Last month, India’s Cabinet has approved the death penalty for rapists of girls below the age of 12. And most people have mistaken this for a response to the nationwide outrage in the wake of a series of rape cases, although it wasn't. Here's why.
Prime Minister Modi didn't respond when the protests began – he was unperturbed by the public outrage. What happened was that, when he went to England and realized that India's rape epidemic was a big international headline, he had to make the appearance of doing something. And he wasn't acting in response to the protests inside India.
According to some activists, all forms of violence including rape have become weaponised against the defenseless, since Modi came to power in 2014. The Mongoloid racial minority had long been subjected to rape and violence without having to fear for legal consequence, under AFSPA (Armed Forces Special Powers Act), in places such as Nagaland, Mizoram, Manipur, etc., but what's new under Modi is, the whole of India all of a sudden has begun to have the same effect of living under ASFPA.
All over the country, the Hindutva family has started lynching those they suspected of eating beef. They started flogging Dalits for transporting dead cattle. And the Muslims are prevented from saying their prayers outdoors. All these have gone up to a whole new level like never before. Rape is not a new thing; what's new is, the permissive political attitude and support for rapists.
Had the Prime Minister not been to England, he might not even give the appearance of doing something. Would he?
REFERENCES:
Writer Arundhati Roy on Impunity for Rape in India & How Violence Is Used as a Tool of the State
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