In a rare intervention, President Droupadi Murmu spoke out against a series of brutal rapes in the country and called for “honest self-introspection” to go to the root of the “malaise”.
“The gruesome incident of rape and murder of a doctor in Kolkata has left the nation shocked. I was dismayed and horrified. What’s more depressing is… it is part of a series of crimes against women. The victims include even kindergarten girls. Let us collectively say enough is enough,” she said in a signed article. “Even as students, doctors and citizens were protesting in Kolkata, criminals remained on the prowl elsewhere. “We owe it to our daughters to remove the hurdles from their path of winning freedom from fear,” she said.
While the President usually refrains from commenting on such developments, Murmu dealt with the issue amid protests over the rape and murder in Kolkata as well as a similar incident in Badlapur, Maharashtra. The President lamented the pattern of episodic outrage against atrocities like the Nirbhaya rape case only to develop “collective amnesia” until jolted into a furious response by another gruesome crime against women.
Recalling the Nirbhaya incident, which generated “shock and awe”, the President said, “We were determined not to let another Nirbhaya meet the same fate. We made plans and devised strategies. These initiatives did make a difference to an extent. Yet, our task remains unfinished as long as any woman feels unsafe in the environment where she lives or works.”
President said “collective amnesia” about the gruesome incidents was as “obnoxious” as the mindset of some. “I am of the firm belief that we should not let amnesia prevail over the memory of such criminality. Let us deal with this perversion in a comprehensive manner so as to curb it right at the beginning. We can do this only if we honour the memory of the victims by cultivating a social culture of remembering them to remind us of our failures in the past and prepare us to be more vigilant in future,” Murmu said.
The President also sought to address underlying causes such as the "objectification of women by a few" which, she said, allowed crimes against women to keep happening despite the enactment of tough laws.
“Countering this mindset is a task for both the state and society. In India, over the years, the two have fought hard to change the wrong attitude. There have been laws and there have been social campaigns. Yet, there is something that continues to come in the way and to torment us,” she said.
