Editor,
No kudos is enough for the editorial titled “Mayhem in Delhi”( ST December 24). It has rightly exposed the hypocrisy of the middle-class Delhi-ites who are creating mayhem on the streets of Delhi demanding exemplary or capital punishment for the brutes who raped the vulnerable girl in a bus. There is no doubt that the rapists should be punished adequately, but why do they remain absolutely mum when girls in other parts of the country get raped? Why don’t they protest zealously when the poor, illiterate, rural or tribal girls get physically violated?
It is a fact that administration and judiciary have to ensure adequate security for vulnerable girls, and nab and punish the rapists and firmly establish a rule of law so that the potential culprits think twice before engaging in such heinous acts. Thus an appeal to the State and the concerned authorities is justified, but it should be done peacefully. Why don’t the “angry” citizens of New Delhi and those who are organising candle-light processions in many other Indian cities raise their voice against the system which is working all-out to morally corrupt the public so as to reap economic dividends? The glamorisation of philistine Bollywood, providing social sanction to dirty pictures bordering on pornography in the name of “art”, nudity and vulgar dancing in night clubs, scantily-clad pictures and shots of women in print and visual media have absolutely
devastated the moral fabric of the society. Thanks to this crass commercialisation of the female body, the upcoming generation treats women merely as “sex objects,” leading to increasing incidents of eve-teasing, molestation and rapes.
This society, claims to “worship” woman in the form of “shakti”, but is voyeuristic about the display of woman’s flesh and sex. This is why Bollywood pictures, where the camera continuously hovers over the cleavage of more than half-naked heroines, are instantly lapped up by the society and emerge as super-hits! The situation has come to such a pass that even Kolkata High Court is left with no other option but to direct the producer of a certain film not to exhibit posters depicting sexual performances! And the most dangerous trend lies in the fact that certain “modern” newspapers shamelessly take up cudgels for those obscene films and feel no qualms in condemning even the judgement of the Honourable High Court! And the people who protest against such rampant obscenities in films get dubbed as people harbouring “primitive” mindsets! Yes, certain vested but powerful interests are working overtime to brainwash this society to believe that shedding of clothes is the harbinger of “modernity”! They should realise that learning to make and wear clothes is an important feature of the dawn of civilization!
The “enlightened” citizens of India/New Delhi, instead of flexing their muscles on the streets thereby disrupting normal life, should ask the Censor Board and the relevant authorities to act tough and terminate the shower of nakedness and obscenities in films, reality shows in TV, print media and the billboards exploiting semi-naked feminine bodies to advertise even a gent’s shoe or shaving cream. They should march towards the movie theatres, film studios, commercial establishments, advertisement agencies, night clubs and the offices of the film producers, satellite TV channels and of course the print media and demand a ban on the commercialisation of the female body in the name of “art” and “modernity”. These establishments or institutions do not hold any right to inflate their coffers by ensuring moral degradation of the society.
Yours etc.,
Kajal Chatterjee
Kolkata- 114