NEW DELHi – Top Indian cricketer Gautam Gambhir spoke about his fears as afather of a young daughter, worrying about the trend of child rapes inIndia. He feels his daughter is not safe in India.
The outspoken cricketer hit out various aspects of society which made it sothat a child has to be taught ‘good and bad’ touch. He arguest that theyhaven’t explained the concept to their daughters.
He wrotelink>:“Frankly, my wife and I haven’t explained good touch, bad touch to ourdaughters yet. You can put it down to hesitation. The world of Aazeen, thefour-year-old, is right now all about colourful flying fishes, chocolatesgrowing on trees and a pink dressing table for her pink-haired Barbie doll.”
Hitting out at the incidents of rape in Katha and Unnao, he said he’dneither give the government a clean-chit for bringing in an ordinanceintroducing capital punishment of raping minors nor would he protest theordinance to like activists who decry capital punishment.
He also questions the necessity to have skimpily-clad women to fill upstadiums in the IPL.
He goes on to question why society is hell-bent on objectifying women,writing: “But Sir, with a hand on your heart, tell me, do we really respectgirls/women beyond paying lip service? Aren’t we the first ones to discussthe anatomy of a new office colleague or even a stranger who boards a DTCbus or a metro train?”
Hitting out at online pornography, he wonders why so many people search forviolent videos on the internet. He adds: “Will a porn ban help? No, butcounselling of young boys and men will and so will a change in our textbooks. someone needs to explain to growing up men that the opposite sex isnot a consumable good and that a healthy, peaceful existence is possiblewith them.”