Fight-Back member Mahafreed Irani writes about the Mangalore attack and asks some tough questions
A year after two women were molested outside the JW Marriot in Juhu Mumbai, another attack on women. This time, it’s not by sexually-frustrated men trying to grope women. This time, it a group of self-appointed police - The Shri Ram Sena they call themselves.
In the name of God (Lord Ram is a Hindu God), around 40 men openly gate crash into a pub which they believe is the centre of immoral activity. They make their presence (and hooliganism) felt by dragging the women by their hair, pulling them out, tearing their clothes, throwing them on the floor and all things immoral, atleast the civilised world would think so.
All this happens, a day before India’s Republic Day. The country which takes pride in calling itself the largest democracy in the world.
Questions I’d like to ask as a woman and citizen of India:
1. How did the main molester of the JW Marriot incident escape?
2. Should I be scared of going to a pub or night club because I am a woman?
3. In response to the assault on women in the pub, the Karnataka Chief Minister made a statement. But why did he have to read it out? Couldn’t he look up and say what he wanted? Or was he scared? What kind of leaders do we have?
4. 17 of the assaulters have been caught. What about the rest? What about the leader?
5. The leader of the Shri Ram Sena group is Pramod Muthalik. He openly spoke to TV new channels and reporters. Now he is absconding. How did the police not track him down and arrest him? How did he escape?
Some background on Pramod Muthalik:
-He is the founder of Sri Ram Sena. He is a former leader of the Bajrang Dal.
-He has dismissed the pub attack as a “small incident”. He justified the act saying that his men were doing their “duty”.
-His Sena reportedly runs a militant camp and has been blamed for inciting communal violence and also preparing youth to undertake retaliatory acts of terror.
6. Considering there is so much information about him and his criminal-like activities. Shouldn’t the police have kept an eye on him and his whereabouts?
7. Wouldn’t this issue die out without the media highlighting it? Why do the cops and politicians blame the media for hyping it? Do they not have any sense of regret or shame?
8. How did the gang of men enter the pub?
Mahafreed Irani is a journalist working with Times of India. Before which she was heading the "Speak Up" section of DNA. She's also a passionate Fight-Back member.
You can read more from Mahafreed at www.mahafreed.wordpress.com
5 comments:
Hi,
I dont know what prohibitions and constraints does the government has to attack against these men or so called heroes who do their 'duty'. Well why cant we make a similar outfit and start vandalising office of these kind of people. Eye for an eye makes the whole blind true but arent we blind right now also by closing our eyes to such incidents.
We live in the most hypocritical society. Molesting in the name of God is sadly not new to India. Most number of sexual harassment cases happen during our festivals be it Holi, Durga Puja or Ganpati. It’s a feast for the sexually starved Indian youth. Obviously they have the political backing of other hooligans, our netas who I’m sure in their youth did the exact same thing. They call themselves protectors of Indian culture but the very essence of such activities highlights their cowardice. Interesting to note the 40 hooligans targeted 4 women as the staff of Amnesia looked on and the camera kept rolling. If media gets the info I’m quite surp the police didn’t and it’s the media’s responsibility to inform police but then cant blame them. They’ll go to any extent to provide us exclusive pictures even if it means taping innocent girls being molested by junglees. It’s like a mafia the politicians, police and now the media. With power comes responsibility which none of them are willing to accept.
Yet another hypocritical and illogical post that has become so "in" these days- more so with the media houses tripping on each other for TRPs. And to answer some of the questions:
1. How did the main molester of the JW Marriot incident escape?- Like so many others everyday do.. just like that..Try doing that yourself, and you would be surprised..
2. Should I be scared of going to a pub or night club because I am a woman? Not really, I was in a pub and believe me they had more females/ladies than guys even yesterday. Stags are still not allowed in many places. And the pubs are pretty much in business.. Whoever said we are in a downturn :)
3. In response to the assault on women in the pub, the Karnataka Chief Minister made a statement. But why did he have to read it out? Couldn’t he look up and say what he wanted? Or was he scared? What kind of leaders do we have?- Check that with Sonia Gandhi if she has even given a public rally without reading. I want the CM to be correct and not goof up, rather than mere posturing.. You guys look for posturing more than content..
4. 17 of the assaulters have been caught. What about the rest? What about the leader?- Who were counting the numbers, did they leave back their identity cards or is there someone who can identify all the others? You will have to wait and hope that these 17 give clues about the rest, if they themselves were there. Police in India are known to whip bears to forcibly admit they are lions..Are you sure these 17 were the hooligans and some innocent chaps have not been picked up?
5. The leader of the Shri Ram Sena group is Pramod Muthalik. He openly spoke to TV new channels and reporters. Now he is absconding. How did the police not track him down and arrest him? How did he escape?- The media should answer this. When/If he is an accused, how come no one let the police know where this chap was? If you were there, and are serious about this, would you have or not have informed the police about the whereabouts of this fella? Replace yourself with someone brandishing a mic and a camera-Should the answer/responsibility change just because they were journos?
Some background on Pramod Muthalik:
-He is the founder of Sri Ram Sena. He is a former leader of the Bajrang Dal.
-He has dismissed the pub attack as a “small incident”. He justified the act saying that his men were doing their “duty”.
-His Sena reportedly runs a militant camp and has been blamed for inciting communal violence and also preparing youth to undertake retaliatory acts of terror.- Long one this, but breaking news- Bajrang Dal is still not a banned organisation, neither is Ram Sena. Corollary- being the leader or past leader is no crime in itself..If you dare to remove "reportedly" from the last line, one could probably look into the charge..Stop reading yellow journalism..it causes hallucination..Cause excitement, but takes away performance.
6. Considering there is so much information about him and his criminal-like activities. Shouldn’t the police have kept an eye on him and his whereabouts? You prioritise the police's job- Look for the real terrorists like the pakis in B'lore/M'lore or use your resources on the hypothetical ones. Are you sure he is the biggest criminal that you have ever known. If yes, fine. (Honestly, had you even heard about this chap before this?) If no, then should not the handful of police be doing a ABC analysis for deploying their resources? The police is not a ever-stretchable asset.. they are limited with even more limited resources..Ever thought of the miserable conditions that these "always bad" guys work in? But then you have been fed on TV stuff like LAPD and NYPD...
7. Wouldn’t this issue die out without the media highlighting it? Why do the cops and politicians blame the media for hyping it? Do they not have any sense of regret or shame? Everyone, believe me, including me, has a sense of outrage. I can understand having a spectrum of views on everything, but the law of land is objective. Anyone breaking that has to be punished. Having said that, overkill of any one issue has its own demerits. I sincerely believe that there are more serious issues-social, economic, security and so on an so forth. I am not saying this should not be highlighted, but please media space is a resource and limited, and the allocation has to be judicious. Believe me..how many marathon covergae have you seen on the naxalite issues, the farmer suicide stories.. they just make good documentaries, because they win you awards.. These journos, the self proclaimed holier-than-thou are the most hypocritical. Please dont take these business men that seriously.. (My job requires me to track them closely) Correct yourself, media was blamed for not passing on info about the attack and whereabouts of Muthalik in time and not for the coverage itself. However, this heavy dosage of the same footage needs to be condemned.. This Renuka Choudhary sucks.. seriously..
8. How did the gang of men enter the pub? Anyone can.. If people can enter India without due papers, is it really difficult to enter a pub, which is soliciting more and more patrons-always? :)
Hand on your heart, and you dont need to admit, don't you find that your questions were useless and not serving any purpose. We are with women in their fight against hooliganism, but shouting from the rooftop alone is not going to help, and even less pouring out your frustration on blogs (I am not sure if anyone of those guys are going to read the blog and get a better life!!..Happy blogging,
Rgds
behead mr.Pramod Muthalik and 40 molestors, his lawyer mr.rd kulkarni in manglalore in public otherwise everday will be the same terror.
Facebook is blocked in my hostel. How else can I too write for fight back? Is there some one I can contact and let them know whats on my mind?
http://zebra-talk.blogspot.com/2009/04/women-fight-back-femina-campaign.html/
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