Nation's Morality On Sale : Should every female possess a Knife?

Seram Neken *

Thang-Ta , Manipur's martial arts - presentation by JN Dance Academy Students in April 2012 :: Pix - Bunti Phurailatpam

Years back, veteran politician Okram Joy conceived the idea of distributing knives to women of the state for their self-protection. By then, his words remained a mockery. Only today, do we realize that not only Manipuri women, but all women of the country also need to possess weapons to counter male hegemony. Indian police everywhere are more attentive and active in escorting VIPs and VVIPs rather than checking attempts on women's virginity. Statutes alone can't uphold the chastity of half of the humanity. Women need skills and should be equipped with weapons for self-protection against immorality of the nation's male fraternity.

"Martial arts should not be taken up only as a sport. I urge all women to take up martial arts so that they can defend themselves to some extent........." This is what Sports-star Mary Kom appealed to all women of the country in the wake of burgeoning tragic gang-rapes and murders in India in recent times. Its indeed true that women should be fit enough – both emotionally and physically to protect themselves against male brutality.

Mentality of Indian males has drastically reduced to be worse than animals, as animals do not indulge in assaults and rapes of their females. Rather, animals treat their female counterparts with due regard and respect. Rampant incidents of molestation, rapes and murders of women in the country and Manipur state have been due to degrading human values and immoral psyche of the males.

Last year witnessed numerous cases of molestations, assaults, rapes and murders in Manipur. State police has drastically failed to prevent, probe and investigate such cases properly, thereby letting recurrence of the same again and again. For instance, Manipur police personnel remained silent spectators on Livingstone Anal's attempted assault on a Manipuri female actress at the fag end of the year.

State Police, as an institution for protection of citizens, lost its very purpose of existence out of fear. A few days later, a girl heading for Christmas celebrations along with her colleagues was molested at Napet Palli area by three youths. To no avail, the girl's team had earlier sought police assistance in reaching their village. Had the police escorted the team to their destination, the unfortunate incident might have been aborted.

The whole India is still mourning the death of Delhi-gang-rape victim, when news of a 21-year-old girl allegedly raped and then murdered is heard from Noida. The girl had been working in a garment export company as a seamstress for the last two-and-a-half months. The girl's family alleged that police were initially unwilling to help them.

While submitting the report, the police told them to go back saying that she would eventually return. Fifteen minutes after the girl's family turned away, police received information that the body of a girl was found in the area. After the family came to know of the girl's death, they protested at the police station. It is one of the many cases of police lethargies evident in India.

The nation as a whole demonstrated lawlessness as the infamous Delhi-gang-rape incident happened in the national capital city. Reportedly, no passers-by responded to the victim's shouts and sight of the scene. No police to react. The male friend of the Delhi gang-rape victim said that the six persons had lured them into boarding the bus on the night of December 16.

The occupants of the bus, which had tinted windows and curtains, started beating them, hitting with an iron rod, snatching their clothes and belongings and threw them off the bus on a deserted stretch. The bus moved around for nearly two and a half hours as they were shouting, trying to make people hear them. After throwing off the bus without clothes, they tried to stop passersby. Several auto rickshaws, cars and bikes slowed down but none stopped for about 20 to 25 minutes. It's a shame that innocent and ordinary citizens are not safe in the capital city of the largest democracy. It is as if Cops are meant entirely for protecting the VIPs and VVIPs.

Rape has become the most familiar word in India. It is the most naked reality in the villages as well as cities in India. Sometimes the victim is forced to keep her mouth shut by her family, at other times police don't register the crime under the influence of the accused and then the doctor at times may manipulate the report. This is the ground reality. Hundreds of rape cases still go unregistered in India.

Traditional India respected its women as much as it attaches importance on goddesses like the Durga, Parvati, Saraswati, Lakshmi, Sita, Radha etc. The status of women in India is also considered at par with their male counterparts in ancient times. Ancient Indian works such as Patanjali and Katyayana reveal that women were educated in the early Vedic period.

Rigvedic verses suggest that the women married at a mature age and were probably free to select their husband. Scriptures such as Rig Veda and Upanishads mention several women sages and seers, notably Gargi and Maitreyi. Women enjoyed equal status and rights during the early Vedic period. Later on, the status of women began to decline with the Smritis and with the Islamic invasion of Babur and the Mughal Empire and later Christianity curtailing women's freedom and rights.

The Indian woman's position in the society further deteriorated during the medieval period when Sati among some communities, child marriages and a ban on widow remarriages became part of social life among some communities in India. The Muslim conquest in the Indian subcontinent brought the Purdah practice in the Indian society. In some parts of India, the Devadasis or the temple women were sexually exploited. Polygamy was widely practised especially among Hindu Kshatriya rulers. In many Muslim families, women were restricted to Zenana areas.

Although status of women was somewhat at low points in the medieval period, many reformers were born to modern India to bring women at par with their male counterparts. In modern India today, women have adorned high offices of the country including that of the President, Prime minister, Speaker of the Lok Sabha and Leader of the Opposition.

Till recently, the Speaker and the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha are women. Indira Gandhi, who served as Prime Minister of India for an aggregate period of fifteen years is the world's longest serving woman Prime Minister. Women in India now participate in all activities such as education, sports, politics, media, art and culture, service sectors, science and technology, etc. However, women in India continue to be abused, raped and murdered. In such a scenario, women need to be well equipped with skills and weapons to defend themselves.