Saturday, October 17, 2020

EXPRESSING THE SUPPRESSED VOICE

 For the past few weeks, I have been dying to write this note on the deceptions of our Government. While reading Shashi Tharoor's "The Paradoxical Prime Minister" and co-incidentally getting to listen to the emerging voice of Mahua Moitra, I literally had a clear vision of the "MODI-fication" of our nation. In my defense, I shall clarify the fact that my ideologies have always been the same and the above-mentioned sources have merely acted as a catalyst.

A latest article in "The Hindu" mentioned that there have been 13 crimes against women in Uttar Pradesh in the past one week. This reminded me of the herd mentality people carry because of the possible persuasive methods of the Government. After the Hathras incident, crimes against dalit women came up as a Domino effect. The problem with the Government may not be in encouraging these rapes (because that is something which is whispered and not supposed to be openly written about.) but it majorly lies in not making necessary efforts to stop it.

Discrimination has always haunted India, but it has started becoming very apparent now. There was a time when I was against reservations because of my personal loss of a merit-worthy seat, but now I feel guilty that I was worried about a seat for employment while they are concerned about a seat for survival. More than a realisation of guilt, it is a realisation of the deception the Government has had on us all.

Surprisingly, the word 'dalit' gets highlighted in the news headlines these days. Rape is a horrendous crime in its own, but the fact that we highlight the caste of the rape victim acts as a persuasive tactic. For people carrying the complete orthodox casteism mentality may feel relieved by the word 'dalit' as a prefix to the victims identity and not care about it at all. On the other hand, people like me, may get affected by the fact that it's a rape and its wrong regardless of the caste of the victim, but won't be able to say it out loud with the fear of attracting charges of sedition.

From being recognised as "by the people, for the people and of the people", our democracy is gradually being erased  to be recognised as "by the MODIfied people, for the MODIfied people and of the MODIfied people".

P.S.: The intent behind this article is only to allow for some introspection and to incite the love for secular India.

Thursday, May 14, 2020

औरत और इज़्ज़त!

जब कपडे पहनो मनमर्ज़ी,
तुम लुटाती हो घर की इज़्ज़त।

जब आज़ादी से बाहर जाओ,
लूट जाती है परवरिश की इज़्ज़त।

जब मर्द का खुद पे काबू न रहे,
लूट जाती है तुम्हारी अपनी इज़्ज़त।

जब ससुराल वाले खुश न हो,
लूट जाती है माता पिता की इज़्ज़त।

जब समाज ने लिखा ये नियम की किताब,
तोह औरत को बना दिया इज़्ज़त की भंडार।

अगर बिना औरत के समाज रह जाती है बेइज़्ज़त,
तोह क्यों नहीं मिलती औरत को उसकी सही इज़्ज़त?
                                                                              -Somya Mishra