The eve of Republic Day assault by lumpen foot-soldiers of the Ram Sene — a lunatic fringe Hindu militant group — on a party of young women lunching in a pub in the port city of Mangalore, has been sharply condemned by right thinking people countrywide, including the top leaders of the BJP government which rules the southern state of Karnataka. There is virtual societal unanimity that the rioting and affray committed by vigilante groups claiming cultural/religious sanction for proscribing wining, dining and socialising between the sexes — talibanisation of Indian society — needs exemplary reaction from the police and law and order authorities.
Yet the mystery of the January 25 incident in Mangalore, is that none of the victims of the violence graphically depicted on national television, has stepped forward to lodge a formal complaint against the Ram Sene goons. Moreover all press reports describing the incident carry a tag line — “the names of the victims have been changed at their request to protect their identities” or words to that effect, while television channels deliberately pixellate their images to prevent identification.
Behind this curious phenomenon of even educated middle class victims of criminal activity being afraid to speak up, is India’s worst kept secret: that assault, oppression, and blackmail of the contemporary world’s largest youth population (550 million Indians are below 24 years of age) begins at home. The most elementary rights of children and youth to free speech, assembly and equality guaranteed by the Constitution are routinely denied to them, even within middle class households countrywide. And it’s quite likely that if women victims of hooliganism and atrocities insist upon freely exercising their constitutional rights of freedom of speech, assembly and trivial pursuits, they will be assaulted and humiliated at home as well.
Unsolicited advice to India’s hypocritical middle class: Look inward, respect children’s rights and practice democracy at home!