Guwahati turns Hathras protest stage; women demand justice for Manisha & capital punishment for rapists

Guwahati: Amid the nationwide uproar over the shocking gangrape case in Uttar Pradesh's Hathras, several organizations banded together to stage a democratic and peaceful protest in Guwahati, Assam on Saturday. On this day, a lot of uncomfortable questions were asked and calls for justice were raised by a strong contingent of women and men who braved the afternoon heat to make their voices heard.

Jointly organized by prominent organizations such as the Asom Mahila Sangha, AIDWA, NEN, Pragatixil Nari Santha, Padatik Narik Samaj, SFI, and Axom Chatra Yuva Sanmilan, the women gathered at the Lamb Road area in Guwahati where they staged a democratic rally from 11 am-1:30 pm. For that brief period of time, that stretch of road area became a zone for thought-provoking and meaningful discussions.

Holding placards and banners and raising their voices in unison, these women protested the series of brutal rapes that have shaken the entire country to its very core.

"We feel choked," read one of the banners held up, expressing the plight of womenfolk in India, while another placard demanded capital punishment for all the rapists. The placards were written in English, Assamese, and came in all colours and hues -- just like the composition of the rally which was attended by people from various backgrounds, genders, and age groups.

The anti-rape protest, if it can be called that, also attracted many youngsters, who claimed that they have been sickened by the rape wave that has swept the nation and wish to do something to change the "perceptions."

Sampurna Das, a doctoral student who attended today's protest, laments that somewhere along the way, women have been failed by society at large. "It's a shame that we have to come out again and again for the cause of rape. Does the great Indian civilization have no respectable place for us women?" she told The Sentinel Digital.

The protest started off peacefully enough, with those gathered expressing their concerns over the shocking incidents of abuse against women that grabbed national headlines.

"However, when we wanted to march, the police started barricading us out of blue. Few of such tried removing this forced barricading, and police pushed back. Eventually, 5 protestors were put inside a van. However, the situation was soon brought under control and the protestors were allowed to go," Sampurna said.

The organizers of the event signed a memorandum demanding justice for the Hathrus and Gohpur rape victims and punishment against perpetrators.

Interestingly, the programme was concluded off with an Assamese translation of the Chilean protest song "un violader en Tu Camino" (The Rapist is You), generally considered an anthem of dissent.

After the shocking gangrape case in Hathras, such protests have become commonplace not just in Guwahati, but across the world, with the demands for justice growing louder and louder each day.

With the number of violent crimes rising steadily and alarmingly over the past several years (as per a National Crimes Records Bureau NCRB report), the discussion has once again shifted towards the safety and security of women in India, which seems to be heavily compromised, if statistics are to be believed.

These shocking incidents seem to have united the entire nation into one collective and the demand for wronged women, it seems, was never louder and never more fierce.

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