Take me to your leader

Fastest form of communication.

The fastest form of communication is. 
- not the telephone, 
- nor the telegraph, 
- not the television, 

       It's Tell-A-Woman.

• Educate a man and he alone is educated, educate a woman and the whole family is educated. 

Kill, kill,kill ........

Kill, kill, kill.  If this is what people hear and watch day in and day out then what will be the outcome?

We will calibrate our lives to believe that violence, mayhem and killing are perfectly normal activities.

Add to this state of mind, an easy access to weapons, and further agitate these minds and all hell breaks loose.

The Americans measure and monitor everything and that is extremely informative and educational. A report prepared by the University of Pennsylvania showed that a typical American child by the age of 16 will have witnessed 180,000 acts of violence and 20,000 murders on television. Add to this the violence that is reported in the newspapers, and magazines, the movies, violent video games and we have ticking time bombs.

Starting soon after world war II and promoted by Hollywood and export of this culture to the whole world, violence has become a staple diet for most people.  Imperialism necessitates the glorification of war and violence.  Unfortunately the Americans are not the only ones and the Russians, Chinese, and even we the pacifistic Indians have a big appetite for violence.

Why then should we be surprised by widespread killings and violence, be it in homes, workplaces, schools, and places of worship at regular frequency. People are increasingly using violence as the first step in resolving issues. This insanity harms mainly innocent people who pose no threat nor bear the killers any ill-will.

The violence hurts less when it appears far away, as if we read it in a story book. When it strikes at home or someone we know the effect is usually unsettling if not devastating.

A nephew of mine (at that time aged 10) fancied himself a mini version of some of the killers he saw on television. Much against his mother's angry protests he persuaded his father to buy him an air pistol. Always brandishing the weapon he led his younger siblings and other kids in the neighbourhood playing games of war and killing.

One day while role playing, the young boy shot his younger brother in the face at point blank range. The little boy's eye exploded.  The child's life was scarred, and the family developed irreparable fissures.

Even 18 years later there is a simmering anger within the child and his mother. There is a latent fear and  anxiety in the mind of the nephew who fired the weapon and his parents, for they know what goes around comes around, and there will have to be payback. Not knowing when they will have to pay the price and how, is a fear that haunts them everyday.

 In all of history there has been no instance of violence having effectively resolved an issue permanently. If you do not want innocent people to be maimed or killed, stop glorifying war and violence. Do not expose yourselves and your children unnecessarily to violent behaviour unless you want them to pursue a career or lifestyle which demands violence.

Rapes will increase unless .....

Last night Nirbhaya the 23 year old Delhi girl who had been gang raped by six goons died. The rapists were led by a driver of a bus company  notorious for their obnoxious behaviour with citizens and total disregard for the law.

To the credit of the police and the public, the perpetuators of this terrible crime were swiftly apprehended. Why have the owners of and the employer of the bus driver not yet been apprehended?  Is it because the bus company is owned by politicians?

The people are furious  as can be judged by the spontaneous outbreak of widespread protests across the country. Braving the cold weather and the heat of high handed police and political action, protests across the country, by men and women, appear not only to be sustained but growing in momentum.

The government appeared to be paralyzed but this has been just a depressurizing ruse. Politicians know that public memory and fury is short lived and they typically duck responsibility until the storm passes over. 

However, unlike in the past this problem refuses to go away. The key word being 'problem'.

It is distressing to see that people as usual are focusing on the symptoms rather than the problem. Rape, theft, robbery, kidnapping, intimidation, extortion, violence etc. have become quite common in our society.  They however are not the problem, these are mere symptoms of great malaise in our society. 

As social creatures our behaviour and responses are the result of our social conditioning. 

• Conditioning no 1: Movies depict that women really want to be pursued and preferably by force. Their resistance is just a put on. This leads to eve teasing and tendency to rape.
• Conditioning no 2:  Television serials normally depict women in poor light as scheming evil creatures that deserve to be shown their place.
• Conditioning no 3: The normal citizen exists at the pleasure of a political class armed with draconian power of the state and the scary power of the criminal.

Film and television producers have to reconsider their approach and recognise that their need for making money has to be tempered with their responsibility to depict women as worthy of respect.

The greatest 'problem' is, criminalization of our political system and the presence of a large number of criminals in all elected bodies and now heading many of the democratic institutions and even business enterprises.  

Why is that such a problem? The criminals now increasingly control, policy and law making and  enforcement. The criminals control the tax authorities and statuary authorities and investigation agencies to intimidate opponents and to protect themselves.  

History bears proof that all regimes, democratic or otherwise attempts to maintain the social and economic status quo of those in power. If the power is based on criminal minds and deeds, what else can be the outcome? Institutions are now being used to protect the interest of those in power and their henchmen who believe they are above the law. It is not a belief but a fact that criminal politicians and their cronies are indeed above the law.

We should ask ourselves, how did these people reach these commanding heights of criminality and unaccountability? We the citizens put them there and preserve them there, by our silence and inaction.

No political party filled with criminals wants a strong and independent police force nor strong democratic institutions.

We the people instead of merely demanding the emasculation of rapists should demand and ensure that the politicians stop emasculating our police force and raping the people.

The only effective weapons in our hands is our voice, at the polls, through social and mainstream media and protest on the street. Are you doing your bit?

*Image by Alexa Meade