BY BISHESHWAR MISHRA
President Droupadi Murmu today said that the gruesome rape and murder of a doctor in Kolkata has left the nation shocked and urged people to collectively say ‘enough is enough.’ She said the recent spate of crimes against women should force honest self-introspection to uncover the roots of the malaise. The President stated this in a statement shared on her social media platform.
She added that she was dismayed and horrified when she came to hear of the incident. President Murmu further said that what is more depressing is the fact that it was not the only incident of its kind and is part of a series of crimes against women. She added that even as students, doctors and citizens were protesting in Kolkata, criminals remained on the prowl elsewhere.
Highlighting that the victims include even kindergarten girls, she said no civilised society can allow daughters and sisters to be subjected to such atrocities and the nation is bound to be outraged. She also said that the time has come when we as a society need to ask ourselves some difficult questions. She added that the Constitution granted equality to all including women, when it was only an ideal in many parts of the world. The State then created institutions to establish this equality, wherever needed and promoted it with a series of schemes and initiatives. The President said, civil society came forward and supplemented the State’s outreach in this regard. She said visionary leaders in all spheres of society pushed for gender equality. President Murmu said, finally, there were exceptional, feisty women who made it possible for their less fortunate sisters to benefit from this social revolution. That has been the saga of women’s empowerment.
She said it is this objectification of women by a few that is behind the crimes against women. It is ingrained deeply in the minds of such people. The President also noted that, regrettably, this is the case not only in India but across the world. She said the difference between one place and the next is more of a degree than kind. President Murmu said, countering this mindset is a task for both the State and the society. She said, that in India, over the years, the two have fought hard to change the wrong attitude. The President said, there have been laws and there have been social campaigns. Yet, there is something that continues to come in the way to torment the nation.
Recalling the Nirbhaya incident in Delhi, President Murmu said, in December 2012 the countrymen had come face to face with that element when a young woman was gang-raped and murdered. There was shock and rage. People were determined not to let another Nirbhaya meet the same fate. The government made plans and devised strategies and these initiatives did make a difference to an extent. She said, yet, the task remains unfinished as long as any woman feels unsafe in the environment where she lives or works. The President said, that in the twelve years since that tragedy in the national capital, there have been countless tragedies of similar nature, though only a few drew nationwide attention. Even these were soon forgotten. She asked that has the countrymen learned lessons. As social protests petered out, these incidents got buried into a deep and inaccessible recess of social memory, to be recalled only when another heinous crime takes place. President Murmu said this collective amnesia is as much obnoxious as that mindset.
The President also said that the country owes its daughters to remove the hurdles from their path of winning freedom from fear.