As a daughter of India, sometimes I wonder how I am alive yet, without being raped. I then realize and thank my luck. I belong to the so-called 'privileged class,' the uppermost caste. I was born to a family and parents (in urban and liberal India) who do not differentiate between a girl and a boy child. I am privileged enough to get the food, safety, healthcare, and education best available to my socioeconomic strata. Fortunately and thankfully, I have always enjoyed my independence and the right to make choices (food, clothes, profession, deity, love affair, life partner, indeed in every aspect of life).
I never realized the pain of being a 'Dalit' in India, or a 'Black' in the US. Although I have watched several movies portraying such horrific, unjust, and brutal torture against those sects, I then kinda thought them to be a cinematic exaggeration.
But no, I was so wrong. It has been eight years since the notorious Nirbhaya rape case, which shook the entire nation. And, now, even in 2020, we see that nothing has changed, instead worsened. And now I am scared as hell. All India's daughters are too scared to live in their own land for their own security and safety. And these are just a few cases that came to the forefront. I'm sure there are a million other instances of brutality that go unnoticed. And just to mention, there is a thing called marital rape in India!
Once, in one of my close relatives' houses, there was a pet dog. The dog was not that friendly and was used to biting people. On a funnier note, according to the family's conviction, it was never the dog's fault, rather the victim's who supposedly 'annoyed' the dog and provoked it! Can you see the similarity? Yes, in our unfortunate motherland, we see the same pattern when it comes to the point of rape. The rape victim or the girl has always been judged and accused of being guilty. Now I realize why in specific belts of India, a girl-child is so unwanted. I would have thought in the same way, too! Being a parent of a girl child is too risky. It is so much of a liability to protect her life and 'izzat' since childhood. And then it comes to another big responsibility and liability to save a considerable amount of money for her marriage and for the dowry. But now, on second thought, I feel it's even scarier to have a boy-child too. What if he turns out to be a rapist!
I know I cannot do much. Sitting at a safe distance, I just outrage on social media or just walk in a peaceful protest march. I am sorry for my fellow sisters. I only see you being raped or burned. However, at least I can shout in frustration - A girl does not live at her vagina. She is not just meant for sex or reproduction. The Dalit people are not meant to be used and raped, and thrown away. Fundamental human rights are the same for all, irrespective of sex, caste, nationality, race, skin color, or socioeconomic status.
#DalitLivesMatter #GirlLivesMatter
