Silence

I can stand a million Nos. What I find difficult to stand is people who can't say No.

The cost of fear!

Keenan Sentos was killed on the streets of Bombay recently for standing up to a drunk man who molested a female friend of his. Reuben Fernandes later succumbed to his injuries. They were fighting injustice. They stood up to something that should have been opposed and paid an extremely heavy price. There were many onlookers who looked on when Keenan and Reuben were being assaulted and stabbed but they did nothing because they were fearful for their own lives.

I was in college and must have been around 19 or 20 years of age then .. and was returning home after classes. It was a Haryana Roadways bus and I saw this conductor misbehave with a girl in front of everyone. I so wish she kept quiet and did not argue with the conductor who was an illiterate ruffian. The fact that I have not forgotten that incident is because I felt powerless to have done something about it. I felt sorry for that girl but could do nothing about it because it might put my own safety in jeopardy. 

I live in Gurgaon and many a times during growing up I have seen good people being beaten up by goons who would flash a gang at will and bash up anyone who would even raise a voice. Imagine the powerlessness women feel just because they are physically less powerful than the men who attack, beat, molest and destroy them. 

What can they do against the perpetrators of these crimes? Nothing.

If you happen to be in the crowd that watched Keenan and Reuben getting killed, what would you do? Would you try to stop the attackers?

Lets be fair. Very, very unlikely. The point is that we are helpless to the extent that we cannot do anything about these situations. 

All that we can do is report the incident to the police who may do something about it if they deem the incident of prime time value and significant enough. Like I did when I got assaulted recently by this goon on the road and  I have heard nothing from the cops yet and I do not expect to either. We are at the mercy of these policemen and the political machinery who seem to be human beings with a dead conscience. 

Imagine a city where a woman has been the chief minister for many years (Shiela Dixit) and crime against women are a daily affair. It's because she travels in a tight security cauldron and does not even admit that it exists. 

Big crimes happen because small crimes are ignored.

Rapes happen because a molestation is ignored.
Murders happen because assaults are ignored.
Genocides happen because a few murders in the name of race/religion are ignored.

If we can't do anything, where does that leave us? 

Imagine the fear with which women walk on Delhi roads because they have to accept that they can be attacked anytime. A potent, consistent, perennial fear, always for company.

Imagine the fear of a young boy walking with his sister. Imagine someone getting beaten up for speaking against a goon hitting a poor man.

It's fear which defines what we do. Fear runs the human race. We have to find some way to face our fears. If fear wins, we lose.

Keenan and Reuben paid an extremely high price for being brave. It is the responsibility of the Indian Government, the police and everyone who can do something to ensure that their killers don't walk free because if they do, many of us will never be able to stand up to a hooligan for fear of our lives.

The cost of not facing the fear is a cowardly existence.