India’s National Shame – Delhi

First things first. I am not concerned about any singer or culture or food or dance related to my Punjab or Punjabi origins. There is this section of Punjabi youth dedicated to those causes so let them deal with it.

To me, humanity is greater than every religion and every community. I can not go on writing on and on in appreciation of any one singer or video. So please excuse me here. I personally am more concerned about human values and this article is dedicated to killed and destroyed humanity in India’s national capital called New Delhi time and again.

Some readers here may belong to a richer or more lavish strata of the society, may be they have never witnessed a death in their family and think they never will, hence they are very confident or indifferent to such news articles. They can disregard it and get absorbed in bhangra and gidha. But please note, that every Punjabi has to pass through tragedies at some point of time in his or her life, more so, since now there is this section of NRIs who board the flights and land and take off from IGI at odd hours in the night in that city of Delhi. We as a community and as humans should express condolences with all the victims whenever human rights are mocked.

I personally think voices should speak, issues should be highlighted when they involve one innocent victim, so that even if we can not prevent such incidents, we should know what to avoid and when.

Today I read the news of a young 23 year old medical student brutally gang-raped by five drunken men including the bus driver and his friends in a moving bus and brutally beaten with iron rod as she resisted leading to rupture of her intestines and not stopping there, she was then thrown off the moving bus. The girl is in coma and is on ventilator support right now at Safdarjung Hospital. That it is winter time in India, you can not even expect that the girl might have been dressed provocatively. When I read this brutality of men residing in Delhi, coming from backgrounds of UP, Bihar, Rajasthan and acting this way against the independence of women, I am forced to think about their attitude toward prosperity of minorities.

Never judge a city or place or a community by its attitude towards powerful, for the popular and powerful names are never at risk. It is we, the ordinary people, who are always at risk and it is the attitude of the city for us which tells us the pulse of the place. It were we, the ordinary sikhs, who were burned and killed in the streets of Delhi in 1984 by the forefathers of same people who committed this heinous crime against this young girl yesterday. What can anyone expect from such a government which fails to give punishment to perpetrators of worst human atrocities when the situation is called ‘peaceful’ and ‘democratic’? It is aptly expected that these people are protected by the government all the time so that it can use them when there are riots in the name of religion or politics.

Government is never going to punish all of them. Government is never going to make them literate or sane since their hooliganism and illiteracy is the prime source of bread and butter for Indian government. Their ignorance is the vote bank of Indian government. So it is expected that people like them are never going to be brought to book.

For us women, we should know what to do and what not to do in Delhi. I can not rely on my husband or brother in that shameful city to protect me. I can not put their lives and their health at risk since wolves always come in groups and never alone. So girls should never go out late in the night in that city even with their family members since there is this huge number of filthy people with animal behavior roaming around that you simply can not tackle them. Whenever my own brother used to come to pick me up from IGI in the night, I made him stay with me till 4:00 or 5:00 a.m. inside the airport despite his resistance. I have never regretted that decision of mine till now. Women should never hire a cab in Delhi and no matter how much the rush is, always board the metro since it still is the safer drive. Safest place for a single woman traveling alone is IGI airport. If you have the ticket, you can go inside and rest. If you do not have the ticket, sit outside in the lounge and sit there as the place is buzzing with people all the time.

It is very important that we tell our daughters and young girls about the things expected more commonly in a city. In Delhi, every place you will find the crowd of UP, Bihar and Rajasthan who have never seen independent women in their lives. They tuck their own women behind veils in villages and come to Delhi to earn a living and then they can not cope up with prosperous beautiful young women. And they are not going to make any distinction between girls from Punjab or girls from Delhi or girls arriving from Canada or US or UK. Bear this in mind. So do not blame a Delhi woman solely. Needless to mention that recent videos of certain popular Punjabi songs have tarnished the image or Punjabi woman and given al altogether different meaning to Punjab. Our sisters and daughters should not expect that they can fight the animals of Delhi streets.
Teach your daughters to fight when it is apt and avoid when it is important. Fathers and brothers have an added responsibility too. Why is there a hard need to set off for village immediately on arrival? Do you carry iron rods and pistols with you from US and Canada that you are so confident that you can save your womenfolk in the middle of the night if the car breaks up or if there is a traffic jam? Do not be arrogant and do not live in a fool’s paradise. The things being reported are the realities of today’s Delhi.

As my heart stays restless for that innocent girl and eyes shell out tears, my mind numbs with the thoughts of the granthi of Gurdwara Bangla Sahib who was dragged out of the gurdwara and set to fire in 1984 in full public view. What can you expect in a land where votes are counted on the basis of widespread illiteracy and animal behavior and hooligans are protected by the state and government agencies all the time.

We can cry for the lost souls of 1984, we can cry for victims of road rage accidents happening every day in Delhi, but bear in mind that it is no different for the other weaker sections of the society. Avoid the place for your own betterment.

It is ironic that the national capital has become national shame for the country time and again.

And one request to the youth of Punjab – please do not make our beautiful state similar to Delhi or Bihar or UP or Rajasthan. We are certainly better than them! We can and should protect humanity better than them. Do not let your community’s name get included with other notorious ones of North India. (404)