What World Are We Living In?

Gauhar Khan

Day before yesterdays newspaper was a bit of a shocker for me. The headline read ‘Gauhar Khan slapped for wearing a short dress’. The headline sounded a bit faulty and misconstructed or maybe the words were a bit erratic. I read it again. I wondered, how can someone be slapped for wearing a short dress? Gauhar Khan was slapped by a man, named Aqil Malik during the shooting of a reality show, for wearing inappropriate clothing.

After reading the whole news article, there was a bit of an outrage inside me. A feeling of boundedness, a feeling of enmity and a feeling of remorse. I cursed that man, I cursed the society for having such men, I cursed the nation for having such societies, and I cursed the whole world for having such a nation like India where a person can slap a women on what she wears. Why is a women being slapped? Gauhar Khan, a strong woman. My personal favorite in the last Bigg Boss season. An artist whose fearless fights on the camera and her ‘taking her stand’ capability made her win the reality show, was left in tears. Yes, this is what happens when you are slapped in front of a crowd of people. The incident has left her bewildered and shes still figuring out ‘Why? Why? Did he slap me?’

My head was popping with questions.

How can a women be slapped for allegedly wearing skimpy cloths? What mentality do ‘we’ Indians hold? Why even after 67 years of independence we aren’t independent with our thoughts? Why is this slap case not hyped enough? Why? I see less number of celebrities supporting Gauhar Khan and where have all the ‘women right activists’ gone?

What is the whole outcome of this incident? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. We continue to do what we were till another and more severe incident takes place. Do we need another incident like the ‘Delhi Gang Rape’ case to take a stand.

Almost 2years after the Delhi gang rape case, I see no change. Girls are still getting raped, publicly molested, eve-teased, slapped, etc.

On the other hand Aligarh Muslim University has taken a wonderful step and has banned girls from entering inside the library as it distracts the boys. Seriously I want to laugh my ass off on this. This is whats happening in our country.

On the name of morality and religion I think men are dominating over women. If dress is the only reason why a girl is being slapped and raped, then why is a 3 year old girl raped?

If a muslim women like Gauhar Khan is slapped for wearing a short dress, then why is Salman Khan still un-slapped till now for shedding his shirt on every movie he does.

Some communities wont let the change happen.

Today if a famous celebrity like Gauhar Khan can be slapped so easily, then what about the women who are walking on the streets?

I have a lot of questions that need to be answered. I want the government to take a step and find a solution. To start a strong campaign. To spread the need of education. To think over the existence of men who are slapping and raping women. There is a long way to go! 

Alas! Next day we’ll read another such headline and speculate ‘What world are we living in?’