If the rape and murder of 8-year-old will not wake us up, nothing ever will
The rape, mutilation and killing of an eight-year-old girl in Kathua in Jammu region must go down as an act of human bestiality that makes us all hang our heads in shame.
That an attempt has been made to give the rape a communal colour with local politicians trying to protect the "Hindu" accused who raped a "Muslim" girl is even more disgraceful.
Why are BJP ministers from Jammu attempting to defend the indefensible? What place do slogans like Jai Shri Ram have in a case like this and why should the bar association prevent the J&K Police from filing a chargesheet? When guardians of the law become law-breakers, then we must fear for the future. Let the perpetrators face the stiffest punishment after due process of law without the surround sound of political cacophony.
A rape cannot become the arena for the communal faultlines in J&K to play out in such a stark manner. Would there be a similar response if, god forbid, the rape accused were Rohingya Muslims or from the Valley and the girl was a Hindu?
While the netas and civil society must be asked hard questions, we in the media too need to introspect. Why did it take us almost three months to wake up to make this tragedy a "national" prime time issue? We reported the story in January when few others did, but surely our voices could have been much louder.
Imagine if such a rape happened in the national capital, or is it that a girl’s life in Kathua matters less than those in the big city? If Kathua will not wake up our dormant collective conscience, nothing ever will.