As you read newspapers, or hear news, there mostly are the
ones about crimes and wrongful acts of people…. Whether the media is focussing on such social
evils or the frequency of occurrences makes them so is a paradox…
Nirbhaya passed away on 29th Dec 12 after that
brutal attack on her in a bus…….. Nation protested and many came to streets – nothing
of that sort is going to change is perhaps the message when you sadly read
about another rape in New Delhi, this time on a minor 7 year old girl. There are reports that 5 staff members,
including the principal, of a municipal school have been arrested and
sentenced. As is usual a five-member committee to inquire
and fix the responsibility of omissions/commissions in the sexual assault case
has been set-up.
Elsewhere, Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde
displayed callousness and lack of concern in Rajya Sabha by displaying insensitivity
as he named the three sisters who were raped and killed in Bhandara district in
Maharashtra recently. The ministry, through
the Press Information Bureau (PIB) , also issued the unedited statement of the
minister an hour after the Rajya Sabha chair ordered that the names be
expunged.
It is reported that as the Upper House took up the debate
over the heinous crime—in which the police are yet to arrest culprits—Shinde
made a statement and named the three sisters. The blunder was pointed out by
Opposition Leader Arun Jaitley who referring to the Supreme Court guidelines said: “The victims should not have been named.
Their names have come out and their identity disclosed. The home minister
should withdraw his statement and a fresh one be laid in the House.” Media reported that sources in the home
ministry were tight-lipped about how the faux pas took place; several members
were critical of the minister for the gaffe.
In the recent budget, Finance Minister P Chidambaram announced
the setting up of a special Nirbhaya fund for women's safety with a corpus of
Rs 1,000 crore (Rs 10 billion). The fund has been announced in memory of the
young woman, who passed away after that
brutal gang rape. In his budget speech,
FM had requested the ministry of women and child development to plan the
structure, scope and application of this fund. Somehow that has not impressed
women's organizations. In fact, they have described this step and the setting
up of an exclusive bank for women as mere "tokenism".
When you read such reports of crime and hate, suddenly
everything around turns bad and you feel living in an atrocious uncivilized
barbaric place. Amidst the melee, there are some good things too, though they
are few and far between. Read this
earlier post.. : Ranjana Teacher
with regards – S. Sampathkumar .
4th Mar 2013.
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