Is The Indian Police With The Public?

May 10
NabanitaDhar

‘One should not be afraid of humans. Well, I am not afraid of humans, but of what is inhuman in them.’

Satish Kumar Mathur, the DIG of Saharanpur in UP was caught on camera endorsing honor killing. Wow!  If law and order officials hold such blasphemous opinions then who does the common man look up to for refuge! He said and I quote ‘I don’t have magical power to recover your daughter. But if she has eloped, you should be ashamed of it and end your life. I would have committed suicide or killed my sister if she had eloped.’ This to the request of a father to rescue his missing daughter who he feared was abducted by some local goons. Which era does he think he is in?

Is this what they are taught in the Police? Is this what is expected of an officer? When an educated man can talk such nonsense on camera and that too after holding a responsible position where does that leave our society? I guess it is right to say that education is definitely not sufficient to eliminate nuisances from our social order. Well I really feel men such as these should be castrated in public to actually stop people from endorsing or even practicing such evils. Ofcourse the new Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, one of the worst states in terms of condition of women, has assured the public and Women’s organizations that an inquiry would be launched and the DIG punished if he is found guilty. Ya right, as if we cannot read beyond his well rehearsed lines!  

I wonder how our society will overcome honor killing when people in power, people in the administration and the police themselves go about sanctioning such acts. I understand as human beings we need social acceptance but then how can you go as far as killing people to achieve that. The educated and the illiterate alike hold such antediluvian views, if not education then what can obstruct such practices! The more humanity advances, the more it is degraded.

Such men will continue viewing women as commodities; will continue asking their daughters to wear sarees and not jeans as the latter will cause them to tempt innocent men; will continue marrying off their daughters to shameless men like themselves after buying the latter with truck loads of money; will ask their daughters to spend their lives in the kitchen and have no other interests; will ask their wives to give their lives for them, work like slaves and never ask anything in return; will not allow their daughters to have a life of their own choice; will teach their daughters to suffer in their in-law’s house but never come back for shelter; will ask for dowry for their sons; will torture their daughter-in-laws; will demand grandsons form their daughter-in-laws; will burn their daughter-in-laws to death; and if by chance the women of their house dare to try and live life on their own terms these men will kill them and be proud at that. And that’s not all; after such insanely heinous acts they will make a trip to the Vaishno Devi pretending to be among the most holy men in the world. The infamous DIG, I am sure is one such man.

The people who actually commit the killings and the ones who only verbally support it; both kinds are equally guilty of spreading this evil in our midst. But irony is nothing happens to them. We Indians are very good at making a mockery of every damn institution that is vital to a healthy and safe society. We advocate so many ideals; boast so much about our culture. But what culture seriously? This- of honor killing and of people supporting it; then I think we are among the worst nations in the world with a shallow and pretentious culture and nothing more!

Seriously I do not have any answers to how these will ever stop. When I have children in the future I wouldn’t want to raise them in a world where such people live. What can I do except for writing about all these again and again? This is perhaps my third or fourth post about this blatant and unwarranted outlook towards women but I know as well as you do that this will avail to nothing. Today I am forced to say that I am not at all proud to be part of an India where such people still live. Disappointed is the word for what I feel today. It upsets me that such people are sitting at the helm of affairs. I can curse and swear at them but still nothing will happen. The father of our nation once said ‘You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty’ but looking around I feel that the drops that are filthy far outnumber the rest.  Reading about this incident makes me believe that ‘There are too many people, and too few human beings.’

47 thoughts on “Is The Indian Police With The Public?”

  3. The DIG is free to commit suicide, that will only lessen the burden on earth. But he has no right to kill anyone or even talk about it, being in the position he is on.

  5. Women, you tempt innocent men because you wear one thing and not another and because you aren't where you are supposed to be – cooking and cleaning for us. We know we can get away with our lack of self control, our indulging our lust and foisting our unwanted attention on you because some men, who remain in power so that the parties they are connected with remain in power, will try and deflect attention away from our dirty thoughts, lowly mentality and vile behaviour by blaming you.

  6. Time we change our education system, life is not calculus, life is living with values and integrity and having respect for human life and also respect for anyone around us.

  7. I read about this in the newspaper too. If this is what the so called 'protectors of law' think then God bless our country-men, specially our women. Shame on him!

  13. Hi Nabanita

    I like the way you are bringing current and live issues to the notice of your readers.

    The more young citizens pick up such issues and demand action the greater the chance for positive change.

    Look forward to more such commentaries on this page.

    Best wishes

  15. sad state of affairs….it won't change unless the change is brought at ground level….these ppl's mindset is the main issue which has to be addressed…sick thought-process eventually breeds many other serious problems and DIG's loose remark is just an outcome of his diseased mind…
    Good post I must say….

  16. First off, the term "honor killing" itself is a contradiction in terms. There's no honor in murder of any kind! Secondly, it's these dirty, sick scumbags like this DIG who bring our country down.

  17. in the man dominant society if a man falls in love it's ok, rather when a women falls in love than her family can't digest the fact….some time it looks horrible, we can watch love stories but cant see the same in our own family.

  18. India was not like this before. Learned women like Gargee, Maitreyi etc were respected. With the coming of Moghuls, women became more of a pawn. Unfortunately, we haven't recovered much. Certainly the impact of the last couple of hundred years can be changed if people like you evangelise it. Talk about it and practice it. It may take a lifetime, but it can be done.

  22. I do not know when this sick mentality crept into our society but yes you are right if each of us think above all these archaic dogmas and practices we can actually move towards a better society may be in a 100 years or more but at least it will be something!

  23. We all need to break the mentality we develop and are supposed to develop…guess, we can just wish people can break those barriers of narrow mindedness…

  26. It's a pity that many educated people are falling prey to this terrible evil called honour killing. I wonder why anyone's honour should cost another person his/her life.

  27. Nabanita you write very cogent & powerful posts-alas all who think thus have no say in matters of import….do you know why this happened?because nobody who has power,post & connections is ever punished…sad state of affairs.

  31. There are too many people but very few humans Naba. Rightly so. Sad to the core and helpless.

  33. Such a pathetic state of affairs! People in India talk a lot about reforms and stuff. But when it comes to actual implementation, this is what we are put to see. Shame on such people, really.

  34. You remind me of the proverbial phrase… "only time will untie this knot, not I; this knot is too big a knot for me to untie." check these two videos for more amusement:

  39. Nabanita,
    When you have children, ensure that you put the right values in them and everytime you read this kind of a insert remember there enough on the other side too.
    Haven't your parents brought you right, How many honour killings can you quote within your circle of interaction?
    Get it straight I am not condoning honour killing that is a crime that deserves public lynching, the same goes for the person who endorses it.
    What I am trying to point out to you that the scene is not that impossible either.

  40. hey!!!
    i just want to say that your words are really powerful…especially that 'women being treated as commodities' part…i know that this may not be the scene everywhere lets us be open to say that wen inhumanity issues come, its the worst in India..
    Your post was really effective..

  41. hey!!!
    i just want to say that your words are really powerful…especially that 'women being treated as commodities' part…i know that this may not be the scene everywhere lets us be open to say that wen inhumanity issues come, its the worst in India..
    Your post was really effective..

  42. I too am a policeman and did not find any logic behind the argument of DIG … but there are lots of good officers in police … whose work do not make headlines and they remain behind curtains throughout their career ….

  46. Again, a steller of an article! I am enjoying reading your posts 🙂

    The lack of accoutability is appalling.Even more puzzling is the lack of empathy.Everyday there is a new testimony to the degradation of moral values in our society. Morality being, not the ability of a woman to keep a piece of cloth thrown over her chest, but fiber of character that makes any human, a human.

    "We advocate so many ideals; boast so much about our culture. But what culture seriously? This- of honor killing and of people supporting it; then I think we are among the worst nations in the world with a shallow and pretentious culture and nothing more!"
    I loved what you wrote there. It reflects everything that I had felt when I decided I don't want to the part of that system anymore. That was about a decade ago.
    I live in the US, and the difference between the two cultures in terms of simple humanity and everyday empathy towards fellow human beings is so tangible that you can touch it.How has this happened? Could be that it was always there, we know of more now because more people talk about it? Don't get me wrong,I still love India, and I have done more to promote India than I ever did back when I was there.However, it doesn't take away from the fact that few things in life can compare to mental peace. Few in India today realise that money has very little to do with mental peace while way of life has everything to do with it. The way of life is the behaviour, and how you weave the net of security around your fellow human beings.Long back, when I read history books, I read that English called Indians "savages". I used to get so riled up, so angry,and yet, when I think back, I ponder – would that be word that would still fit so many of these pieces of S&^%?

  47. I agree partly with you Minnie…In the quest to uphold our so called culture we are harming our society more I feel… All these nonsense problems that we have is all due to our so called culture…ofcourse there are a lot of good things that we have that can't be found in the rest of the world but all that is now being overshadowed by the evils that threaten the very fabric of our society!

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