Mass Molestation or Mass Indiscretion?

Bangalore, the capital of Karnataka State in south India is a place known for its salubrious weather, also called as the Garden City for it is famous for its gardens and parks and flowers and the birds twittering.

Many Public-sector undertakings, engineering colleges and higher education institutes abound in the place. These days it is known for its IT companies, and the city is called the Silicon Valley of India.

Thanks to software companies, sprouting all over the city, youngsters from all most all the parts of the country and from all over the world congregate in the city in search of employment. It is known for its cosmopolitan culture, open-mindedness and liberal outlooks.

Bangalore also has the dubious distinction of being the suicide capital of India and of late is famous for its traffic jams and snarls. The city is just bursting at its seams, as if it is not able to handle itself any more.

On the top of it all comes the accusation that there was mass molestation on New Year’s Eve in Mahatma Gandhi (MG) Road and Brigade Road, where thousands of youth had congregated to celebrate the birth of the new year, 2017.  

Youngsters gathering in MG road and Brigade road is not a new thing for Bangalore. It has been happening for the last 35 years and more. Boys do go overboard and indulge in general merry making, thus enjoying themselves.

The police and others turn an indulgent eye to this and let the boys be boys. But nothing untoward happens. At the most, young couples and women and elders avoid the place at that time of the year.

This year it was all different. News went viral on social media that girls were molested on that night at MG road and Brigade road and that there was ‘mass molestation’ on New Year’s Eve. Girls were groped and molested in the crowd and the State government was not able to protect the girls, it was complained.

Reports from other sources do not support that accusation. In a crowd of 30,000 to 50,000 people, people do get jostled, pushed and shoved around. Surprisingly no complaint was lodged with the police. Scanning 40 CCTVs from the area by the police did not show any such mass molestation.

Bangalore witnesses many such mass gatherings every other month or so. To narrate a few recent such gatherings, I would cite the following.

It was Chithra Santhe on 15^th January where the whole Kumara Krupa Road is blocked for vehicles and people from all over the country exhibited their art-work and people thronged to go and buy paintings at a throwaway price. It is crowded beyond imagination. But no untoward incident happened for the last 14 years, since it is on.

Avere Kalu Santhe, where freshly harvested beans are sold, happens every year in winter and this year also it happened around 7^th January at Sajjan Rao circle and crowds jostle there too. But no complaints, excepting for the discomfort of the crowd and buying and selling and haggling and of course, the general merriment.

In November last it was Kadalai kai Parishe, where the newly harvested groundnuts come to the market and is sold in an annual groundnut fair in Basavangudi near Bull Temple Road. No such lewd incidents. And the Flower shows that happen twice a year - incident free.  

So, what happened on this New Year’s Eve? Is it possible that a few such incidents happened? Possible, but to term it as mass molestation is not fair to the city, I would feel. The city, in my opinion, is still a very safe place for girls.

May be, in the final account it is all about women’s rights. Today’s girls and their parents claim that girls have every right to enjoy a New Year’s Eve at MG road or Brigade road just like the boys, for are they not equal? And, they cl further that it is the duty of the State/city to safeguard the girls in such events.

This sounds a bit contradictory. If girls are equal to boys and should be allowed to enjoy freedom to celebrate in the middle of the night in the streets, then why the protection by the State? Are the boys being given protection? Why girls alone should be given protection? If so, the very claim that they are equal falls face down.  

Instead of insisting on equality in such things, I would say, it is better that girls learn to avoid such places for their own security. Knowing that on such days, boys will be on high, why insist on equality and go there and play with fire? Then cry upon the shoulder of a woman police? Can the government provide a police escort to each girl? Is it possible at all?

It is height of indiscretion to insist on such wild behaviours in the name of equality. Yes, women are equal to men, more than equals I would say, in studies, opportunities to work, to go abroad, to conquer the world, be an achiever and reach one’s full potential. But to go to MG road in the middle of the night to celebrate and then insist on police protection? That is indiscretion in my opinion.

In India, the culture does not permit as in the Western world, for boys and girls to hang around in a crowd and celebrate New Year or any other day in each other’s company.

When there is seclusion of boys and girls, as in our culture, there will be occasions when the sex-starved and brazen men, some and not all men, tend to behave in a lewd manner.

In my opinion, it is wise for girls to avoid going to such places at such times. There are much better ways of celebrating a New Year’s Eve.

The Book of Proverbs in the Bible says in chapter 4, verse 14 and 15,

“Do not enter the path of the wicked,

And do not walk in the way of evil,

Avoid it, do not travel on it;

Turn away from it and pass on.”

Let’s remember that the wise learn from their mistakes and grow in stature and wisdom.