From a 17 Year Old Girl to the World

by Shivali Shah

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An 8 year old was drugged, REPEATEDLY raped, brutally killed. What is our excuse

this time? Her knees were showing? Her breasts were inviting? This time, we’ve run

out of excuses. So what is our response? We protest. Not for justice but because the

rapists were Hindu and the victim, a Muslim. We protest. Not because a girl lost her

life in the most horrific, unimaginable way, but because her rapists were not of the

same community. We protest. We rally to defend the rapist.

I say WE because I feel responsible for the actions of my countrymen, however

ashamed I am to call them my countrymen. Besides the fact that an innocent 8 year

old was subjected to a an unimaginable cruelty, what burns me up from inside, is the

cost of reaction in our country. An 8 year old had to lose her life. A 23 year old had to

be left on the road with her intestines shattered for our nation to rise. What breaks my

heart is that when I read a story of a woman, girl, or even boy being raped, I skim

through the headline, curse the rapist but forget about it the second I turn the page.

Why has rape become routine in our country? Why has harassment become a norm?

Why must a woman be fully clad and only out during daytime for her to feel safe?

Why is trivialising rape okay? Why is Feminism a bad word?

Today I write this letter, demanding justice. Justice for Asifa. Justice for Nirbhaya.

Justice or every single girl or boy that has been raped, molested, sexually harassed.

Justice for every woman who is scared to walk out of the house after 9. Justice for

every girl who feels unsafe in a skirt. Today I demand JUSTICE.

Today I write this letter to remind my fellow Indians, that religion is about faith,

about internal peace and strength. STOP using it as an excuse for crimes. A rapist, a

murderer, a terrorist, is not Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Christian or Jewish. They are not

even human. Stop politicising religion.

I am a 17 year old girl from Mumbai who will be eligible to vote in the general

elections next year. When I was a 13 year old watching Narendra Modi rally, I was

inspired. I was hopeful of change. I wanted to be like him. I wanted to inspire change.

I wanted to lead my country to a better future.

Today 4 years after he was elected, sure our foreign relations are great. Our economy

is doing fine, but our country is more communal than it ever has been. So much so

that the rape of an 8 year old invites support for the RAPISTS because they are

Hindu. The politicians of our country are either using the death of an 8 year old as a

political opportunity or refusing to take a stand in the fear of losing votes. So as a 17

year old who will be eligible to vote next year, I face a little bit of a dilemma. Who do

I vote for? Will ANYONE fight for justice? Or will they just fight for reelection.

Sincerely,

- a 17 year old girl.