Hide your legs..!

Strange! Two countries, same subject, two absolutely opposite statements! Two diametrically dissimilar views!
In India, the Union Minister for Tourism, advises women to avoid wearing skirts and hide their legs, however shapely they be, when they come to India, and in France, women are asked to wear the revealing bikini and not be closeted in a burkini!
I am not going to go into the religious implications of both the dresses and where they need to be worn, but as to what both governments were actually telling their people, or the people visiting their country.
The Indian union minister says he said it as a precaution to women! So what he actually meant was, “We the state cannot protect you!”
What France is saying is that “Women, it’s okay to show yourselves because we will protect you if any man dares do any harm to you!”   
There’s no doubt our poor minister meant well. It’s the kind of advice I give my own children when they travel by public transport. What I am actually telling my daughter is that the police cannot protect you if you dress a certain way.
In other words, a minister is actually telling people how helpless he and the state is. And that sadly is what we as a nation are realising, that the state cannot protect us!
I listened to a lecture by a former commissioner of police in Mumbai last week who advised all women to carry a can of pepper spray!
What he was inadvertently admitting was things had reached a state when a citizen had to protect himself. Then what are the police there for?
Sadly they are there not to prevent a crime but to try and catch the culprit after a crime!
Very often as I drive along the city roads I glance at chaotic traffic scenes; cars cutting signals, buses pushing you out of your lane, pedestrians jay walking, and wonder why there are no policemen regulating the traffic. As soon as my car passes the signal, my driver laughingly points out to half a dozen traffic cops hiding behind a turn in the road waiting to catch offenders and fine them. I heard policemen are given weekly targets of the amount of fines they have to collect! Preventing crime brings no fines or penalties or haftas!
We wait for the crime to get into action.
“Yes madam, we will find the culprit who molested you!”
“But why didn’t you prevent him from touching me?”
“Ah madam for that you will have to go to France..!”
    [email protected]

Hide your legs..!

Strange! Two countries, same subject, two absolutely opposite statements! Two diametrically dissimilar views! In India, the Union Minister for Tourism, advises women to avoid wearing skirts and hide their legs, however shapely they be, when they come to India, and in France, women are asked to wear the revealing bikini and not be closeted in a burkini! I am not going to go into the religious implications of both the dresses and where they need to be worn, but as to what both governments were actually telling their people, or the people visiting their country. The Indian union minister says he said it as a precaution to women! So what he actually meant was, We the state cannot protect you! What France is saying is that Women, its okay to show yourselves because we will protect you if any man dares do any harm to you! Theres no doubt our poor minister meant well. Its the kind of advice I give my own children when they travel by public transport. What I am actually telling my daughter is that the police cannot protect you if you dress a certain way. In other words, a minister is actually telling people how helpless he and the state is. And that sadly is what we as a nation are realising, that the state cannot protect us! I listened to a lecture by a former commissioner of police in Mumbai last week who advised all women to carry a can of pepper spray! What he was inadvertently admitting was things had reached a state when a citizen had to protect himself. Then what are the police there for? Sadly they are there not to prevent a crime but to try and catch the culprit after a crime! Very often as I drive along the city roads I glance at chaotic traffic scenes; cars cutting signals, buses pushing you out of your lane, pedestrians jay walking, and wonder why there are no policemen regulating the traffic. As soon as my car passes the signal, my driver laughingly points out to half a dozen traffic cops hiding behind a turn in the road waiting to catch offenders and fine them. I heard policemen are given weekly targets of the amount of fines they have to collect! Preventing crime brings no fines or penalties or haftas! We wait for the crime to get into action. Yes madam, we will find the culprit who molested you! But why didnt you prevent him from touching me? Ah madam for that you will have to go to France..! [email protected]