“I am not a Rapist and will never be.”

(In the wake of news that an Indian student is denied Internship citing “India’s Rape culture” as a barrier to allowing, I write this Open Letter requesting Media to stop showing every Indian as a Rapist.)

Dear Media/ ‘Modern Day Scientist’ busy doing Social Experiments,

[dropcap]I[/dropcap] wish I had a voice loud enough to shout out and say it to the world that “I am an Indian and I am not a rapist and will never be.”  Undoubtedly, you are one of the reasons for making me desperate to convince the world. I am ashamed, I am sheepish, I am hangdog, in front of the world in spite of doing no mistake. For the sake of TRP and Youtube hits, you have put your nation to shame. Now, for someone who argues the way I do, you drop the bombshell of ‘Freedom of speech’ on him and shut his opinion. I am not here to ask you stop airing about rapes and injustice towards women. I am just asking you to stop the exaggeration you make when it comes to news on Rapes. You are being judgmental in every case. An accused becomes a guilty in your newsroom. And the most unfortunate thing – a common man like me is tagged with “Waiting to be a rapist” remark since I am an Indian.

And to all the people making a video on your social experiment with a message at the end, I just want to say “I am an Indian guy – That does not mean I am a rapist or a ‘Despo from heart’ waiting for a girl in my bed.” I clarify you – I am not a full-time employee of the association ogling every girl’s assets in the market, street or in the bus. I am Conscience-stricken about the fate of my country when I face any foreign tourist’s remarks like “In European Media, we only hear about rapes and how girls are treated in India.”

Also, I am fed up of watching videos titled like – ‘How many times a girl masturbates in a day’ and many more on similar lines. You have educated me and my fellow Indians enough. Stop creating another video with the same content with little change to the question asked. Using words describing a human body or processes going on in a girl’s body or by using explicit sexual words, you have got enough likes and subscriptions that you can actually start thinking creatively and create good videos to entertain people in a better way. The only problem with your video is it simply portrays that we Indians are desperate to know those things. We are originators of “Kaama sutra” and we very well know these facts. The hits you get are not because we did not know about what you ask people but due to our attempt to check if there is something different.

But before I end, I confess, I am a part of a nation in which there are people who do all nasty things which make my ‘Head hang in shame’ as my Prime Minister says. I feel [pullquote-left] I fear even to admire a girl’s look now for the reason that I do not know which Youtube channel is trying to take a hidden video and show that I am one among the ‘To be rapist’ of the country.[/pullquote-left] ashamed for not reacting when a girl is molested in front of me in a bus. I feel ashamed for not helping in creating a society where a girl can freely say it’s her menses time and she needs rest for the moment. And I confess I have been attracted to see a girl when she looks hotter than other girls. But, all these do not make me a rapist because, when I look at any girl, I have never got a feeling to exploit her body. If I have given a second look at a girl walking in the road, then it was an admiration for her looks and not desperation. I fear even to admire a girl’s look now for the reason that I do not know which Youtube channel is trying to take a hidden video and show that I am one among the ‘To be rapist’ of the country.

I am one among those people who almost had tears hearing the story of Nirbhaya. I am one among those who felt sorry and broken for the 6-year old child who got raped in Bangalore. I am one among the millions of Indian who still love kids for the cuteness in them and not due to the lust burning within us. So, I say again “I am not a rapist and I will never be” and request you to stop portraying the country as a country of rapists. Let’s make the country a safer place to live for every fellow Indian.

–Niranjan