not to mingle with boys, stay at home, and learn to cook and so on and on? How many times have I had to tell her to take someone along if she has to go to the neighbourhood shop after a certain hour in the night? How many times have I had to maintain an uncomfortable silence to all the logical questions she asks?

If the documentary reveals the attitude of a majority of Indians towards our girls, what is wrong in that? Instead of learning from it, we are happy to be in our comfort zone or shall we call it our virtual world of imagined virtues of Indian culture.

In continuing to shield ourselves and the world to the harsh realities, we are only doing further injustice to India’s daughters.

By: Rajeshwari Kalyanam