ESHA GUPTA ANGRY AT DELHI'S RAPE-CAPITAL TAG
Miss India International Esha Gupta |
Former Miss India Esha Gupta, Delhi girl now living in Mumbai, is angry at Delhi's rape-capital tag and a government that would build infrastructure but not basic security.
Delhi's youngsters are seething, trying their best to get the government to hear them. Even those who do not stay in the capital anymore, but take pride in being called a 'pucca Delhi person', want to make themselves heard - Esha Gupta says she's angry, and pained. "Forget Delhi, Bombay, being a citizen of India, and all that. If I simply think as a girl, what I have read and seen on TV about this gang rape has horrified me. How much more cruel can man get than this? What psyche - worse than that of a murderer. Rape is the worst of all crimes that a man can commit. Even murder... the person is dead. But rape - you ruin another person's life. Leave her living, but she dies inside. In my opinion, this is worse than murder. Capital punishment is too easy - rapists and molestors should be stoned in public, they must be given a slow, painful death," she says.
"It is my city," she continues, "And at moments like these, I despair. Why is it happening? This demon-ish havas among men - when will it end? And why blame Delhi? Make the laws, change them, if you take pride in moving around in secured vehicles because you are governing us, then govern us properly. And this happens a lot in Delhi - everywhere you go, people stare at you, pass lewd comments, and you are making flyovers and talking about infrastructure! Of what use is a flyover if women are to get raped on it? The government has been talking and talking and pondering over installing CCTVs in public spaces. Yahan lagayenge, wahan lagayenge... lekin kab lagayenge? Meanwhile, women keep thinking how to go here, why to go there. Even in school, I remember, skirts pehen ke rickshaw mein jaate waqt odd lagta tha - and then I used to think, why should I feel odd?"
The actress adds, "The bigger issue is, you never know who has a gun. You could protest, or raise a voice, and bang. Killing someone is getting as simple as that in Delhi. I remember, once, when I was in college, we'd all gone out, and some kids got drunk and got into a squabble, and suddenly this kid's bodyguard shot at the other kid. And you say we are the capital city, world class. In Delhi, even now, if I need to go out after six, my dad objects to my driving alone - he says driver ko lekar jao. I hate hearing 'Dilli aisi hi hai' about my city when I'm outside - but now, the rest of the world is saying the same thing. Every single woman in Delhi knows that feeling - because she's faced being molested at some point of time or the other. And no longer can we all turn around saying 'uski life mein ho raha hai'. At any moment, at any point, it can happen to any one of us. So, shouldn't we stop it once and for all?"
Delhi's youngsters are seething, trying their best to get the government to hear them. Even those who do not stay in the capital anymore, but take pride in being called a 'pucca Delhi person', want to make themselves heard - Esha Gupta says she's angry, and pained. "Forget Delhi, Bombay, being a citizen of India, and all that. If I simply think as a girl, what I have read and seen on TV about this gang rape has horrified me. How much more cruel can man get than this? What psyche - worse than that of a murderer. Rape is the worst of all crimes that a man can commit. Even murder... the person is dead. But rape - you ruin another person's life. Leave her living, but she dies inside. In my opinion, this is worse than murder. Capital punishment is too easy - rapists and molestors should be stoned in public, they must be given a slow, painful death," she says.
"It is my city," she continues, "And at moments like these, I despair. Why is it happening? This demon-ish havas among men - when will it end? And why blame Delhi? Make the laws, change them, if you take pride in moving around in secured vehicles because you are governing us, then govern us properly. And this happens a lot in Delhi - everywhere you go, people stare at you, pass lewd comments, and you are making flyovers and talking about infrastructure! Of what use is a flyover if women are to get raped on it? The government has been talking and talking and pondering over installing CCTVs in public spaces. Yahan lagayenge, wahan lagayenge... lekin kab lagayenge? Meanwhile, women keep thinking how to go here, why to go there. Even in school, I remember, skirts pehen ke rickshaw mein jaate waqt odd lagta tha - and then I used to think, why should I feel odd?"
The actress adds, "The bigger issue is, you never know who has a gun. You could protest, or raise a voice, and bang. Killing someone is getting as simple as that in Delhi. I remember, once, when I was in college, we'd all gone out, and some kids got drunk and got into a squabble, and suddenly this kid's bodyguard shot at the other kid. And you say we are the capital city, world class. In Delhi, even now, if I need to go out after six, my dad objects to my driving alone - he says driver ko lekar jao. I hate hearing 'Dilli aisi hi hai' about my city when I'm outside - but now, the rest of the world is saying the same thing. Every single woman in Delhi knows that feeling - because she's faced being molested at some point of time or the other. And no longer can we all turn around saying 'uski life mein ho raha hai'. At any moment, at any point, it can happen to any one of us. So, shouldn't we stop it once and for all?"
