My good friend Srishti, who is one spunky young lady, recently told me about an alleged molestation incident which took place at the prestigious Jadavpur University here in Kolkata. The incident allegedly took place last month-end, and it snowballed when the University VC instead of ensuring a free and fair investigation, asked the alleged victim to lie low and not attend college for couple of weeks!
Srishti and her many equally courageous friends have been protesting the incident and the subsequent apathy of the college authorities, not with much success sadly till now!
Anyways, Srishti mentioned that everyone should do their bit to highlight the issue. Of course, I flatly refused! There was no reason why I should involve myself with such PETTY issues!
She asked – Can you give me ONE good reason, why you won’t????
I pondered over it, and responded- Well, I will give you not 1 but 12 reasons!
So, here are 12 reasons why one should NOT PROTEST any such incident. Read on….
- Firstly, it’s just a PETTY molestation case…I think I should wait for someone to get raped..and then I’ll REALLY have a cause for protest!
- Secondly, The girl must have worn a revealing dress… And why was she out so late at night anyway?? That too with a guy? She deserved it, if you ask me!
- And C’mon…Boys will be boys! We all know that! These PETTY things happen! Why make such a hue and cry over it!
- I am not a student of JU…and anyway the students there are such snobs…serves her right!!
- That’s something which happens to other people…won’t happen to me or my near ones. Why should I bother?
- I must have shared like…a zillion posts on feminism everyday on FB! I have better things to do than protest a PETTY molestation.
- It’s better to not get involved. Who knows…the authorities might victimize me!
- My Daughter is NOT like that! Such things will never happen to her. And my son…he is such a Bhalo Chhele( Good Boy)…he doesn’t even look at girls! The girl must have asked for it!
- I cannot possibly sully the image of my college, such a reputed institute, by protesting a PETTY molestation!
- What difference will one person make anyway? Let the others protest. Anyway these college kids will get bored soon and it will die out in a few days anyway.
- I REALLY have to watch this awesome football game between Ouagadougou and Timbuktoo on TV today. That’s like a once in a lifetime opportunity! Sorry, can’t protest…no time!
- I really care about this issue and I DO want to protest, but I am not sure how. I wish someone could tell me how I can contribute without seriously jeopardizing my schedule.
For all those, who are in empathy with any one or more of the absolutely logical reasons. Stop reading right here.
For the few who still want to know more about the incident and maybe do something about it( I would strongly discourage!), check out Srishti’s reportage on the incident published in Kindle Magazine, HERE.
Know-All's Box 
I love the sarcastic wit you used in this post. And of course this brings even more attention to the issue. Well done! Unfortunately many people use this kind of reasoning to avoid becoming involved in all kinds of things. I have no first hand knowledge of this incident being from the US, but every allegation of this kind should be taken seriously and investigated thoroughly. I know in rare cases the accusations are false, but most of the time they are true. Unfortunately a lot of times they are swept under the rug and forgotten by all but the poor woman involved. Happened here in the US not long ago. Shameful! I will check out the article you pointed us to now. Good to see a new post from you. 🙂
Thank you Elizabeth! I agree…it is very important to take the complaints seriously…In this case what could have been dealt with easily has now snow-balled into a major crisis with 24×7 media coverage…things turned ugly when some local goons beat up the college students…including the girls..My friend Srishti was one of those badly beaten up! Reason enough for me to come out of hibernation and write!
dude…petty molestation…?? wow…ma bon nei na barite?? u dnt wanna gt involved?? bhoa paccho? thn do one thing sari goyna pore ma r achole r tolae boshe thako…that suits ur attitude..:)
Dear Unknown
I see that you feel strongly about the happenings and hence the strong words! However in your zeal, you hurried through the post and leave alone read “BETWEEN THE LINES”, you did not even read “THE LINES” properly! And you mistook my sarcastic tone for indifference. And now, because of this error, you have made some hurtful comments in public.
Next time you feel like insulting someone….don’t! Read the lines again, carefully!
I had the option of deleting this comment, but I decided not to, because everyone is entitled to their opinion…but there is always a polite way of doing it!
I am an ex-student of JU myself. I am appalled at the authorities’ inaction. Are we moving backwards? How can such shameful acts get away with being unpunished? We worship Durga and Kali, yet the women are not at all safe. The revealing clothes, the late nights and boyfriends – women are constantly being judged and blamed. No one judges a man for misbehaving.
Thank you Sayantan for being one of the ‘voices’.
Thank you Swati Di! Hopefully people will stop giving excuses and start speaking up! And maybe one day, men will be held accountable for their actions!
Hey Know-all! I’ll share it on the social media that I use. I hope it counts. 🙂
Thank you Srishty!! It really really counts a lot!! Every drop goes towards making the ocean! You are really awesome! 🙂
Incidentally..it is another Srishti who inspired me to come out of hibernation and write this post… 🙂
haha, what can I say, we are awesome people 😛 you realized it soon enough 😛 😀
Oh I knew it all the time!! I just mentioned it today! 😛 😉
Reblogged this on Life of Srish and commented:
If you have ever believed that you should stand up for things you believe in, read this post. Now.
Thanks a lot for the re-blog, Srishty! 🙂
🙂
Number 5 is one of the biggest reasons why people stop themselves from progressing forward either as a nation or just a simple individual… ‘If it’s not happening to me or my family, I don’t care’… people are quick to react if the food they ordered at a restaurant arrives late… and people show no reaction to issues that concern their society.
Thanks for dropping by Snowflake! And yes, this cocoon of of “It won’t happen to me, so I don’t need to bother about it” is the greatest reason why these things keep on happening! We have to understand that keeping quiet is not going to wish our troubles away!
It is fantastic to see people dare to speak out! Good on you for not protesting 😉 hope you’ll grow strong enough to make JU rethink their policy!
Thank you freebutfun!! Glad that you visited! As of now the horizon is pitch black…hopefully things will improve from here! Fingers crossed!
I can feel your rage and your frustration is such a simple post! You bring light to a very serious topic perfectly!
Well!! It is really nice to hear from you Lady! 🙂 Of course, the fault is mine! and I am glad that you liked the presentation…Believe me…I am fuming inside…this is the first time, someone I personally know has been assaulted like this! Though I wrote this post before that incident took place…but I am really frustrated to see where my city is going! Hopeless!
Ineffectiveness of the university authority and the police, and lack of empathetic communication from the university authority are responsible for letting this spiral out of control. While it is understandable that investigation should be done carefully and the right perpetrator should be arrested, and that may take time to avoid arbitrary arrests, the authorities should meticulously communicate with the students regarding all the developments. The authorities should also make sure that none of their members make independent or insensitive moves/comments as the two professors do. Communication between teachers and students is very important in this respect. On the other hand, lack of decorum on the side of student bodies also make this communication difficult. For example, there has been multiple incidents during this agitations that students had rounded up authorities/professors and kept them in captivity for hours, and even used abusive languages. This naturally hurts the communication channels. How can you expect a professor to care about the students that call him “motherc***d” (yes, that kind of thing happened) and keep him in captivity until 2am in the night? So I, being a student, is not keen on supporting any side. Not that I consider anything “petty”, but the world is not black-and-white here and the colors have been smeared to a dirty gray by both the sides. My suggestion to fellow students: Keep up the protest, but keep it peaceful and maintain decorum. Otherwise you will only alienate the people who really wanted to help you.
i mostly agree with what you have to say MK….charges need to be substantiated with evidence and cannot be based on popular opinion…However, I beg to state 2 points:
1) Respect needs to be earned not demanded! If teachers are being called names, though I can never condone such actions being old-fashioned that I am, I believe the teachers also need to act in a way so that they command the respect they expect! If you cannot manage some 20 year olds, you don’t deserve to be a teacher!
2) I always prefer a balanced view…though in this case, since I have young friends who are students in the university, I happen to have so-called insider information. Hence, I stick to the position that the authorities are in the wrong!
Thanks for your valuable comments!
Ha! Initially I was shocked at what you were writing, but once I realized it was sarcasm, I was like smart. Thanks for enlightening us with this incident, I hadn’t heard about it. And nice to see a new post from you finally. 🙂
Haha..Thank you!! Well…it was a spur of the moment thing…I wanted to shock people…and going by the number of people who have shared and read the post…I guess my purpose has been served…to make people aware about this horrible incident! And yes, good to hear from my blogging friends after such a long time! Thank you for dropping by! 🙂
Sarcasm at its best, well done.
Thank you!! Happy that you like it…though I would have been happier if did not have to write this article in the first place!
I can understand. I have accepted the fact that majority of the population is apathetic till it’s one of their own
Yes…sad but true!
it cannot be helped. what else can you expect from a population that gives more importance to quantity than quality?
Reblogged this on Sanghamitra Dhar and commented:
Shame on Us.. Shame on our state..
Thanks for the re-blog!
It’s a shame that women can’t dress like they want to and be able to walk freely without being sexually assaulted.
Not only that…what’s worse is that when a wrong has been committed, the authorities are not showing any intent of administering justice…That is equally unfortunate if not downright dangerous!
Good thing folks took the time to read in between the lines eh? You could have been in all sorts of trouble! Very clever post sir!!
Thank you Lady Ed!! 🙂 🙂 Seems like out of the thousands who have read this post, at least one did not read between the lines…and decided to insult me publicly! But, I am not upset with that! But, if only he had commented AFTER your comment, I would have had a perfect opportunity to say that you jinxed it! 😛 😀
On a serious note, here in Calcutta the movement has become HUGE! Yesterday thousands and thousands of students took out a protest march, in spite of torrential rain! There is hope yet!
Woman hate is serious problem just about everywhere. Little ripples can make great waves. 🙂
I agree! Am always game for making ripples…
To make a point to higher authorities you should have engaged a photographer to gather evidence for your defence prior to get molested.
Huh! Are saying this with seriousness or are you just inspired by my sarcasm?
This is bang on! I’m not going to protest either. It doesn’t concern me anyway!
I wish I were here during those crucial days of #Hokkolorob. Sharing this sarcastical witty post would have been an eye-opener to many…
Thanks a lot! Well..it was thankfully shared and read by lots of people(mostly students) during that period! And usually, I don’t write posts on current events or social events… 🙂