GenY inspired to be warriors of justice
The Internet is buzzing with youngsters expressing their admiration and support for Keenan Santos and Reuben Fernandes, who dared to stand up against eve-teasers and lost their lives saving their friends, while the crowd around them
watched in silence. For now, everyone is pouring their hearts out, and calling for justice to be done. But have we learnt a lesson from this unfortunate incident? Have their heroism and bravery inspired the young blood to stand up against injustice? Or will their names be added to the list of heroes and forgotten?
Ankita Mishra posted on causes.com (Justice for Keenan and Reuben) expressing her strong views, “The courage that Keenan and Reuben showed is extraordinary. What is most shameful is the crowd watching them getting killed. Are we walking dead? Not even one person protested, no one even called the ambulance. It’s high time we wake up! It is very easy to take a day off from work and shout slogans against corruption and far more difficult to stand up to injustice. This has to stop. Keenan and Reuben could have been my friends/brothers/father anyone. I am up for a fight!”
Marketing professional Khalid Nabi is angry and feeling ashamed. He shares, “It’s really shameful for we never react when something wrong happens with others but only respond when it’s about our close people. One need not become a hero by saving one’s own friend; it’s our collective responsibility as humans. Who are we? Cowards? It’s unfair to blame the system. It’s our conscience which is dead. I have the courage to face any man on this earth if I happen to see any injustice being done. Similarly, I am ashamed to be a part of a country where women are not respected.”
Nearly every woman has faced harassment at some point or the other in her life. But standing up for self-respect has little or no support from others. Agrees Tripti Sharma (name changed), a business development manager, who took the man to task who misbehaved with her, but found herself alone in the crowd. “This happened a year ago, I was travelling in Metro and there was no place to even stand. I noticed this man trying to inch his way closer to me. My angry glares didn’t work and suddenly he got too close, I elbowed him and shouted. Sadly, nobody even thought of helping me,” she says.
Siddharth Thakur, an IAS aspirant says, “Public memory is fickle, as people have so many things to worry about everyday. Their temporary worries are often driven by media which everyday finds a new thing to dissect and probe as ‘breaking news’. Such sad incidences can turn us into short-term vigilantes, but in order to sustain the efforts in the long run, the electronic media should follow the investigation till justice is delivered to the deceased’s family. Else, the sad end of the two righteous kids will, instead of spurring people, act as a deterrent for those who will think twice before coming forward to help a person in distress.”
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