I'm sure you must have heard of that rape that occurred in Delhi. I mean, who hasn't heard of it in India? (Unless they are some sort of nomad with no form of communications, etc.) For those of you who have been unable to hear of this event:
A week and a half ago, December 16th to be specific, a woman and a male companion were assaulted on a bus in Delhi between 10pm to midnight. The woman was raped brutally, both were beaten with iron bars and thrown out of the bus. Today, the woman is in Singapore in a fight for her life. The 6 accused have been arrested, one of them confessing and requesting punishment. However, this has started a wildfire amongst the people of Delhi.
Apparently, a rape occurs in India every twenty minutes. I may be wrong with the number, it may be more, it may be less. But the message is the same - that a so called 'future-superpower' still has one of the highest rape rates on the planet.
It's been a while since this happened. I'm sure that those of you who have been following the protests, and the discussions about it have seen people voicing their opinions, etc. I've waited, not for any other reason, but just to see what happens.
So what has been seen?
Mirror Mirror
In 2011, the year was defined by a series of protests that became known as the Arab Spring. These protests, were demonstrations condemning the current administration of various countries, most notable, Egypt, Libya, and today, Syria.
The protests in India were given national attention that was so massive, one might be convinced that India was heading into it's own Indian Winter. Sadly, we can all laugh nervously at the fact that we were soundly tricked by the media.
As a photographer, I know how easy it can seem to make a crowd of hundreds seem like a crowd of thousands. The Delhi protests had a couple, maybe several, hundred people, but that is IT.
The cynic in me reminds me of such a idealistic concept, that a hundred people can change the thousands of corrupt that rot India from the outside in.
With every protest, there are people that use it as an opportunity to beat some one or another and then get away in the confusion, and that was seen when a constable doing his job was attacked, but a seemingly peaceful protest.
What I really want to bring to light here is how hypocritical it is for India to call itself a democratic nation, for the Prime Minister to call for calm and peace, and for the Chief Minister of Delhi to say, and I quote "I'll do anything to help this girl". Why is it hypocritical? Because when all this is happening, the Police attack the protesters. On the very first day of protests, they were not prepared and they returned with a response that was adequately labeled, a 'knee-jerk" reaction; the police fired water cannons and lathi (bamboo sticks) charged them.
Can you imagine! Peaceful protesters being beaten by the police for the message they carry!
Hang on a minute, that did happen. It happened when India was in it's quest for independence, when those desiring freedom, underwent the pain necessary for a brighter tomorrow. I guess the dream of a Free India, died when Gandhi did.
Masses equal Might
Speaking of Gandhi, and the freedom movement. Let me elaborate to any would-be-protesters, why these demonstrations will never yield any fruit.
It's because, these protests lack the people that matter
Some will turn and say, "but we all care! we are voters! we matter!"
You don't. Deal with it.
India has a federal government, that means state and central governments. If a hundred people protest, it has no impact, because the country doesn't care. Yes, all us middle, and upper class people care. We can empathize with these protesters, with the family of the raped woman, with the victim herself. None of us want to be there. That is why we will condemn it.
However, if you see that a protest is happening, few of us will attend. Instead, we will sit indoors, watching on our plasma TV's, or angrily tweet about the injustice that is happening.
That is why we are the 1%. And you know what? The 1% doesn't count for fucking shit.
The lower classes, the less economically developed, they are the masses. They are the people who matter. They are the people who win elections.
They are the people who won us Independence.
If Gandhi, Nehru, Congress and the Muslim League has just had those followers that they did, they'd have never succeeded. What won the struggle was when the common man stood up and said, "Enough of this shit."
The only way for a protest to be truly effective, is for it to hurt politicians where it hurts. In the Vote Bank. If you get all those people who believe the politicians lies of equality, technology and wealth to actually protest in true outrage; then you will have results.
Hundred of protesters get beaten and news is ablaze with it. Does a farmer give a shit? No. But tell him that the same politician who isn't doing anything to make the streets safer for women, is also responsible for his plights, whatever they may be, crop failure, poor subsidization, substandard seeds, it can be anything. You give them something to connect them to your cause and you have a stronger cause.
Mice among Men
The Prime Minister, the Home Minister, the President's Son, the Chief Minister of Delhi and the Congress Leader of Andhra Pradesh, all have one thing in common. They are pathetic, awful, horrible, worthless, useless politicians.
Politicians used to be known for having some degree of integrity, that they actually gave a damn about they country that they are representing, but every day India gets to see that the driver of the car is nothing more than a perverted old man whose been getting fat stealing your chips, and he's gotten so obsessed in doing that, that he's forgotten to drive.
The Prime Minister: The leader of this nation, but has been time and time again accused of being a puppet of Sonia Gandhi, leader of the Congress Party. I can understand that he isn't a politician, he's an economist, but I've never seen a man act like such a pansy. During a speech on the rape issue, he ended by commenting, 'teek hai?" (Hindi for "OK?") The comment is said to have been made towards the camera man, but all it does is show that the PM was in such a rush for the speech to finish that he couldn't wait to get an all clear signal. He's been trying to show his empathy with the protesters by saying that he has daughters too. All I can say is that, he should grab every single Parliament Member who has a daughter, or who has a wife, or who has a mother and ask them a very simple question.
If it was your daughter/wife/mother would you not want to make the world safer for them and punish the guilty?
I'd be amazed if any of them said no.
The Home Minister: what a clown, he made the mistake of comparing peaceful protesters to Maoists. This is a man who isn't simply representing a party in the Lok Sabha, he actually holds a position in the cabinet, a damn important one too!
The President's Son: This guy should seriously leave politics right now. To be the son of the President is one thing, cause everything you do or say is going to be useful to the media. But to turn and crack rude comments on the protesters is just political suicide. (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-20852513)
The Chief Minister of Delhi: This woman is responsible for the city of Delhi, a big responsibility no doubt. However, when being interviewed, she was having mood swings! In one interview, she was emotional, and in the other she wasn't! To top that off, she wasn't even taking the blame for it, but rather shifting the blame to the police! Nothing is worse than a politician who isn't woman enough to take responsibility of her shortcomings and overcome them. It's an act that voters appreciate and would make people feel safer.
The Congress Leader of Andhra Pradesh has really made a complete ass of himself and is proof that politics in India has fallen tremendously from the days before Independence, where men and women spoke with integrity and passion for causes they felt mattered for a nation.
This buffoon said that "Just because India achieved freedom at midnight does not mean that women can venture out after dark. They should ensure that they do not board buses with few passengers,"
Yes, he said that. He followed by commenting "Although it (Delhi gang-rape) was a minor incident, Soniaji made it a point to meet the protesters when they called on her,"
I mean, how much of an idiot do you have to be? to be that stupid about your job, to be that thoughtless and that emotionless as a father.
But that is the case here. Rape is hardly considered with the seriousness it should be treated with. People are unable to comprehend the horrible nature of rape. It's a sociological issue, and it will take ages to remove from our culture. That is a shortcoming that India can, and has to live with.
What we, what you as a citizen of India, do not have to live with, are inadequate and uncaring politicians. Are they helping India? No, they really aren't doing anything that will change the world. They are doing what they want to do, when they want to, and making enough money to never have to work again.
The saddest thing about this all is that we can't even do anything. I'd say, 'Don't Vote for them' but, the system is so fucked up that we can't even do that. We have to vote for someone. There is no abstention system in elections here, that sounds pretty backward doesn't it?
If there was a spirit of India, and if it was visible. I do believe that it would be a spirit that has been violently and continuously raped for the last 65 years. Raped by corruption and these pathetic excuses for human beings that exist as our politicians.
The rape in Delhi is nothing new, and it is fast on its way to becoming just another story for the media to cover and remember from time to time.
If we all believe that change needs to come to India, it needs to be with a resounding conviction that is echoed from the sweepers on the roads, to the drivers, to the police officers, to the college student, to the businessman, to the CEO's. People need to believe in the need for change so much that they will all, at their own will, not at the behest of some political party, stop the country. Stop the country, hold it ransom to the government and tell them.
"We'll let it go, when you change some things around here."
A week and a half ago, December 16th to be specific, a woman and a male companion were assaulted on a bus in Delhi between 10pm to midnight. The woman was raped brutally, both were beaten with iron bars and thrown out of the bus. Today, the woman is in Singapore in a fight for her life. The 6 accused have been arrested, one of them confessing and requesting punishment. However, this has started a wildfire amongst the people of Delhi.
Apparently, a rape occurs in India every twenty minutes. I may be wrong with the number, it may be more, it may be less. But the message is the same - that a so called 'future-superpower' still has one of the highest rape rates on the planet.
It's been a while since this happened. I'm sure that those of you who have been following the protests, and the discussions about it have seen people voicing their opinions, etc. I've waited, not for any other reason, but just to see what happens.
So what has been seen?
Mirror Mirror
In 2011, the year was defined by a series of protests that became known as the Arab Spring. These protests, were demonstrations condemning the current administration of various countries, most notable, Egypt, Libya, and today, Syria.
The protests in India were given national attention that was so massive, one might be convinced that India was heading into it's own Indian Winter. Sadly, we can all laugh nervously at the fact that we were soundly tricked by the media.
As a photographer, I know how easy it can seem to make a crowd of hundreds seem like a crowd of thousands. The Delhi protests had a couple, maybe several, hundred people, but that is IT.
The cynic in me reminds me of such a idealistic concept, that a hundred people can change the thousands of corrupt that rot India from the outside in.
With every protest, there are people that use it as an opportunity to beat some one or another and then get away in the confusion, and that was seen when a constable doing his job was attacked, but a seemingly peaceful protest.
What I really want to bring to light here is how hypocritical it is for India to call itself a democratic nation, for the Prime Minister to call for calm and peace, and for the Chief Minister of Delhi to say, and I quote "I'll do anything to help this girl". Why is it hypocritical? Because when all this is happening, the Police attack the protesters. On the very first day of protests, they were not prepared and they returned with a response that was adequately labeled, a 'knee-jerk" reaction; the police fired water cannons and lathi (bamboo sticks) charged them.
Can you imagine! Peaceful protesters being beaten by the police for the message they carry!
Hang on a minute, that did happen. It happened when India was in it's quest for independence, when those desiring freedom, underwent the pain necessary for a brighter tomorrow. I guess the dream of a Free India, died when Gandhi did.
Masses equal Might
Speaking of Gandhi, and the freedom movement. Let me elaborate to any would-be-protesters, why these demonstrations will never yield any fruit.
It's because, these protests lack the people that matter
Some will turn and say, "but we all care! we are voters! we matter!"
You don't. Deal with it.
India has a federal government, that means state and central governments. If a hundred people protest, it has no impact, because the country doesn't care. Yes, all us middle, and upper class people care. We can empathize with these protesters, with the family of the raped woman, with the victim herself. None of us want to be there. That is why we will condemn it.
However, if you see that a protest is happening, few of us will attend. Instead, we will sit indoors, watching on our plasma TV's, or angrily tweet about the injustice that is happening.
That is why we are the 1%. And you know what? The 1% doesn't count for fucking shit.
The lower classes, the less economically developed, they are the masses. They are the people who matter. They are the people who win elections.
They are the people who won us Independence.
If Gandhi, Nehru, Congress and the Muslim League has just had those followers that they did, they'd have never succeeded. What won the struggle was when the common man stood up and said, "Enough of this shit."
The only way for a protest to be truly effective, is for it to hurt politicians where it hurts. In the Vote Bank. If you get all those people who believe the politicians lies of equality, technology and wealth to actually protest in true outrage; then you will have results.
Hundred of protesters get beaten and news is ablaze with it. Does a farmer give a shit? No. But tell him that the same politician who isn't doing anything to make the streets safer for women, is also responsible for his plights, whatever they may be, crop failure, poor subsidization, substandard seeds, it can be anything. You give them something to connect them to your cause and you have a stronger cause.
Mice among Men
The Prime Minister, the Home Minister, the President's Son, the Chief Minister of Delhi and the Congress Leader of Andhra Pradesh, all have one thing in common. They are pathetic, awful, horrible, worthless, useless politicians.
Politicians used to be known for having some degree of integrity, that they actually gave a damn about they country that they are representing, but every day India gets to see that the driver of the car is nothing more than a perverted old man whose been getting fat stealing your chips, and he's gotten so obsessed in doing that, that he's forgotten to drive.
The Prime Minister: The leader of this nation, but has been time and time again accused of being a puppet of Sonia Gandhi, leader of the Congress Party. I can understand that he isn't a politician, he's an economist, but I've never seen a man act like such a pansy. During a speech on the rape issue, he ended by commenting, 'teek hai?" (Hindi for "OK?") The comment is said to have been made towards the camera man, but all it does is show that the PM was in such a rush for the speech to finish that he couldn't wait to get an all clear signal. He's been trying to show his empathy with the protesters by saying that he has daughters too. All I can say is that, he should grab every single Parliament Member who has a daughter, or who has a wife, or who has a mother and ask them a very simple question.
If it was your daughter/wife/mother would you not want to make the world safer for them and punish the guilty?
I'd be amazed if any of them said no.
The Home Minister: what a clown, he made the mistake of comparing peaceful protesters to Maoists. This is a man who isn't simply representing a party in the Lok Sabha, he actually holds a position in the cabinet, a damn important one too!
The President's Son: This guy should seriously leave politics right now. To be the son of the President is one thing, cause everything you do or say is going to be useful to the media. But to turn and crack rude comments on the protesters is just political suicide. (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-20852513)
The Chief Minister of Delhi: This woman is responsible for the city of Delhi, a big responsibility no doubt. However, when being interviewed, she was having mood swings! In one interview, she was emotional, and in the other she wasn't! To top that off, she wasn't even taking the blame for it, but rather shifting the blame to the police! Nothing is worse than a politician who isn't woman enough to take responsibility of her shortcomings and overcome them. It's an act that voters appreciate and would make people feel safer.
The Congress Leader of Andhra Pradesh has really made a complete ass of himself and is proof that politics in India has fallen tremendously from the days before Independence, where men and women spoke with integrity and passion for causes they felt mattered for a nation.
This buffoon said that "Just because India achieved freedom at midnight does not mean that women can venture out after dark. They should ensure that they do not board buses with few passengers,"
Yes, he said that. He followed by commenting "Although it (Delhi gang-rape) was a minor incident, Soniaji made it a point to meet the protesters when they called on her,"
I mean, how much of an idiot do you have to be? to be that stupid about your job, to be that thoughtless and that emotionless as a father.
But that is the case here. Rape is hardly considered with the seriousness it should be treated with. People are unable to comprehend the horrible nature of rape. It's a sociological issue, and it will take ages to remove from our culture. That is a shortcoming that India can, and has to live with.
What we, what you as a citizen of India, do not have to live with, are inadequate and uncaring politicians. Are they helping India? No, they really aren't doing anything that will change the world. They are doing what they want to do, when they want to, and making enough money to never have to work again.
The saddest thing about this all is that we can't even do anything. I'd say, 'Don't Vote for them' but, the system is so fucked up that we can't even do that. We have to vote for someone. There is no abstention system in elections here, that sounds pretty backward doesn't it?
If there was a spirit of India, and if it was visible. I do believe that it would be a spirit that has been violently and continuously raped for the last 65 years. Raped by corruption and these pathetic excuses for human beings that exist as our politicians.
The rape in Delhi is nothing new, and it is fast on its way to becoming just another story for the media to cover and remember from time to time.
If we all believe that change needs to come to India, it needs to be with a resounding conviction that is echoed from the sweepers on the roads, to the drivers, to the police officers, to the college student, to the businessman, to the CEO's. People need to believe in the need for change so much that they will all, at their own will, not at the behest of some political party, stop the country. Stop the country, hold it ransom to the government and tell them.
"We'll let it go, when you change some things around here."
"People shouldn't be afraid of their government. Governments should be afraid of their people."
" - V for Vendetta
Read more on the protests: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-20835197
ReplyDelete