What should I be ashamed of?
Of a documentary that dug the dirt out of the 'Indian Image'?
Of a government dropping its sick face down and hiding away into comforts of ancient glory?
Or of people who flung stones against the mirror held up to their own frame of mind?
Prime Minister Narendra Modi vowed to end discrimination against women on the occasion of International Women’s Day. “Today, we renew our pledge to make women an equal and integral part of our development journey," he said. "My government has initiated several measures aimed at bringing about a positive change in the lives of women. That is central to our vision of India’s progress and a life of dignity and opportunity for all our citizens.” But my 'head hang in shame' reading the news of ban on the documentary 'India's Daughter' by Leslee Udwin But this is what Modi government want to bestow us with, on Women's Day ! Instead of confronting the real issue for shame it has bowed down and proved 'ban' is the only effective 'policy' we can actualize. It had always been an instrument to cover up the real shame and the stories are on loop.
Following hundreds of tweets and wondering about rationale behind the hash-tag #DontRapeAgain, what I could see was a repro of the culture of shaming around rape. The same notion of 'honor and shame' attached to rape 'victims' seems to be regenerated in one or other form through such responses. Instead of viewing the documentary as part of a strong campaign against rape, violence against women and gender inequality, our government, judiciary and supporters of the ban has took the wildest imagination that the documentary is part of a global conspiracy to defame India and thereby silenced conversations that could take place on real concerns of the documentary.
The documentary may leave many of us disturbed and sickened with the comments made by the offender and lawyers. But haven't we heard the same from many around us. You may cut down my contention as a mere generalization and as a weak profiling of Indian society.
But isn't their statements more or less same from what we heard from our own politicians and 'god-men' ??
Doesn't it echo the common mindset shared that women are fragile and delicate and therefore to be protected?
How is it different from the everyday reality that majority of Indian women go through???
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| A screen shot from 'India's Daughter' |