When I saw the interview of Mukesh Singh one of the four culprits condemned to death for the rape and murder of Jyoti Singh aka Nirbhaya in the documentary “India’s Daughter” which has so much ruffled the feathers of the powers that be and a section of media myrmidons I was chillingly reminded of the lady’s views. That is exactly what Mukesh said.
Partly blaming Jyoti for the rape he said decent girls don’t roam around at nine in the night dressed in skimpy cloths.His views were reflecdted by two defence lawyers of the culprits, one of whom tested the viewer’s patience and Queen’s English with the most atrocious malapropisms to echo Mukesh’s sentiment.
Is that why, I wonder Indian government decided to ban the documentary.because Mukesh mirrors the views of a vast sections of conservative Indians, may be even that of the the conservative BJP , an undeniable part of the Sangh parivar which has often acted as moral police? May be they don’t want their own faces mirrored in Mukesh’s?
I think the documentary is a powerful one which uses the Nirbhaya case to reflect on the status of women in India, on how thjey are disadvantaged from an early age and are treated as subservient to men even 68 years after independence. despite middle and upper middle class women making vast strides.
The documentary shows how the idea of subservience of women has been dimmed into women’s head over years. In the film the wife of one of the rapists says: “ What will a woman do without man? What will happen to me without my husband?” .
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My relative with her questioning of the character of the women visiting the club and Mukesh Singh just reflected the dominant attitude in this country and particularly Delhi. The attitude here is if you see a young woman moving around alone or with male companions late in the evening, she must be the easy virtue type.—free and available..
And when that woman resists the notion of “availability” of lusty and roguish men looking for some “fun” the chances are she would get raped. (A joke in the film:” A cop says Delhi is a very safe city for women).
A friend of mine who came from Mumbai few years ago to Delhi for the first time remarked that Delhi was a “dead city after eight. Very true, except for a miniscule partying crowd, and people who got delayed somewhere everyone is back home sitting before their TVs or busy with some work.
And woe betide any woman who moves around alone after that time. She is not safe. unless she is some upper crust woman with a security cordon/. It is a heady cocktail of conservatism and machismo .
It is this mindset that this documentary brutally exposes. It is about Mukesh Singhs of the world who grow up in environments where women are treated as chattels and develop a mindset that you can take them for granted. .
I am not surprised that while BJP –led government is hopping mad, even some leftists are critical of the documentary. Kavitha Krishnan of All India Progressive Women’s Association described the documentary as “anti-woman” I would have expected leftists like her to back the BBC film.
I didn’t expect anything better from Arnab Goswami., particularly when a rival channel was to telecast the documentary. He described the film as voyeuristic and not journalistic. In his show News Tonight on Times Now he left no stone unturned to project the rival NDTV in bad light and accused it of hankering after TRP ratings by planning to screen the film, I think he expects other news channels to get a character certificate from him.
And when poor Kollywood actress Kushboo tried to say a few words in support of the documentary, he simply outshouted her. If that guy doesn’t like opinions. Against his own, he shouldn’t call his programme a debate. He should be debating with himself instead of inviting guests to his programme. . He and his channel should quit the self-congratulatory mode and focus more on news coverage.
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And please friends, do download the powerful hard-hitting and moving film before governmental jitters makes it disappear from internet. And do share it with as many friends as possible. The film deserves to be seen. May be they should give it an Oscar next year for the best documentary or something.
Dreading Documentaries
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