Recent incidence of rape has what one can say "rocked the conscience of the nation". Besides delhi, protests can be seen all over India. In Delhi, the epicenter, protests have even gone violent accompanied with punitive measure by govt. like shutting down the metro stations, use of water canons and tear gas. The protests are by large initiated and sustained by students or youths. but one thing which I failed to understand is that what are their demand?
Complete revolution?
No, it can't be. Democracy is probably the best system we have got. A revolution is a complete out throw of one form of governance replaced by a more suitable form. For ex. the October revolution in Russia which replaced Czarist system with communist one or for that matter replacement of British monarchy by democracy in 1947. At this point I can say boldly that no other forms of govt. is more suitable than democracy where voice of all is heard (ideal form).
Complete overhaul?
So then the demands of the protest must be directed towards a complete reform in the existing system. On the basis of what reforms govt. has introduced in a hurried manner and demands of some of the NGOs and our intelligentsia, one can categorise them in following way:
1. Reforms in Law and Order
2. Strong laws and legislations to deal with rape cases
3. Fast track courts for specified purspose
4. Psycho-socio measures like sensitizing the police. Tolerance and intolerance both should be enhanced, former towards victims and later one for criminals.
5. An overarching change in patriarchal society.
These demands are very apt and will certainly change the whole scenario of our biased society. But what protestors fail to understand is that these reforms will not take overnight. Even if the first 3 are implemented, how a protest will change the mentality of a centuries old patriarchal society of which police and state both are parts? And this became apparent by the degrading remarks made by prominent people regarding women even when the protest was at its peak.
What is the solution? Evolution rather than revolution
There is no one step solution for this problem. In fact the solution will have to evolve in due course of time and it will certainly not occur from a 2 week protest. To bring the change in the system, first one will have to be a part of the system because here the protest is not to overthrow the govt system. Remember the Anna movement. Without achieving much the anger of people dissipated in few months. Taking a note of this, few leaders of the movement decided to contest election in order to impose changes which probably everyone wants.
If the state has become patriarchal, the "old" people will have to be replaced by "young" ones with a liberal, secular, democratic and probably a bit feminist outlook and this definition of young defines our youth at present. So like the "occupy wall street" here the motto of the movement should be "Occupy government". Be the part of system at all levels from politics to bureaucracy and then try to bring the change.
Another important aspect here is parenting style. If a person is internalised with moral values like gender equality, respect for women in his/her childhood, the number of outliers will drastically decrease. So another important thing that a youth can do is to take a pledge of raising a child with true liberal and democratic values in his/her lifetime.
In conclusion I can only say that the protests are necessary to vent out the anger and spread the message that we do not want a patriarchal state. But a long term plan to bring the change in society should always be in mind. Without a master plan, the protests will fail to achieve anything significant, anger will dissipate in a few months and life will come back to "normal". Our conscience will be rocked in the morning and will hit bottom in the evening.
