Who could have thought that #MeToo would become a national issue and shake up the nation with as much severity as say, the Rafale deal or the fodder scam. Many heads have already rolled.
While it is not easy to take sides in the matter, what can be said with a certain conviction is that it was high time that the sexual predators who had gone scot-free be exposed and their mask of being crusaders of women’s rights unveiled. It was high time for the victims to raise their voice against the agony and pain of silence they had suffered all these years. It is not that voice had not been raised before. Who can forget the famous Rupan Deol Bajaj vs. KPS Gill case, also known as the Butt-Slapping case that remained in
the limelight for so many years? But that was a lone voice fighting for justice in a world where social media was unheard of.
In today’s world where news on social media travels faster than one’s heart-beat, such a voice becomes a movement, just as it has in the case of #MeToo. One woman’s courage to speak up has lent voice to many others, who have risen like the proverbial Phoenix.
Although I have no credentials to question their claim, I will take the case of MJ Akbar to ask a few questions. If Akbar sexually harassed as many as twelve women in his professional life, is it not possible that he might have played mischief with at least a few others in his personal life? It is also possible that they may have been victimised by another man in their life too. Is it easier to frame Akbar than these other men because he is a public figure? There is a likelihood that these women may have been tipped off by their
colleagues about Akbar’s reputation but they chose to remain silent because they wanted to climb the professional ladder.
The attempt to do a post-mortem behind the reason for this long hibernation is surely not easy.
It is heartening to see that women who have been victimised physically and emotionally at some point in their life are coming forward for justice but it is all the more important to unravel what had made them keep quiet so long. The time has come to mould our educational system in a manner that would encourage our children to protest against
injustice inflicted upon them. It will go a long way in helping the law enforcers to carry out social justice.
