December 14, 2014
Array
Sun Raha Hai Na Tu… DYFI’s Campaign against Violence on Women

SUN Raha Hai Na Tu (Are you listening?) is a campaign against violence on women; violence which is perpetrated not only on the body of a woman but also on her conscience. Molestation, eve-teasing, comments, rape and even murder has become a common thing for the girls and women in Delhi-NCR. It has perhaps become a common thing for all of us. We have perhaps started forgetting the anger that was stirred and roused in us by the tragic and brutal incident of Nirbhaya case in 2012. We were all on the roads asking for “Justice” for Nirbhaya. A major chunk of that crowd comprised of young boys and girls. Perhaps, it was the pressure exerted by this demonstration that the police and administration had become alert and active. However, after sometime the situation again started worsening. Nowadays, a single week does not pass without a couple of brutal rape cases in the Delhi-NCR. The Delhi state committee of the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) has started a campaign called “Sun Raha Hai Na Tu…” against this gender based violence and exploitation. In the first round of the campaign, awareness was spread through the social media, in which a large number of people have joined hands and are supporting the cause. In the second round, we are releasing a series of posters to sensitise people and localities on gender issues. The first poster which reads: “Tujhe Kya lagta hai Main Tujhse Darti Hoon” (Do you think I am afraid of you?) tried to remove fear and feeling of insecurity among the girls and women of Delhi-NCR. This poster describes the situation of Delhi regarding gender based violence and echoes the sentiment of the bold and fearless girls and women of Delhi. The last poster of the series will be released on December 12. Other than the posters, street plays, rallies, assembly-meetings and door-to-door campaign are also a part of this campaign. As quite a large number of such incidents take place in the buses, the DYFI has started enacting a play in the buses of Delhi-NCR. The objective of this play is to sensitise the bus drivers, conductors and the commuters towards this issue. It is a matter of grave concern that in the year 2013, almost 1500 cases of rape were reported and we did not react, we remained silent. The anger which had erupted after Nirbhaya case, did not resurface. Such incidents are happening on a regular basis and we all are silent. That is quite ironical. All these Nirbhayas are suffering and dying silently because we are silent. Can't we do something for them? All these Nirbhayas are pleading to all of us to get angry, to do something to change the situation, so that there will be no more Nirbhayas. This December 16 will mark the second anniversary of that tragic incident. As a real tribute to Nirbhaya we will have to change ourselves and get angry so that the insensitivity of people and administration can be removed. The time has come to do something to stop these increasing attacks. The Democratic Youth Federation of India has started a campaign to end this brutality and end insensitivity of people towards such brutalities. On December 16, 2014, this campaign will culminate in the form of a “Cultural Resistance” at Jantar Mantar. The DYFI has contacted many cultural artists and groups for this programme of Cultural Resistance.