These days we find stories of rapes every day in our papers on a daily basis. The thing that gets me is that people differentiate between Naga and non-Naga victims and perpetrators. Women are women, the trauma and suffering, which by the way is a lie because it affects all women be it Naga or Non- Naga. When women organizations, N.G.Os and society at large does not raise much of a hue and cry over the rape of a non-Naga women it really gets me all riled up. I mean a sister is a sister no matter the background. Don’t you think that any disease wherever the origins spread to every strata of society. Ponder on that while I try to articulate on a similar connected subject.
I remember photographs of missing children started appearing in the media a few years back. In the beginning, the victims were all non-Nagas. However, as the years passed more Nagas started appearing in these missing lists. How long do you think before our own kids start gracing the pages of our local dailies? Do we wait until one of our beloved becoming missing? I know some of these children have gone missing for reasons that are more mundane but the bulk of these missing ones end up in the flesh trade or circumstances of bonded labor. Why are not the women societies and the various children commission doing more by pressurizing the law enforcement agencies to act more decisively? On the other hand, are they waiting for one of their own to be kidnapped? In the hope that this doesn’t happen and with all my sympathies to the victims I wish at times that a child from a well to do Naga family is faced with the same situation ( which is a distinct possibility the way the things are heading for) so that we realize the gravity of the matter as they are today.
On a larger context, N.E. India is severely affected by the malaise of child trafficking. Still, do we Nagas really think that this cancer will not reach our lands, alas then my dear Naga brethren I feel that we are living in a fool’s paradise. When we do hear about such cases, we usually say that this kind of things does not happen in our Naga society and that all these incidents occur to Non-Nagas. Wake up the malaise is already in our homes. The most baffling thing about all this is the reaction of the civil societies, which is silence. Wake up and I hope it is not too late.
I began with cases concerning rape because this is some thing I feel deeply about and both these crimes are interconnected. In them I find the apathy we Nagas display when unfortunate circumstances come upon other people by saying this kind of things don’t happen to the Nagas. Don’t we realize that this precise attitude will be our downfall? Haven’t we learnt that what is happening now mostly to non-Nagas is a cancer entering slowly but surely into our society?
There were times in the past when we hardly heard about these kinds of incidents in our land but today we no longer are exempt. Dirty minded Naga men have started raping hapless Naga girls (doesn’t it sound horrifying, but it is true). Once we were incensed when the Indian army raped and killed our sisters in entire villages. Nowadays we hardly say anything when Nagas rape Nagas. This was not the society I was born into but unfortunately, this is happening intermittently but surely.
These days the headlines mostly involve non-Nagas but the day is not far when we begin to see more Naga names and incidents in our own homes. I have no knowledge of those crimes that are not reported but from what are known I can clearly see an escalation. By differentiating Nags from the non-Nags I do not mean to sound biased instead I am urging the majority in this wonderful land of ours to be more vocal and angry. That no matter who the victims or perpetrators are, we as a society needs to act NOW. Otherwise when we find ourselves at the short end of the stick it will have become all too common for others to sympathize thus too late to do any thing.
I was once admitted to the district hospital Diaper and one night as I watched the goings on from the balcony of my ward I saw a small beautiful child crying being carried by her father who held her with all the love in the world. At first, I thought it was such a lovely sight of a father trying to sooth and protect his daughter from all the nasty stuff that was going on in the emergency ward of the hospital. Therefore, I went down and asked some people around what had happened. Then to my horror, I learnt that the child who was only eight years old had been brutally raped by a twenty one year old depraved man. I in my wildest nightmare could not imagine such a heinous thing happening. However, there in front of my eyes I saw the reality. At that moment I prayed that this never happens again especially to a loved one, unfortunately it does happen regularly in our society.
I do have some thing more than this tirade and shouting from the rooftops. Here are some practical suggestions to at least tackle this malice of rape and child trafficking. They involve the NGOs, the law enforcement agencies (including our not so up to mark politicians) and society as a whole.
Here are some things that could be done;
1. NGOs, the media and the police along with society should create effective networks by inter acting on a regular basis whereby data on missing children and cases of suspicious sexual behavior can be ex changed.
2. The law needs to have more teeth. Here our politicians can be of great service by enacting more stringent laws for sexual crimes and child trafficking. My own suggestion is not to grant any sort of bail until the law takes its full course.
3. The media plays a very important role by firstly bring to the notice of the people of these crimes and secondly by highlighting the heinousness the act committed with due consideration to the sensitivities of the victim. The media should also make it a point to doggedly follow these stories until the perpetrators are brought to justice. While doing so they must also report the lapses on the part of the law enforcement agencies to ensure an unbiased.
4. Society must play its role by being vigilant and pro active. A recent case in Assam where the pictures of the accused were put up everywhere was I feel a good example. Therefore, we as people come up with innovative ideas to do our part like community policing.
I know a lone shout in the dark may not be much but I hope at least some have heard and are angry that this kind of thing is happening in our Naga homeland.
Temjen, Dimapur
