Rape Victim in Khairlanji and the desi-blogosphere
Times of India reported a case of heinous crime committed against a Dalit family in Khairlanji, near Nagpur
There was always a gaping silence in this village, even before September 29 when an upper caste mob, according to eyewitnesses, paraded a mother and her 17-year-old daughter naked, raped and killed them. Two other members of the family, brothers aged 19 and 21 too were murdered. Their bodies were dumped in a canal.
I first read about it at greatbong. Thanks to him for bringing such a horrific incident to our attention. Later I read the same story at National Highway by Shivam. He had posted graphic images on his site that shook me. These images highlight the cruelty with which the crime was committed. I was hoping the desi-blogosphere will pick up this story and spread the awareness.
The Desi-Blogosphere did pick up this story but not in a way I had imagined. There was a flurry of posts after Shivam’s post. Bloggers took issue with the posting of a particular image. Some called it disgusting and made it an issue of the victim’s privacy. As a result others came out in defense of Shivam and now we see a fight over the manner in which the story was reported. The real issue seems to be lost upon the bloggers.
I see Shivam took out the picture after these posts. Some thought he shouldn’t have taken out the picture because that would be like imposing self censorship. While I agree that he should have kept the picture, I think it was a good move if it helps us focus on the real issue at hand instead of digressing.
While I respect everyone’s freedom of speech, I am amazed how bloggers lack the ability of decently registering a protest. The bloggers who chose to take up issue with Shivam, while having every right to do so, could have done in it in a manner that would not be so personal. Name calling and trying to read Shivam’s mind and what not! To me this doesn’t encourage healthy atmosphere. If the desi-blogosphere has to make any significant impact it needs to understand that we should not lose respect for each other even while differing on issues. It is important to talk about issues rather than personalities.
I believe Shivam would have still taken out the picture if the protest was made more appropriately.
At the end I would like to make a request to all the bloggers to focus more on the issue. It will help our cause greatly.
November 1, 2006
Posted in: Desi Bloggers, News
9 Responses
Polite Indian,
I did not ”made” it an issue of victim’s privacy. It is an issue of victim rights, and I am sorry if you cannot appreciate that.
Yes, I agree name calling serves no purpose, and if I have indulged in it, then my apologies. But calling a spade a spade, in my view is perfectly okay.
best
Confused,
You are right in calling a spade a spade.
This very well could be a victim’s privacy issue but then again that could be subjective.
You are being so righteous about it that you even concluded as to why Shivam would go to this extent of posting such horrific pictures.
It is personal remarks like these that could be counter productive to any argument you put forward.
I agree with you that these debates have taken the focus out of the issue. I thought that Shivam was trying to do a good job of bringing attention to the gory murder and these guys had used personal vengeance to take a cheap shot on Shivam. In the name of protecting the dead person’s rights, they are intruding on Shivam’s right to publish what he deems fit.
Anyhow, I was pissed of with the National Media’s apathy towards such atrocities and I was happy that blogosphere will try to highlight these issues. But attempts by certain group to discredit Shivam for highlighting a good cause pissed me off. Probably, I should have ignored their cheapshots and focussed on the core issue.
I totally agree with your points. every blogger wants to see what he/she can get from an issue. I believe photographs of the victims in natural calamities like tsunami and quake and of people injured in bomb blast is totally different form this case
Their motives and mine at National Highway - November 2, 2006
[...] Another charge is that I did it for hits. Evidence: I even left a comment at GB’s saying my blog has pictures. This charge about being hits-hungry has been made by GB himself, and also by another esteemed member of the Indian blogosphere. He has compared me to Aaj Tak, and somewho my posting of pictures on a blog makes me answerable to him not in my capacity as a blogger but in my capacity as a journalist. This blogger gives it away in his post that he has been no great fan of mine, and the fact that he is exploiting an opportunity to get back to me is not lost on anyone who has followed the Indian blogosphere. But if he’s happy I’ll let him be happy with his pettiness. But I’m glad that such pettiness has also been noted by more independent voices in the blogsophere. [...]
This is an INHUMAN deed .
The desi bloggers are a bunch of immature keyboard pokers. What was wrong with the pics?
Remember, if not for the pics, the protests and subsequent CBI investigation into the case would not have been possible.
This is why.
Yet Another Atrocity..
http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_1879805,000600030006.htm
Uncertain if it is really my web browser simply because I still previously had simply no free time to upgrading and i’m always using Opera 9 but I’ve found some kind of unusual letters all over the web-site, in the event that its very important I just simply assumed I would tell you. starting with Warning: Not possible change body tag … and so forth. It Is a bit odd since for me my personal internet site cheap flights to maui and also common ones as for instance yahoo.com and bing.com cause me never issues. Sorry, the english language isn’t my primary language.
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