By the Editor: Siddharth Sehgal

Data is simply a number, what you can make out of it is where the talent lies. You can use data to show that there is 50% chance of rain the day after tomorrow, it may or may not rain that day but surely some people would keep umbrella at hand. Similarly, you can use data to tell that certain company’s share will rise by 20%, but it’s not necessary that your prediction will come to pass. In the same way, Thomson Reuters have used some perceptions to label my country the most dangerous place for women, even dangerous than Somalia, Afghanistan and Pakistan but I can assure you we don’t have that rampant sexual assault problem as some of these media wholesale shops portray.

First of all, Thomson Reuters Poll is a perception poll, which means the survey simply reflects what some people believe to be true; it’s not the case of facts, rather the case of perception. The poll reflected the opinion of 548 experts out of which 40 something were from India. Now it begs the questions, who are these experts? How do we know these people are actually experts? Does opinion of 40 something people really make my homeland more unsafe than Sudan? How do we know if these polls are not conjured by some interns in a conference room? Thomson Reuters, in a hurry to pick some cheap limelight, have done some really shoddy work here. This study is a dead rat and this is proven by the fact that Reuter Foundations denied releasing any details or names of these so called experts.

So why this survey came out now and, what’s the motive behind it? Well that’s something Thomson Reuters have to explain but we can pick some traces of political vendetta here. 2019 is fast approaching and by September the whole country will come into election mode, this survey definitely has something to do with that coming election battle. Corporate and political interests are at line here, especially when foreign big names in non government sector are having a hard time running their agenda in India.

Yes rape is a social challenge and those who perpetrate need to be eliminated with extreme prejudice, sorry if it hurt some sentiments there, but all of that does not mean that India is the most dangerous country for women, the society has awoken to this issue and things are changing. So lets analyze, assess, learn but not pay heed to this Reuters crap.