It could happen to any girl or woman travelling by public transport in any of our mega or medium-sized cities in the country. Groping, inappropriate touching, pinching, nudging and making physical contact knowingly. For seasoned commuters like college and school students and women employees, these uncalled for and objectionable physical contacts by nondescript young and old men are part of their daily lives. Something that they have to endure to survive in a society that is vulgar and grossly biased against women. Some extreme victims lose the will to live, some others lose heart and give up studies and jobs. Only a few fight back, as in the Rohtak incident
The Rohtak incident in which two college students, reportedly sisters, retaliated to what was described as lewd gestures and obscene remarks by three young men in a moving bus, was an exception to the normal docile behavior of women dependent on public transport. Most women find it pointless to fight back. Some don’t find the courage and others can’t be sure of the backup, in a society that is increasingly getting distanced and disconnected. The Rohtak incident was a reminder of the tragic Nirbhaya episode in New Delhi two years ago. In Rohtak, passengers were mute witnesses to the sexual harassment drama and neither the bus driver nor the conductor made any attempt to intervene or take the bus to the nearest police station and report the matter to cops.
Is it fear, apathy or has it become the national trait of Indians to adopt a standoffish attitude which stops us all from standing up for the cause of justice, is a question to moot. Either way, it is scary because this attitude emboldens oppressors, assuring them that no matter how many people are around, no one would bother to speak up. And the next victim could be anyone. Had the fellow passengers reacted in the first place, it would have sent a powerful message to the three goons as well as others that this kind of behavior was unacceptable. For that matter, the bus driver and the conductor who had the responsibility of safeguarding the passengers’ interests did little to prevent the trio from throwing the girls out of the bus.
The two brave-hearts were to be honoured during Republic Day celebrations by the government. Strangely, a few people including some passengers and others belonging to the same village as the girls have accused them of being habitual thrashers. It might be difficult for people in a place like Haryana to digest the fact that these girls are going to be recognised for standing up for themselves. In a country like India, especially in the North, it would do good if women turn habitual thrashers. It is a need of the times. But they need to be backed by society. That is the only way to turn the tide which has gone too high against women. Whether the girls get awarded or not, they have definitely become an inspiration to many others who take insults lying down.
The message that the girls have given is women have to fend for themselves when it comes to their own security in this country. For, throughout the country, sexual harassment of women in public places is more or less taken for granted. In fact, the seriousness of the problem is made light of by dismissing it as eve-teasing. What used to be a verbal form of abuse for the young and was mostly confined to college campuses, the scourge has now spread and become more personal and dangerous. As eve-teasers are turning molesters and rapists, roads and public areas are sadly becoming increasingly unsafe for women. And rape is now turning more heinous, mostly ending in murder. The scariest part is, rapists target very young and old, married and unmarried, breaking all preconceived notions about rape being a crime of passion and that the woman was asking for it.
Police escort and segregation of male and female commuters are options that have been toyed with time and again but failed to take off because of the immense logistics problems involved. Moreover, such solutions have proven to be impractical in the long run. The best weapon against hooligans would be if people stood up to them. Vigilantes could do the trick, but even a little murmur from a few good Samaritans would scare most harassers, who thrive on zero opposition. A little threat, and most are seen to back out. Sadly, no one speaks up. Indians are good at venting their ire on social media and criticising the system for any given problem but very poor at dealing with such situations in real life.
More brave-hearts like the Rohtak girls need to stand up and fight. Plus, people themselves need to resist eve-teasers’ advances and speak up; and the authorities need to back up women and vigilantes to the hilt by punishing at least public transport drivers, conductors and other people directly involved in abetment. Unless there is a drastic change in attitude, our women and girls will not be safe in this country. And that speaks volumes about the culture of a civilization, one which cannot protect its women.
