Talking about rape: Why PM Modi needs to join the conversation

Many incidents of heinous rape crimes have recently been in the news. But the one that got the country’s attention was the rape, murder and hanging of the two minor girls in Badaun district of Uttar Pradesh. The image of the bodies of two young girls hanging from a tree was perhaps too powerful to ignore. ‎Though we have seen much outrage over Badaun, unlike in the aftermath of the Delhi gangrape case, neither did protesters come out on the roads nor were there any candle light marches organised for these two girls. But what didn’t change from last year was the total silence from the Central government.

Am I saying that the UPA government was silent while the country was outraging during the Delhi gang rape case? Yes. Those in the government then would be the first to acknowledge that they could have handled the situation better, by being more communicative and doing so in quick time. Its inability to reach out to the people then caused the UPA government a lot of damage.

UPA may have missed saying it in words, it, however tried to make up by initiating certain concrete steps. The public conversation over rape and violence against women provided an opportunity for political action. The UPA government used the opportunity to bring about stricter laws: for the first time, civil society experts were invited to share their thoughts in amending the existing laws through the Justice Verma Committee. There were many more laws that were amended to make our women safer. It can be argued that a lot more still needs to be done but no one can deny that we are at a better place today than we were in December 2012.

What is different about the current silence then? You now have a new government, a new man at the helm, who is usually very verbose and communicative on all issues and sundry. But that communicative PM did not tweet or speak about the crimes till most recently during the debate over President’s speech in the Parliament. Here too, when he did speak, it was only to rebuke politicians to stop analysing rapes. He also said that rape should not be politicised, and asked “can we remain silent”, because “we are playing with the dignity of mothers and sisters”.

While these thoughts sound so noble at the face of it, there is a problem with the underlying sentiment. Even before that, this enlightenment is coming from ‎the same party and the same person who in their entire election campaign left no stone unturned in politicising such crimes for electoral gains. Here is an example of how Mr Modi politicised the Delhi gangrape case . You have to give full marks to Mr Modi for hypocrisy and taking in a forked tongue.

‎But this isn’t about them versus us. I didn’t support the silence during the UPA government, and I don’t support the silence now. Rapes, sexual violence and Violence Against Women can’t be brushed under the carpet. To eradicate the evil, we need to first confront it. ‎It is with this attitude of confronting the evil that a lot more women are coming forward to report such crimes today. They have chosen to tell their stories rather than hide them. No, they haven’t lost their dignity or have been ashamed by admitting that they have been victim of a heinous crime. Their speaking out has in fact brought the issue of women’s safety to the forefront. It has given many more women the confidence to face and fight the menace. Even in the Badayun case, we see that greater awareness about such crimes has strengthened the resolve of family of the girls to take the state administration head on. Public conversation around these incidents thus serves a purpose. It encourages other victims to come forward and report these crimes. It makes sense to ask politicians to desist from analysing rapes, especially when you see the recent utterances by many ’leaders’. But ‎does it mean that we, as a nation, stay quiet? Until we are able to view rape for what is — a traumatic assault that violates a woman’s person — and cease to look at it as a fate worse than death, women will continue to suffer and wily politicians will keep pandering to socially entrenched misogyny. Only if we keep talking will we ensure that women’s rights — and her dignity and safety — are paramount in the states across the country.

While demanding capital punishment for such crimes — with the increasing number of rapes leading to murder, this needs further debate and deliberation — we also need to address the issue of rehabilitating and counselling women who have gone through the trauma. Many more administrative steps need to be taken till the women feel confident that this country can guarantee them a safe environment. We can’t be waiting for a social revolution to initiate these administrative steps. Every idea matters, however small it may be. I was part of a TV debate where one of the participants came up with the idea of running a huge central government driven campaign on rapes, on the lines of ‘Hum do, Hamaare do’, a slogan that became synonymous with population control.

All these ideas, all these positive suggestions come to the fore when we get talking. ‎Talking continuously and talking with the intent of creating greater awareness must not stop. This talk is what will lead to action, and action is what will take this country forward. So Mr Prime Minister, let us not stay quiet. Let us talk, and ensure that this conversation leads to positive outcome for the 50 percent of this country’s population. As a part of that 50 percent, I invite you, Mr Prime Minister, to join in this conversation.

Priyanka Chaturvedi is a Congress spokesperson, columnist and blogger.