"The darkest places in hell are reserved for those who maintain neutrality in times of mortal crisis."
-Dante Alighieiri, Inferno.
What I wish to question today is, why does neutrality exist?
Why is it, that people pass by silently as women are molested on the road in front of their very eyes? Or when all of a man's daily savings are snatched by an infidel? When an ATM is robbed, how come no one bats an eyelid except the ATM Security guard? (Who probably wouldn't have either if he wasn't paid for it.)
When teachers abuse a child. When ministers abuse power. When politicians abuse the opportunity of addressing a mass gathering. When rapists abuse womanhood. What do we get instantaneously?
Bone-chilling, stubborn, uncooperative silence.
Then bring on the candle marches, the protests, the huge lectures and campaigns on gender policing, racial abuse, rape and all the sins of the current society. Yes, people. The cause and thought is noble, commendable and I'm sure you standing there yelling "We want justice" whilst burning yourself with dripping wax from a wasted candle at an unconventional, inconvenient hour of the night will be appreciated by the victim fighting for its life on the hospital bed. But is it enough? No.
In all the feuds and rape cases which happened on a populated street, I would like to know how it would've been possible if a group of men would've gathered and beat them up in a gruesome way. How would the thought of rape even originate into their conciousness , if they had been brought up in a conservative family who propagated sisterly love and respecting motherhood?
It is our silence which has fed this, like dry wood to the flame of horror.
The fact is, ever since probably after India gained Independence, we have always depended on somebody after a moment of action. Half heartedly, illiterately voted in the elections, which is any day worse than not voting at all, and once the new Government is elected, we have our scapegoat. It is blamed for everything. We drink, we get girls drunk, we rape, we murder and it's the Government's fault. We've always had someone who takes the fall of our responsibilities. Not that they shouldn't. It's their job. We'd criticize them if they didn't do that as well. But every action, has an equal and opposite reaction, and our country is facing the adverse consequences of the reaction.
Because we have a readily available scapegoat, we have sunk into ignorance. In the earlier days when people saw a murder report or kidnapping in the papers, children were shut in the houses for days until the parents were convinced it was safe. Now, it has become a report for the side column of every newspaper, and the headline is some worthless politician with a penchant for fighting, strange language and a chappal.
Pretty soon, rape will not be an outrage. It'll be oh-so-normal. Why? Ignorance.
Why is there ignorance? Because these scapegoats have been upholding the main ideal: Peace. We have been stuffed with the word "Peace" since we've been born. Our textbooks, our lectures, our role models, everything within the range of our hearing capacity propagates "Peace". Even our cartoons are mostly about how friends fight, but how they make up "peacefully" in the end.
The danger here, friends, is not peace being propagated. It's "So called peace" being propagated. We are afraid to fight because we're afraid to disrupt the normal flow of things with chaos. "So called peace" is synonymous with ignorance, and imagine if we stuff a child's head with that, which we are by the way. The horror.
When the French were frustrated with the Bourbons. When the Germans began to blame Weimar Republic. When Robespierre's rule was unbearable. What did they do? Sit quietly? Hope for peace?
No. They revolted.
Protested and argued for change with life as the ultimate prize. When demands were met with, and all was well, the people were saner than they ever were.
Crisis, people. Mortal crisis, We need one of those to shake us from this stupor of false safety. Crisis is what triggers fear, and fear compels our senses, our alertness and us to some pretty remarkable places. Maybe fearing a mass rebellion on the streets every now and then is risky. But eventual reality checks are important, especially when times worsen everyday.
It is then that we rise from the ashes of the hollow our self has been in. You can even interpret this in another way : If you don't stop ignoring, fear another revolution very soon. Because soon people will realize. So either we can educate and teach our young to be better, moral-respecting individuals, or we can watch the world we've built crumble down. I'm aware the former is harder.
Maybe disturbance of sorts is not so bad after all.
Let there be a miasma of chaos. A chaos that screams "Justice".
Let there be pandemonium.
-Dante Alighieiri, Inferno.
What I wish to question today is, why does neutrality exist?
Why is it, that people pass by silently as women are molested on the road in front of their very eyes? Or when all of a man's daily savings are snatched by an infidel? When an ATM is robbed, how come no one bats an eyelid except the ATM Security guard? (Who probably wouldn't have either if he wasn't paid for it.)
When teachers abuse a child. When ministers abuse power. When politicians abuse the opportunity of addressing a mass gathering. When rapists abuse womanhood. What do we get instantaneously?
Bone-chilling, stubborn, uncooperative silence.
Then bring on the candle marches, the protests, the huge lectures and campaigns on gender policing, racial abuse, rape and all the sins of the current society. Yes, people. The cause and thought is noble, commendable and I'm sure you standing there yelling "We want justice" whilst burning yourself with dripping wax from a wasted candle at an unconventional, inconvenient hour of the night will be appreciated by the victim fighting for its life on the hospital bed. But is it enough? No.
In all the feuds and rape cases which happened on a populated street, I would like to know how it would've been possible if a group of men would've gathered and beat them up in a gruesome way. How would the thought of rape even originate into their conciousness , if they had been brought up in a conservative family who propagated sisterly love and respecting motherhood?
It is our silence which has fed this, like dry wood to the flame of horror.
The fact is, ever since probably after India gained Independence, we have always depended on somebody after a moment of action. Half heartedly, illiterately voted in the elections, which is any day worse than not voting at all, and once the new Government is elected, we have our scapegoat. It is blamed for everything. We drink, we get girls drunk, we rape, we murder and it's the Government's fault. We've always had someone who takes the fall of our responsibilities. Not that they shouldn't. It's their job. We'd criticize them if they didn't do that as well. But every action, has an equal and opposite reaction, and our country is facing the adverse consequences of the reaction.
Because we have a readily available scapegoat, we have sunk into ignorance. In the earlier days when people saw a murder report or kidnapping in the papers, children were shut in the houses for days until the parents were convinced it was safe. Now, it has become a report for the side column of every newspaper, and the headline is some worthless politician with a penchant for fighting, strange language and a chappal.
Pretty soon, rape will not be an outrage. It'll be oh-so-normal. Why? Ignorance.
Why is there ignorance? Because these scapegoats have been upholding the main ideal: Peace. We have been stuffed with the word "Peace" since we've been born. Our textbooks, our lectures, our role models, everything within the range of our hearing capacity propagates "Peace". Even our cartoons are mostly about how friends fight, but how they make up "peacefully" in the end.
The danger here, friends, is not peace being propagated. It's "So called peace" being propagated. We are afraid to fight because we're afraid to disrupt the normal flow of things with chaos. "So called peace" is synonymous with ignorance, and imagine if we stuff a child's head with that, which we are by the way. The horror.
When the French were frustrated with the Bourbons. When the Germans began to blame Weimar Republic. When Robespierre's rule was unbearable. What did they do? Sit quietly? Hope for peace?
No. They revolted.
Protested and argued for change with life as the ultimate prize. When demands were met with, and all was well, the people were saner than they ever were.
Crisis, people. Mortal crisis, We need one of those to shake us from this stupor of false safety. Crisis is what triggers fear, and fear compels our senses, our alertness and us to some pretty remarkable places. Maybe fearing a mass rebellion on the streets every now and then is risky. But eventual reality checks are important, especially when times worsen everyday.
It is then that we rise from the ashes of the hollow our self has been in. You can even interpret this in another way : If you don't stop ignoring, fear another revolution very soon. Because soon people will realize. So either we can educate and teach our young to be better, moral-respecting individuals, or we can watch the world we've built crumble down. I'm aware the former is harder.
Maybe disturbance of sorts is not so bad after all.
Let there be a miasma of chaos. A chaos that screams "Justice".
Let there be pandemonium.
