A different yardstick

The Indian government finally got into action after the double whammy of a massive domestic protest together with a surmounting international pressure after the Delhi gang rape. However, it is still not convincing how much of it were triggered by the urge to "stop the bad press" as opposed to an honest intention to protect it's women!

Otherwise how do you interpret the trial of one of the accused in Juvenile court with a maximum possible sentence of three and a half years?

They are claiming it is the law of the land; well it is not. At least there can be exceptions to that law, such as for the terrorist activities. A special court upheld the life sentence of one of the accused from 1993 Mumbai blast who was minor at that time.

The sentenced terrorist Qureshi was deemed unfit to be tried under Juvenile Justice system as "It is clear that Qureshi from his conduct referred to above cannot by any stretch of imagination qualify as a child in need of care and protection as the acts committed by him are so grave and heinous warranting the maximum penalty but the designated court after considering all these factors awarded him lesser punishment when the co-accused who accompanied him to fisherman's colony and committed similar acts were awarded with maximum punishment for heinous acts committed by them along the co-accused."

I fail to understand which one of these arguments are inapplicable to the minor accused in the Delhi rape case. Is his crime not grave or heinous enough? Are his co-accused not likely to get maximum punishments?
Most importantly, which part of his conduct "by any stretch of imagination qualify as a child in need of care and protection"?

If terrorist acts are heinous so are such horrific gang rapes. And this "minor" accused was reportedly the most brutal.

So clearly the yardsticks are different when it comes to crime against women in India. Even when there is so much mass protests and international pressure is involved!

This is just the tip of the iceberg; this was not the first rape nor will be the last rape in India in any time soon. Everyday women are getting raped, molested or being subjected to domestic violence. The society just refuses to change!

From low level police constables to commissioner, from politicians to spiritual gurus, every one think the victim "must have instigated it to some degree" when it comes to rape; perhaps the only crime where the "fault" is seek in victim, rather than in accused.

Society won't change overnight. But government must treat the crime against women in the harshest possible way, if they are sincere about bringing the change. If it can pass a special law to counter terrorism, then it can do the same to clamp down rapes.

This particular incident terrified a lot more people than any terrorist group can ever dream of. Every Indian woman's fear to board a late night bus has intensified. A billion people are afraid of the safety of their female family members when they are out and about for regular business. Foreign tourists are afraid to visit the country. In immediate aftermath of the incident, the women employees were leaving the office before dark in Delhi. In some organisations they were even advised to do so by the authorities themselves.

A whole society is paralyzed by terror to function normally and even began to forget what normalcy is. Indian government must change their outlook. And the international community should keep their pressure on as it involves one-fourteenth human beings of this planet!