Why Indians bloggers need to get angry
On 28th Feb this year, 52 year old lawyer Meher Bhargava was coming out of a building in Lucknow, northern India, when four men made lewd remarks about her daughter-in-law with her. Not willing to let it pass, she confronted them and demanded an apology. In return she was shot in the neck by a pistol.
It took place barely a 100 metres from the police office and the culprits all had strong connections with local politicians. The incident barely registered with the local and national media, despite its horrifying nature, and the police made little effort to chase the culprits.
On 25th March, after a month-long battle in hospital, she died. There was some media coverage, primarily because she was the wife of Congress leader Luv Bhargava.
Some Indians bloggers started getting angry at the antipathy shown not only by the national media but also by fellow bloggers. Where was national outrage when you needed it? That spurred DesiPundit to send out a rallying cry to bloggers and get some coverage going.
The Indian media has since caught up with the story and is now all over it. The national outrage has begun.
But this is not the end. Take two recent developments into account.
In February the Jessica Lal case hit the headlines when the prime suspect accused of openly shooting the model / bartender walked away free from court. Blogs and the Indian media exploded in anger at the mis-carriage of justice.
Around the same time the little known Blank Noise Project celebrated its first year with a ‘blog-a-thon’, where other bloggers would write about a personal encounter of eve-teasing and send them a link. In less than two weeks over 300 entries flooded in and the project started getting mentions in the Indian national media and even went as far as major US blogs and newspapers.
It is in this context Meher Bhargava’s murder should be seen.
A country that supposedly puts women on a pedestal is slipping towards a state where women are not only casually harrassed all the time, but if they stand up against it, as Meher Bhargava did, they face brutal retaliation. Where is the respect?
While the media and blogs focus on justice being served, the opportunity to talk about this growing lack of respect is being missed. So far I’ve only seen this article in The Hindu make the connection. MumbaiGirl is also trying to do something.
What Indian bloggers need to do is get together and get angry. Angry at at how this happened and why this happened.
C’mon Blank Noise - you and other bloggers should be out there holding vigils and trying to grab the media agenda. How long will Indians go on without confronting the big elephant in the room?
Well atleast they’ve reopened the Jessica Lal case. With police are giving in to political pressure every now and then i say Indian public/media are suffering from “outrage fatigue”.
Sickening. Let’s hope that this publicity will encourage Asian women to take a stand against the bigotry which infests the subcontinent.
On the subject of sex equality, and striking a more positive note, the Pakistan Air Force has graduated its first four female fighter pilots.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4861666.stm
Excellent news.
Raz
On the other side of the line, Indian Army gets its first Kashmiri Muslim Female Lt.Commander
http://www.deccanherald.com/deccanherald/mar262006/editpage1728122006325.asp
Not bad. The Pakistan Army already has two female 2 star generals. However, like this Indian woman you mention, they are in the medical corps. What makes these female pilots so unique is that they will undertake full combat roles, and may one day see air to air battle. A truly groundbreaking achievement.
may one day see air to air battle.
God (my atheistic god mindya!) forbid.
[...] Sunny at Pickled Politics has a thoughtful essay on why Indians bloggers should remain angry on such blatant travesty of justice on our streets. [...]
that pedestal, the women of India are put on, must be the one where they are’ seen but not heard’.
Very well put Sunny.
that pedestal, the women of India are put on, must be the one where they are’ seen but not heard’.
Generally yes, but I would say in their defence that Indian women are among the most outspoken in the world.
Thanks Sakshi. I did get your email btw, sorry I’ve just been drowning in work. Still trying to figure out what to do with it…
Jessica Lal was reopened because she was photogenic and a member of the media savvy elite. The News channels find it infinitely easier to lavish sympathy on the Beautiful Wheatish Dead than bothering with the everyday harrassment faced by ordinary women.
Same reason why there is a focus on Meher Bhargava.
Why do they blog in English?
Why do they blog in English?
What? they’ve got 200+ million English speakers in India.
hmm getting women in the army isn’t particularly a wonderful thing. oh look there are more killers - of both sexes -how wonderful.
anyhow just having come back from a trip to bangladesh, this subject is bang -on target. the power differential - jesus. women in the subcontinent need confidence to stand up for themselves, and they need the help of society and the media to do that. to change attitudes and make more women feel empowered to stand up for themselves.
would anyone believe there was an immigration officer at the Dhaka end - when i was leaving - who was pestering me no end about the fact that i’m ‘living on my own’ in the UK- ‘ah a foreign country, why aren’t you scared? [since you're only a silly little girl].
what the hell was it to him what i’m doing?oh but we are interested in what our citizens are doing yeah right buddy, you’re using your position of power to hassle some women.
i suppose you can’t expect everyone to know that the middle-upper class desi’s speak english, now can you?
why, the attitude so many indians display when they are ‘abroad’ - the surprise if someone - say french or spanish - says their parents don’t speak english - “what your parents don’t speak english?! but how come? is it because you are poor… or sth”
is suprising to most ‘international’ folks.
Hey sonia, nice to have you back!
You make a good point about confidence. I think its partly because of centuries of re-conditioning them to think that by stepping out of line they’ll bring upon themselves the wrath of society.
I say - if you want to make an omlette you gotta break a few eggs. Here’s to breaking a few eggs. Except I’m veggie and don’t eat eggs but thats another matter….
are you by chance a PETA
whackomember?Barbara, I am Indian and blog in English because that is the language I am most comfortable in.
Fortunately, the number of bloggers blogging in the different Indian languages is increasing.
I agree that the Jessica Lal and Meher Bhargava cases got attention because of who they were. But hopefully this vigilance will now extend to other cases as well.
are you by chance a PETA member?
Yes
*glares back*
thanks Sunny. it looks like you folks have been keeping up the good work.
i see your Google page rank is 6 - very good!