The Delhi elections has made many a complacent party sit up and take notice of this young albeit strong contender for the 2014 elections. Generally forced to chose between BJP and Congress the public had lost all interest in our country’s democratic policy as we have come to expect loud mouthed, boorish politicians promising the world in their speeches or even trying to bribe the general public with TV sets ,mixers, grinders, saris etc., and even appointing goons to stand at the election booth extorting votes out of the helpless common man, but never standing true to their promises. They threw the gauntlet down with their lazy policy-making and letting corruption thrive in our country and who better than Aam Aadmi party to pick it up again. Their slogan now being “AAP ka ye sandesh, aaj Dilli, kal pura desh”,
AAP had long since won the trust of the people with Arvind Kejriwal supporting Anna Hazare and Kiran Bedi who have been symbols of truth and justice( though they have had their “slight” difference of opinion).Yet, one must also wonder why it has garnered public approval and vote bank strength so fast while being so young. How can we trust this party to lead at the helm of this seemingly rudderless nation?
The real question is ,have we, the people of India been left with much of a choice?
If we observe the news, one cannot help but cringe in disgust at the male chauvinistic attitude displayed by most of the politicians.
One of the politicians (you-know-who! or he who must not be named (at the risk of sounding like a true harry potter fan)) commented on the public outrage and protest during the ‘Nirbhaya’ case as “dented and painted women with little to do, but parade the streets meaninglessly and create traffic jams.”
While the commissioner of police commenting on the recent rise in rape cases with “if you cannot prevent it enjoy it”(which truly brings out the essence of his attitude being which-if you can’t beat them join them-in the literal sense).
Some of our so called ‘protectors of law’ have given us the most amazing of solutions – “foil the rapists with chili powder”.(what has been cooking here?)
With the rotten cherry on the revolting ,putrid cake, Asaram “Bapu”(with the census board wondering how many?) commenting that Nirbhaya should have pleaded with her tormentors by calling them “bhaiyya”.
Not to mention “Honourable” Sheila Dixit herself said with regard to the female journalist who was murdered in her car at the side of the road in Delhi that she should not have left the workplace till early morning and that women should prioritize their safety above everything else easily blaming women rather than accepting that there may be a lack in safety measures in our capital (while she herself roams with a battalion of ‘Z’ security and a “red batti” to announce the arrival of this political royalty).
People are fed up with disgusting, perverted (politicians’ generally) commenting on the hairstyle, make-up, dressing sense (scrutiny that even red carpet celebrities are not subjected to) and the work timings of the average Indian women (did it never occur to them to restrict men from moving out of their houses?).
When will we finally learn to say that the fault doesn’t lie with women -their attitude or their dressing sense but with major flaws with how our society works and thinks.
As far as I have observed there were only two steps taken to curb the number of rapes.(if you do not count the innumerable rants and blame games played on national television which has sometimes made us laugh and feel ashamed at the same time.)
One among them being ,reopening night clubs and dance bars( which had been banned with the good intentions of preserving Indian culture and tradition ) in the hopes that men would stop targeting women on the streets and thereby decrease these heinous crimes committed against women. The unforeseen repercussion being politicians including bar dancers in their campaigns as one of the politicians was scandalously caught dancing on stage and the so called” servant of the people” showering currency notes on the dancing women while the rest of India watched on shaking their heads in disapproval.
And the other being altering the laws and changing the definition of molestation i.e. if a women does not protest while being molested then it is her approval.
Laws are being made in order to alter statistics and public opinion rather than taking into account the emotional, physical and psychological effect of molestation has on the victim. It is surprising that highly educated, renowned and respected public figures who have played a hand in swaying public opinion, people like Tarun Tejpal and Justice Ganguly experienced journalist and the other so called “protector of law” who have in their careers reported and given justice to many such rape cases with Tarun Tejpal being one of the jury members of the “Nirbhaya” case can think that they do not come under the purview of law.
With the elections coming closer and political parties trying to rally the public opinion in their favor sugar-coating these in-humane incidents as just bad accidents(like a mother trying to console her child that it is all just a bad dream, “go back to sleep!”)only makes us angrier.
Who knows what other skeletons will come out of the closet and shock us-the common people.
Most of us have been so thoroughly shaken that we have lost all faith in our democracy and feel that-“Dude, what difference does it make any way ,they are all corrupt!”
AAP has pleasantly surprised the country by keeping it’s promise of supplying 700 Liters of water everyday to households in the capital state free of charge with the condition that anyone who exceeds this limit must pay the entire cost of the bill with ten percent increase over last years rate.Also,effective from tomorrow is the 50% cut in electricity tariffs while the three major power distribution companies in the capital will be audited.
One can only feel that the time has come for all the feminists, and the lakhs voting for the first time (and also those matured voters who have in a sense given up) to exercise their right to vote and put their trust in a party that comes closest to representing the values and aspirations that you have for our country. Don’t give up just yet for there still may be some hope for our nation.
“Best of luck and may the odds be ever in your favor”.(to quote Hunger Games-which is kind of ironic if you really think about it!)
