Je suis Charlie

1. Consider a lady who enjoys dressing up well. She loves looking good and getting everyone’s attention when she walks by. She puts on great make-up; wears just the right length of clothes. Now consider a group of men leering at her and announcing to everyone that this is against their culture, that if she continues dressing up this way, they will not be to blame if one of them raped her. She is indignant and refuses to lie low. She then gets raped by the men. Who is to blame, the girl or the ‘we told you not to do it; we are offended/ enticed to rape’ group?

 2. Consider a Hindu girl loving a Muslin guy (or vice versa). Or consider a Jat in love with anyone from another gotra. The couple wants to get married. Their families oppose it and say they will rather kill tham than let them marry. The couple elopes and marries. Soon after, the families hunt them down and kill them both. Who is to blame, the couple or the ‘we told you not to do it; we are offended/ enticed to kill’ group?

 3. Consider Malala and her colleagues, bravely fighting for the right to get educated. The Taliban oppose female education and threaten to kill anyone who fights for it. They still fight for their right. Taliban goes ahead and shoots Malala and her colleagues. Who is to blame, Malala or the ‘we told you not to do it; we are offended/ enticed to slaughter group?

 All these three are examples of individuals fighting for their basic rights (right to safety and independence as a female, right to love and choose one’s life partner, and right to education). All these three examples have a group getting offended because of certain reasons and warning about dire consequences. All these three end with the individuals being the victims of heinous crimes. But I don’t see any difficulty in choosing who is right and who is wrong. None of the victims were ‘asking for it.’

 Now consider Charlie Hebdo, publishing cartoons lampooning all religions, getting warned by Islamist extremists, refusing to buck down, and ultimately getting attacked. It also involves an individual fighting for a basic right (to freedom of expression), someone taking an extreme view, and the result last week. Just as we ought to stand by the raped women, the killed couple and people like Malala, so should we also stand by Charlie Hebdo. Je suis Charlie.