President Murmu is “dismayed and horrified” by the recent incident that occurred in Kolkata and shares her thoughts on “women’s safety.”
Incident that left the whole Nation “Shocked and Horrified”
A recent tragedy fell on 9 August when a 31-year-old postgraduate trainee doctor was raped and murdered at “Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College.” The incident is said to occur at night when the trainee doctor was in her cabin and was gang raped by at least 10 men. It got attention all over India and even made it to the ears of the president. President Murmu made a public statement on 28 August to offer her condolences to the victim and “cultivate a social culture of remembering them.” She starts off by stating, “The gruesome incident of rape and murder of a doctor in Kolkata has left the nation shocked.” She further, expresses her feelings of “dismayed and horrified” and how this incident is depressing as it is a series of crimes but not just an incident.
“False Women Empowerment” in India
“Enough is enough,” Murmu says in her ad, expressing her outrage and how she is one with the nation. She considers herself an example of a spectacular journey of women’s empowerment but admits feeling “deeply anguished” about the crime against women in India. Murmu states that the journey of women empowerment has not been without obstacles and how social prejudices, customs and practices drawback the expansion of women empowerment in India despite all the constitutional rights given and initiatives taken.
Are women safe anywhere?
The incident is not tackled lightly at all because a doctor was raped in her own private space and not only once but multiple times even after getting murdered. This crime shows the cruelty and animality of some men who roam freely around society looking for their next victim. Murmu, in her article, acknowledges the actions that have been taken against the crime but could only make a difference to an extent. However, she said that the task remains unfinished as long as any woman feels unsafe.
History Repeats Itself
Similar incident happened in December, 12 years ago when a girl was gang raped and murdered ,also referred to as “Nirbhaya Case”. Since that many initiatives were took but nothing changed. Murmu says that people do become outrageous, protests and demands for justice but as the time passes the fire in them extinguishes , they forget about the incidents and carries on with there life. This cycle of protests and introducing new laws for women safety repeats itself with occurrence of another incident. She criticised the “collective amnesia” and says histories hurt ,society run from it rather then facing it ,they resort to amnesia each time . We don’t learn our lessons and watches the history keep repeating itself.
“A Culture of Remembering”
President Murmu suggests to “honor the memory of the victims by cultivating a social culture of remembering them” so we can correct our failure and not let another woman suffer from the cruelty of predators. She further states our responsibility of removing the hurdles from the path of our daughters and sisters so they achieve true freedom without fear. Murmu ends the statement by asking all of us to stand together and say “Enough is enough.”.
To bring about the proper change, we don’t need more laws or constitutional equality rights but a change of mindset in society that no woman is alone and no woman is vulnerable.
