Mangalore: With a giant slipper, city pledges to fight crimes against women
Pics: Brijesh Garodi
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangalore (BG)
Mangalore, Jan 24: A silent march for “Nirbhaya” and other victims of atrocities on women was held on Thursday January 24 at 5 pm from Ambedkar Circle to Ladies Club Balmatta.
The walk comprised students from St Aloysius, St Agnes, members of Lions Club and hundreds of other social activists. The march that started off from Ambedkar Circle passed via Hampankatta and culminated at Ladies Club at Light House Hill.
A huge inflatable pink slipper, prepared by Arthur of Hungary and Tillie of France was the special attraction of the event.
Skits and variety of songs conveyed meaningful message on the issue. People lit candles and expressed their concern over atrocities against women, and took an oath to stand by them at all times.
The huge slipper was then passed over the gathering, symbolizing collective strength and courage to fight against atrocities.
Oscar Fernandes, Flavia Agnes, Patsy Lobo, Dr Derick Lobo, Mariam and Pamela spoke on the occasion and expressed their views over the issue and suggested ways through which crime against women can be reduced.
Oscar Fernandes urged everyone to rise up and fight against the increasing number of atrocities in society. "The society needs to develop and drastic changes are a must. The Delhi rape case is not just a case related to Delhi, but one related to the entire nation. It is time to wake up," he said.
"Punishing is not the end solution for eliminating atrocities, it is just a part of the solution. There are many more things to be done in order to prevent and bring the situation in control," he added.
In her address, Flavia Agnes quoted from a recent article by her on the issue and said that the brutal gang-rape and murder of a 23-year-old woman in New Delhi appears to have opened up newer portals for discussion, not just on sex crimes but more generally, the space our society gives to women. The space provided by the news media to these issues in the past few weeks is unprecedented, she noted.
"The reverberation of the protests in Delhi will surely be felt across the country for a longer time, heralding good tidings and hopefully change the patriarchal mindsets of our legislators, bureaucrats, law enforcement agencies and the society at large, eventually leading to a reduction in crimes against women, and will not lapse into mere rhetoric in the months to come.
"There is hardly any women’s rights NGO worth its salt that has not been involved in “police trainings”. And yet we are confronted, year after year, with the same rhetoric that the police are not gender sensitised and there is need for further sensitization; the underlying presumption being, a ‘gender senstised’ police officer will act differently when dealing with issues of crimes against women," she said.
Dr Derek Lobo said that when India became independent, Pandith Nehru in his speech said that 'At the stroke of midnight, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom', but 66 years later, women who form half of our population cannot use that freedom to move freely at midnight or any part of the night or sometimes during the day, and if they do, their life is in danger.
"Through the death and the torture she suffered, “Nirbhaya” has succeeded in bringing about changes in India. Let us keep up the pressure, let us be ever vigilant, let us reform ourselves first, let us change our attitudes and mindsets and let us resolve the from now onwards it shall by “Zero-Tolerance” to any misbehavior, abuse, assault or atrocity against women anywhere in India," he added.
Mayor Gulzar Banu, Vinay Kumar Sorake, Blossom Fernandes, G A Ghafoor, Vidya Dinkar, Sandeep malani, and others were present. A huge crowd took part in the walk and the programme.