INDIA: CRIMINAL INDIFFERENCE

INDIA: MINISTERS AND POLITICAL LEADERS
TURN A BLIND EYE TO SEXUAL OFFENSES

www.eurasiareview.com - A brutal crime shocks the nation, but even as public discontent grows, our 'leaders' waffle and play the blame game. But we can’t pin all the blame on our self-serving politicians - it’s us, Indian citizens, which have allowed regressive ideas and criminal behaviour to flourish. As the year ended, the nation was shaken to its core by the brutal rape of a young woman. The barbaric incident and the shocking details of the torture inflicted by the six depraved criminals may have left us distraught, but are we willing to change things? And where do we start? The system may have failed, as many say, but blaming the government solely would be futile - the rot goes deep into our society. 
Our police system, largely unchanged since the colonial days, is still based on the concept of protecting the ruling classes, through brutality and fear. Ask any youth - especially a woman - of their experience with the men in khaki, and the recollection will probably make them shudder. 

The police may not have been around to protect the woman (whose injuries are so severe that she might never lead a normal life even if she survives) but was ready to attack peaceful protestors gathered in central Delhi - a VIP area reserved for our nation’s ruling classes. The police clamped down on protests, kicking and beating even old women and children. And then, how can we forget rape laws and the outdated justice system, which often puts the victim on trial. Blaming the rape on the woman, claiming she had ‘provoked’ a rapist, and subjecting her to unimaginably regressive tests and questioning is just unspeakably cruel. This is not what a civilised society does. And then there is the not-so-insignificant issue that most sexual assault gets fobbed off as ‘eve-teasing’ or ‘molestation’, terms that minimize the horror of sex crimes. 
But can we expect a transformation? Not till we change. Safe in their Delhi fortresses, surrounded by armed guards, and living a life of luxury at the taxpayer’s expense, it’s unlikely our politicians will want any change in the system, as that would only reduce their grip over our nation. So, change must come from society, but sadly, the rot in the government emanates from the decay in Indian society.

The author of the article, Vaibhav Sharma, a freelance writer, gives many daily events of social embarrassment, such these “Many women participating in the peaceful protests at India Gate reported being pawed at and groped by drunken men - who were ostensibly there in support for a safe nation?” … “When miscreants attend a rally calling for justice for a rape victim, and take advantage of the crowds to sexually assault women.” And he asks, “Is that what we have become?” As the morality of humanity declined through the ages, the need for proper rulers - those who always protect Dharma keeping the subjects happy and driving away the evil doers - become increasingly evident.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US? 

Time and again the Mahabharata and other Vedic texts stress that a ruler must be able to protect and care for the citizens. ... “Having thus arranged all the affairs (of) his (government), he shall zealously and carefully protect his subjects. That (monarch) whose subjects are carried off by robbers (Dasyu) from his kingdom, while they loudly call (for help), and he and his servants are quietly looking on, is a dead and not a living (king). ... “A king should protect his subjects just as a pregnant woman nurtures the foetus in her womb.” (Mb.12.56.44) In this way, as a pregnant woman sacrifices her own interests for the sake of the child in her womb, so also a king should be able to give up his own interests to address the needs of the citizens. “Just as a father helps his son rise over a crisis, so also a king should deliver his subjects from difficulties.” (Bhagavata Purana 11.17.45).

Stephen Knapp (Śrīpad Nandanandana dasa) :
“Purpose and Function of Government
According to Mahabharata”
http://www.stephen-knapp.com  -  http://www.stephenknapp.info/
http://www.stephen-knapp.com/purpose_of_government_according_to_mahabharata.htm

Published by dasavatara das - "Vedic Views on World News"
http://www.vedicviews-worldnews.blogspot.com.ar/