Nirbhaya

I had landed in Singapore on 19 January 2013, afternoon. My hosts had put me up in York Hotel close to Orchard Street, the commercial hub of Singapore. This being my first visit to Singapore I was looking forward to see this most modern city. After checking in the Hotel around 4 PM, I thought of strolling around. As I began walking out of the Hotel, first thing I read was the big sign on the nearby Building, "Mount Elizabeth Hospital".

I immediately recalled that just three weeks before, Nirbhaya had breathed her last in this hospital. Sadness enveloped me. That evening and for the rest of my stay, thought of Nirbhaya never left me. Why did she have to receive that horrific and brutal behaviour from other human beings? Can they really be called human beings?

BBC documentary brings back the focus on the incidence again. I have seen the movie on Internet. I hope it was the full version. I find the controversy around it to be baseless. In fact, it has changed my views and feelings about Nirbhaya. Earlier, I had feelings of compassion, sympathy and regret. Now I also have great respect for her. She fought the attack. She fought six persons alone. She was courageous. The incidences mentioned in the documentary show her compassion for the young thief. Her leadership potential is evident.

In fact, I began to see similarities between Nirbhaya and Malala. Both fought against injustice on themselves and the women in general. Both have demonstrated great grit and their potential for leadership. Fortunately, Malala has survived and we hope, one day, she is able to lead Pakistan to a saner path. Very unfortunately, Nirbhaya could not.

Long ago Delhi was shaken by a similar horrific incident. In 1978, young Sanjay and Geeta Chopra were murdered. It was confirmed that Geeta had been raped before the murder. Perpetrator of this crime, Ranga and Billa were convicted and hanged.

About two months ago, I met Admiral Chopra. He is around 75 years of age and has devoted his time after retirement to guide schools. He is Vice Chairman of DPS Society. When I came to know that he is father of Sanjay and Geeta Chopra, my heart squeezed. I heard him speaking to the group of Vice Principals on "Purpose of Education". Such an inspiring speech. The audience was spell bound. His hand shake and grip was as firm as of a twenty five year old. Both the parents have put their personal tragedy behind and are serving the society to their utmost.

From the documentary, I was also impressed by the maturity of Nirbhaya's parents as well. Their acts of selling off their land for paying for her education shows how modern they are in their thinking despite their challenging economic condition. 

I propose that after some time when the justice is meted out to the perpetrators of this crime, Government should institute Nirbhaya award or Jyoti Award for demonstrating exceptional bravery, on the lines of Sanjay and Geeta Chopra awards for the bravery which are given every year. As long as, Nirbhaya's parents live they should be called to the award ceremony and requested to give away the award.

When we see Goddess MahaKali, we feel a sense of assurance that demons will be eventually killed. If we can kill the demonic nature (Rakshasa Pravriti), there may not be demons in the society any more. How do we do this?