Amitabh Bachchan on violence against women

By Subhash K. Jha -

May 8, 2017 - 10:24 AM IST

Amitabh Bachchan feels the public outcry and the trial of the rapists and murders in Nirbhaya

Amitabh Bachchan on violence against women

case have been a wake-up call for the entire nation. Big B feels such offenders must be punished by the harshest sentence possible. He also feels the male child must be taught from a young age to respect women.

Says the iconic actor, “Severe punishment is a deterrent through policing and legal methods. But society will have to change by educating its citizens from a very early age, on what our morals and principles need to be.”

Bachchan feels every Indian male needs to respect women. “Respect and dignity towards women in society, a sense of equality as fellow citizens, as contributors in equal measure, without discrimination is what needs to be inculcated amongst all of us. Women are half the strength of a nation, they cannot be looked upon as being inferior or mere objects of desire, and this is what the polity needs to be educated on. Educate the woman in a home and the entire family gets educated. Religion has given the female the honour of a ‘devi’ in many powerful forms. Understand that philosophy and lets us conduct ourselves accordingly.”

However restricting women from entering male-dominated areas of activity is, according to Big B not the solution. “Putting restrictions on women by preventing them from moving out late, or in arming themselves, is defensive thought. The women in our country need to be free of such apprehensions. They must feel and have the freedom of safety without having to think of any possible fear or danger.”

Big B feels the safety of women is a public issue. “The system shall always have limitations, the police cannot be everywhere and the law shall take its course. It is the people that shall have to change their mind set. The people must become that unseen force that assumes the role of the protector during such heinous crimes. The people must be brought up in a manner that provokes their sensibilities to do what is right and just.”

Amitabh Bachchan feels the public clamour for justice in the Nirbhaya case proves there is hope for the safety of women. “The spontaneous public response on the streets of the Capital and in other parts of the country did cause the system to take note of and provide immediate action on the unfortunate Nirbhaya incident. Consideration for the change in the laws and in quick legal action was indeed initiated. But the legal system has its own procedural compulsions. Governance shall continue to make provision for act on similar incidents, the police shall apprehend the culprits in as rapid a manner as possible, as was demonstrated by the Mumbai Police in the recent case, and the law shall be moved and take its own course, but the question really is whether all this can provide the much required safety for women in our country. This is best answered by what and how our s society reacts and conducts itself.”

Big B feels we are a long way off from providing women with a sense of security, “Women’s safety in our country has been taking a beating. It is for us to change that impression. The system shall execute justice by the rules. But we shall have to also implement effectively the right morals as individuals.”