What happened a year later?

A young girl was brutally raped and a nation revolted. A year later, what did we achieve for that girl?

by Jatin Sharma

One year!

One year is a long time. A long time when a country is still asking for justice and still questioning the faith and seriousness of a Government in punishing the guilty. One year is a long time if you have lost your daughter to devils who have invaded the streets because of a system where law is not feared much, or not at all.

One year from December 16, 2012, we are still waiting for lots of answers. From questioning the feasibility of a juvenile’s age in a crime, to questioning safety of women or bringing justice to the family that lost everything that fateful day in Delhi; we are still asking questions. Isn’t that what we as a country love to do? Just ask questions?

Will we ever be safe? Will we ever get good roads? Will we ever see the Indian rupee’s value rising? Will we ever become a superpower?

That’s all we do – ask questions. Even today we will see the whole country asking lots of questions. We will trend on Twitter with #Nirbhaya, even #IWantToBeNirbhaya, we will hold candle marches to show solidarity, we will write impassioned letters to editors of newspapers. And all of this, simply to ask questions. We will repeat the old story for a day today, and by tomorrow, we will be tired of asking questions and move on to something else.

India as a country has always just kept asking questions. And the politicos very well know that we don’t move beyond a few questions and a few more shouted arguments. They become more powerful with the number of questions we ask, because they know that our repeated questions (that lead to no answers) reflect a state of mind showing confusion, even despair. If you are the one asking questions, you always end it with a question mark. And the one who has the power to put forth a statement with a full stop is the one with the maximum power. India has let its leaders enjoy the power of ending our questions with a full stop.

Yes yes , I know people in Delhi have started a revolution. They have voted for a political party that has just made its debut, that is very clean. But please ask a question where you really need to ask. Till now, this party just had to attack others as they have never tasted power before. Now is the testing period for them. They are faring well. But to give you the facts, only 41 per cent youth voted in Delhi. People who voted for these Delhi elections are still the same people who have always voted. The voting percentage has risen, but the citizens have not. Mumbai also is very good at questioning, in fact it is the best at focussing on logical loopholes, but are we really up for listening to an answer or is it just that we love to hear ourselves ask questions?

It’s time to finally condition our brains to ask the questions that will get us the answers. We should not ask if a juvenile criminal is of a particular age. We should agree once and for all that any person who can rape a woman should not be considered a juvenile. We should not ask whether being gay is unconstitutional or not. We should just pressurise the Government to bring the change in the Legislature. We have to show a little display of the common man’s power more often, just like we did in Delhi by demanding for a cleaner party and getting it, too. Last heard, the AAP wants to amend the law and include the gay community now. Likewise, they can bring a hundred changes that we want, within the ambit of law and sound reasoning.

My point is, that any change takes place when we start providing the answers ourselves and not just keep asking questions. If you can arrive at an answer, your thought process is clear enough. And if you can dream of something happening, rest assured there is always a way to make that dream come true.

Imagine, if we all start thinking of the answers, we can do the thinking for the nation, too. Our politicians will have 120 billion options to choose from, rather than answering our questions with the answer that they think is best.

Jatin Sharma is a media professional who doesn’t want to grow up, because if he grows up, he will be like everybody else. ‘Overdose’ is his weekly take on Mumbai’s quirks and quibbles.

(Picture courtesy post.jagran.com)