A bishop from Kerala, head of the Jalandhar diocese, has landed in hot water, with a nun coming out in public claiming that she was raped by this man. Five nuns have joined their compatriot in staging a protest and are claiming that the church brass is blocking action against this bishop. And while the nuns were protesting, an MLA of the southern state, PC George, said at a press conference that the nun who claimed to be a rape survivor was probably a “prostitute” as she had kept quiet for the previous 12 times that she was “raped by the bishop” and came out in public only when the act was repeated the thirteenth time.
Such incidents seem to be going global now. The recent news of a Pastor groping a young popular female American music icon, Ariana Grande, at the funeral of celebrated singer Aretha Franklin has made international headlines. No one can possibly label Ariana as a prostitute. The media along with a big chunk of the American music industry has condemned the Pastor and expressed sympathy with Ariana.
In India, however, the rich and powerful always manage to suppress the voice of the underprivileged and turn the wheels upside down. In a macho society with suppressed male frustrations peaking at a young age till death, Indian men would be adoring the statement by an MLA who is incapable of being perceptive of a helpless woman’s plight. It would be grossly inappropriate to expect anything better from such men. For them, a prostitute holds no human values or probably should not expect any better treatment compared to a broiler chicken. The NCW has promptly summoned George for the comment. Little would a George comprehend that his voice is the same as millions of other Indian men, young and old, who always tend to assess women on how much they will charge to jump into bed. Call it mental illness or societal sickness, men in this country will never understand the frail social and economic position that are blatantly used to the complete disadvantage of women in this sub continent.
At a time when the Supreme Court has come out with a judgement that has decriminalised sex among consenting members of the same sex, people engaged in what is euphemistically known as the world’s oldest profession are still symbols of shame. Thousands of women around the world are trafficked and forced into this profession that feeds many. Modern world has seen prosperous nations like Libya, after the fall of Muammar Gaddhafi, tumbling into social upheavals and consequent economic disasters. Once known as the richest country in North Africa, Libyan women are now reportedly compelled to get into prostitution to help feed families that are virtually starving. Since we Indians have never seen real war in our midst and never suffered deprivations of the acute kind like most other nations across the globe, we are unwilling to nurture love and empathy for fellow citizens. Most Indians would laugh at such words, claiming them to be straight out of some religious texts. The sole reason being the lack of personal suffering for the multitudes at the same time. We have suffered. Always piecemeal and localised. Probably because of such inherent blasé attitude, we can label Kashmiris as Pakistanis, North Eastern Indians as Chinks or a devastated solitary helpless nun as a prostitute.