A moment of national grief and shame

Date: 29 December 2012

The girl who became the symbol of women’s insecurity and their courage is no more. This is a moment of national grief. The nation joins her family and friends in remembering an extra-ordinary woman who resisted a dastardly assault, who fought back and nearly won an impossible battle with death, who demanded nothing but justice from her death bed. This is also a moment of national shame. We as a nation have failed to provide conditions in which women can lead a normal life without being subjected to indignities. We as a society have failed to evolve a culture of respect and equality for women. We as a democratic country have failed to secure elementary right to dignified life for women citizens. This is a moment of national anguish, a moment to think about thousands of lives that could have been saved, a moment to register the pain and humiliation that women have to go through every day.

This event and the subsequent developments have no doubt generated widespread outrage and justified anger. But today we must convert this into a positive resolve. Let us all resolve that we shall convert this moment into a movement to end all forms of violence against women. Let us ensure that perpetrators of this and all similar crimes get exemplary punishment, that all the laws related to violence against women are reviewed and amended, that the law and order machine and the criminal justice system is more sensitive and responsive to women, that all the systemic flaws which make such incidents possible are corrected. She is no more with us and there is nothing we can do about it, but let us ensure that no other woman meets her fate. Let NO VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN be our national new year’s resolution.

Aam Adami Party stands by her family, friends and the extended national family she acquired over the last fortnight in this moment of grief. We call upon our volunteers to join the people assembled at Jantar Mantar today. We shall wear black band across our lips as a mark of respect to a national hero. We call upon everyone to desist from any form of verbal or physical violence that would not be in keeping with the occasion and go against our resolve to end violence against women.