Indian citizens are continuously observing a series of ripples against the atrocious environment prevailing in India that makes a woman feel helpless, weak and dependent. However, all these ripples are gradually losing the momentum to bring about any change in the societal environment of India which certainly is worrisome. She, whose name is still unknown, was raped on the dreadful night of 16th December 2012 and she died on 29th of December 2012. However, Indians welcomed the New Year 2013 with a hope that the “government” will bring about some drastic change in the Indian legal system and Indian police and protection system that will provide better security, better protection for women in Delhi and in whole India. Those hopes were battered again when the cases of sexual assaults, rapes and crimes against women, girls, and kids kept making headlines of all major newspapers and news channels continuously and gradually, the Indian citizens were ready to accept that at the most they can perform some candle-marches and some protest marches, to add up, they may burn some police vans to show off their anger, but at the end, they will have to accept that they are helpless, protection less and …Read the Rest
Women
The Hoplophobes
After Gagan Narang’s final 10 meter Air Rifle shot in the London Olympics, Indians cheered as the Olympic medals tally for Indian athletes had now opened up. Immediately, the central and state governments started showering huge amounts of money over him for his success as an expert shooter. Gagan Narang and Abhinav Bindra are two well known Indian names who are known for their ability to use guns. It is certainly an amazing feat for both of them, not only because they have won medals for India in international competitions, but also because they have done so even though a majority of Indians are Hoplophobes. A phobia is a persistent, irrational fear of a specific object, activity, or situation that leads to a compelling desire to avoid it. While fear itself isn’t necessarily an irrational feeling, an irrational, long-term fear is a phobia. It is a paradox that people in general claim to believe in the right to self-defense — that every person is free to defend himself against any threat to his life — yet, those same people support gun control and feel good about it. Indian gun control laws are extremely stringent; Indians in general are Hoplophobes. Yet, …Read the Rest
Clothes, Sex and Violence
One may define politics as a process of victimizing the victim and oppressing the innocent. Recently, after the incidence of molestation and sexual harassment in Guwahati, Assam, the Industrial Minister of Madhya Pradesh, Mr. Kailash Vijayvarghiya suggested that women should stay in their limits to ascertain safety. While emphasizing a direct link between what women wear and provocation, he said, “Women will command respect and there will be no lawlessness in society if they have character and wear decent clothes.1 ” This isn’t anything new; politicians have often followed the same manner of victimizing the victim. A few months ago, the Chief Minister of Delhi also suggested similar advices for women and the Police Commissioner of Delhi said, “You can’t travel alone at 2am and then say Delhi is not safe. It would be ideal if a woman takes her brother or driver along. It’s wrong to say the Capital is not safe for women.2 ” Obviously, they believe that the main cause of rapes is the raunchy, slutty, provocative girls wearing those weird western outfits that simply encourage a man to attack and rape girls and women walking on the roads at odd hours. The statement of Delhi police …Read the Rest
The Onus of Pregnancy in a Voluntary Society
Libertarianism is a socio-political philosophy that promotes the idea of Individual liberty and sovereignty above all. However, libertarianism certainly doesn’t support the improbable idea of ‘man is island,’ obviously, no man is island. Yet, libertarianism or better say Voluntaryism espouses a social system based on voluntary decision of individuals to gather and associate with each other, freely, under no duress while rejecting any initiation of violence. This means that voluntaryism or libertarianism is not about rejection of society; rather it is a call for the refinement and improvement of current social norms which are based on violence and irrational obligations through which, the society as a collective is allowed to harass the individual. A libertarian individual cannot belong to any umbrella of socialism including socialism, communism, feminism or male chauvinism. An individual irrespective of the sex is a free entity with proper natural rights1 . Every individual should be free to voluntarily associate with any other individual for mutually beneficiary reasons or for personal pleasure. Obviously, one cannot oppose the idea of monogamy, polygamy or polyandry if such relationships are not forced on anybody but they are based on voluntary decisions. Furthermore, as a libertarian, I support the idea of …Read the Rest
