An open letter to Sonia Gandhi

Dear Ms Gandhi,
I have a very basic question. Why am I so afraid for my safety in a country where the Head of State (in every practical way) is a woman?

Today the Government hid, you hid, while the people who voted for you, people who came with their children, teenagers, people who came to ask you to return the favour, to validate their vote, waited in vain. Bewildered youth were not only turned away, they were treated as terrorists.
I know you’re busy, very busy, also trying to make excuses for the nationwide rage you’re currently on the receiving end of. Let me make this easy.

Let me tell you exactly what happened today in Delhi.
When you look away from wrong-doing for too long, when you refuse to support the helpless, the underdogs, the down-trodden, victims, whatever you want to call it. When you ignore them for too long, you’re giving rise to a rebellion. When you shirk away from enforcing law, you’re giving way to lawlessness of a different sort.

What do you think gave rise to the Gulabi Gang in UP? Did this whole group of strong women, who take their rights by force spring to life overnight? No. Hundreds of women died, pleaded, begged for your attention while you looked away, and went on to make other “important policies”, before this group said, FUCK the law, we will take the law into our own hands.

Today, 5 boys died in Jharkhand because they molested a woman. They were brutally stoned to death. It is happening, you see? They’ve been calling for you, but you’ve neglected them. Now they’ll do you one better. They will do your job, but in the most violent way possible. Instead of one, you now have two problems on your hands.

Do you now understand what happened today? You looked away for years, while women suffered EVERY SINGLE DAY in this country. And today, when they came to you to make sense of what happened, you ordered an attack on them. They have now turned sullen, violent and completely intolerant of your disregard for them. They turned lawless. Because you refused to enforce law in the first place.

Don’t keep making this mistake, Ms Gandhi. Because women are losing patience. You already saw something today of their anger, their angst. But you have seen nothing yet. Make us safe, or God help us all if you leave us all to protect ourselves. We will shame you, and we will shame ourselves but we will get things done and not in the most ideal way.

I have a niece, Ms Gandhi. She is 5. I am deeply suspicious of ANY male attention that comes her way. I watch carefully while she plays, I watch the men around her, drivers, watchmen, relatives, passers-by, even people who know us well. I do not approve of men pulling her cheeks even. I want to protect her from everything. God forbid, if something happens to anyone I love this much, I am telling you now, I will create a wave of rage and fury that will take over everything.
I know I speak for every single woman reading this. They will show no mercy. And you will have to fight several fires at once.

Learn from today. Enforce the law. Make us safe. Or be prepared for lawlessness that will burn this country. And you. I voted for you, Ms Gandhi. I counted on you. You failed. It won't happen again.

Strike not three, but in thousands… You’re out.