Articles

Candle March

By Shobha Diwakar

Rapes and candle march seem to have become synonymous terms. Who are the gallant young men who organize these dramatic rallies and profess to shed unshed tears for those innocent babes who lose their life and struggle to survive amidst propaganda? Young schoolchildren who probably do not even register the obnoxious act and the dirty implication are dragged in street protests to march with lighted candles. What if these kids are burned with the melting wax while protesting? Who then will take responsibility if this happens? Will the senior protesters come forward and accept their ‘whim’ or will they wash their hands off the whole affair? What is the responsibility of parents and the school towards their wards under such circumstances?

In this fast developing world of easy virtues crimes are rising all around the world. Children too are not as innocent as they were before; blame it on easy access to porn sites and TV serials, movies and cheap ads that display everything under the sun from condoms to IUD: things that were behind the curtain are now easily available everywhere and there is no restriction about who buys what. Whether college girls’ or boys’… the pregnancy kits are out there for use.

Coming back to the question about rapes…sex maniacs exist in every society. Unlike ‘seasonal’ animals that spare the young, sickly men driven by their excessive libido, pounce like leopards upon the young unsuspecting child whose trust is betrayed in man. What one fails to understand is as to why when such corrupt men are caught the law takes a long, long time to convict the accused? Even as the child and her family suffers the stigma some sort of compensation is awarded as a ‘reward’ to the suffering family while the culprit, if a so- called juvenile is treated as a distracter of youth, the innocent immature child or babe suffers brutal bruises that will never ever leave her mentally cured as she grows older. How very inhuman of the media and other meds who claim ‘she is a child and will gradually forget the ordeal,’ talk such nonsense?

Protests are definitely a way to draw public attention and claim justice for the raped child yet is it the only manner in which someone’s voice is heard? All that it does is create jam on the streets and withhold traffic. The media, instead of raising a curt public opinion and demanding the worst possible punishment for the culprits simply reports ‘a candle march was organized and taken out… and the rest is filled out with the ‘brave’ names of those ‘gallant men’ who led… the ‘show piece’. It would be much better if these very ‘honest,’ ‘virtuous,’ contractors of humanity looked within their hollow souls and searched their inner being as to how many that paraded in this candle march were serious towards defending the young and the innocent. Where does their moral responsibility wither away when girls are ragged and used by boys for ulterior means?

Candle marches do not solve any problem for miscreants in society. There has to be some serious ponderings over the issue. What one cannot understand is in the eyes of the law, which is a rare case. Is seducing, molesting and raping a baby 3/4/5/ 6 months old or even a young budding girl by beastly men aged 15/ 16/ 17/ 18 up to 56 and 70 year old hyenas of society not to be considered as rare? Has society given the right to men to decide with whom he must bed for his nasty sexual urges? Every day the media reports these heinous crimes against babies, girls, and women and yet there is no stop to this menace only because justice comes too late and the case drags on and on as in the case of the NIRBHAYA murder.

Rapes should and must be treated as cunningly planned inhuman murders of the sufferer and so the rapist must be charged accordingly and meted out the gravest punishment, not less than public hanging to teach the ill minded, sickly men a lesson… only then will others realize the seriousness of the offence. Then may be this ‘raping’ for pleasure game will be put to an end. Right now, these bloodhounds are aware that some ‘cool’ lawyer will come to his rescue and some ‘gangster’ friends will give a perfect alibi or a false statement to save the leech. By the time the lab reports come the game is played. Until then, the family will have enough time to ‘thank’ the media, the political visitors, the candle marchers and the sympathizers, not forgetting the ridicule of the ‘compensation’ paid into the bank account of the family with lucrative offers of free treatment in hospitals, topped with free education at all levels and job guarantee…Rewards for being raped!

So, the message given is get raped, no harm done … there are ample benefits attached to this degrading and dreadful ‘animal abuse.’ What does a Candle March offer except publicity?

Ponder awhile has Candle Marches ever solved such problems?

About the Author: Dr. Shobha Diwakar lives in Jabalpur, India and retired as the head of English department at C.P. Mahila Mahavidhyalaya, Jabalpur. She has published many research papers, stories, poems and essays in national, international and online journals. She contributes regularly to writerslifeline and Indian Periodical. Dr Diwakar  servers on the Advisory Board of www.writerslifeline.ca. 

4 Comments

  1. Ms Diwakar has pointed out very aptly that Candle Marches do not solve the gruesome rape problems which are on the rise around the world. Some strict action has to be taken to put an end to this so called game of pleasure for the sex maniacs bent on raping & murdering the victim. What is surprising in our Indian society especially, the girl is always held responsible for being raped while the realist enjoys his life looking out for more innocent victims..even babes are good for their own pleasure. Ms Diwakar rightfully also points out no male is an innocent babe even if he’s a minor..rape isn’t an act of innocence but of a treacherous lecher & if no quick & immediate action is taken then the country will go down the drain & it will be better that all bragging about it being a well developed and advanced country is stopped immediately because if you can’t provide a safe secure life to half the population especially the females then the country is advanced & well developed in having a lot of criminals of various categories especially the rapists who mostly are proved innocent..how that’s the biggest mystery. The NGOs too to come to support the rapists under the guise of Humanity/ Humanism I’M d like to ask them do the rapists deserve it? Where had all humanism disappeared when they raped innocent babes, girls, women even of the age of fifty plus? They see such qualities only when they are caught & want to save their own life without a thought to their loathsome act. After being proved innocent they once again are prowling wolves!

  2. Correction: It’s not while the realist..but while the rapist

  3. Yes ASB humanity and humanism have fast vanished from the world of advanced goodness and high technology.
    Agreed no nation can call itself advanced except in the field of sexism because though we brag of gender equality, the reality is girls are no longer safe across the world,… the only difference is even a minor is considered an adult in a sex racket in other countries, while in India he is treated as a juvenile and is saved from serious punishment… he is by no means an innocent who should be protected by law… its time such atrocities were put to an end lawfully by the most severe public punishments.

  4. A candid view of the times we live in…True the candle marches after the damage has been done is meaningless-the postmortem serves little purpose! While rapes by commoners is unpardonable, what to talk about the sexual overtures of the ‘godly’ wolf in sheep’s clothing?