There are one or two side roles I'm inordinately fond of in Noone Killed Jessica - Peter for one, his daughter for another. I like characters that believe in fighting some fights which need to be fought, even if they aren't their own. Should they also have fought for something else? Maybe. Some of us fight for what's fashionable, some for what we know of. We're all shades of gray. But the important thing is to fight.
I've been told time and again to pick my battles, to let some things go, to at least check circumstances before I plunge right in kicking and flailing. I don't think of myself as an activist per se, more as someone who lives in a democratic country and is very aware of it.
More often than not, I stand up for the lesser known underdog. I believe the well known underdogs get their say, that their battles are won, that... I mean, just look at Jessica Lall. Then again, look at Aruna Shanbaug. Can you? I can't do it without crying at the unfairness of it all.
A 25-year old career-oriented woman, excited about her upcoming marriage, a woman who fought some of the battles she thought were worth fighting. She could be me. It's scary how easily she could be me or anyone else on this planet. A rapist, a fucking disgrace to humanity, walks free after a mere seven years in prison, while a woman is not allowed the dignity to die in peace thirty seven years after all dignity was robbed from her.
Like I was telling someone, this isn't about feminism at all, it's about basic human rights and the ball-lessness of our legal system disgusts me. Our Supreme Court hides behind flimsy curtains of law because they're afraid to fight a battle which NEEDS to be fought dammit, even as large groups of people raise their voice, actually remembering something that's worth remembering for a change... and none of it changes anything.
Aruna Shanbaug's case is one of the few things on the planet that can render me helpless, incoherent, in tears no matter how long it's been since the incident. Blog posts don't change a verdict, my fighting several battles don't change the world. It's no use wanting to castrate that bastard, to reverse the SC's decision, to turn back time, to give Aruna a normal life... nothing takes the fight out of me like this case.
That said - please. Google her. Read her story. Let's, at the very least, not forget. And let's feel some guilt, on the behalf of people who don't. Let's feel some shock, because this isn't just another casualty number in the papers, to be seen and ignored. Let's try to stay human in the face of inhumanity. Because sometimes, when voices aren't heard, and nothing you can say will change a thing, that's all that's left to do.
Agreed.
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