Just how seriously should we take ourselves? And just how seriously should we take satire? Satire on the increasing incidence of rape in our country, for instance. You’ve probably come across this recent piece on the annual Assam Rape Festival, originally published on the US-based online humour/parody-happy portal and shared extensively on social media.
“Citizen journalist” Paul Horner fabricated all the gory details — from the origin of the festival (43 BC by a certain Baalkrishna Tamil Nadu who raped “everyone” in his village of Doomdooma) to the current festival head Madhuban Alhuwalia, from 20-something award contender Harikrishna Majumdar to an enthusiastic 12-year-old rape victim Jaitashri Majumdar. There’s even an image of raging, bearded buck naked men…presumably a photograph of the Naga Sadhus used out of context.
It has elicited all the possible reactions in the book — from disdain, disapproval, disbelief and wilful suspension of disbelief (we probably find it easier to point fingers at ourselves than have a foreign country do the same). And of course, many believed every word was true and were duly horrified, petrified, terrified and what have you… I can’t decide whether the onus lies on the website — for not having clearly spelt out that it was indeed an attempt at satire (a rather graphic one at that), or on the gullible lot for not looking for the “About Us” section or simply scrolling down to the bottom to decipher their disclaimer: “… Advice given is NOT to be construed as professional. If you are in need of professional help, please consult a professional…”
I say kudos to the writer for not having focused on the rape capital Delhi (too easy a target) as well as for having mentioned that the US beats our country when it comes to the number of reported rape cases though “most rapes in India go unreported”. And kudos to an Indian (and “proud Assamese”) called Sandip Dev who gave the writer and the site a taste of their rather potent medicine with a write-up on The Great American Mass Shooting Festival on his blog.
In any case, I do have a bone to pick with Horner for targeting Assam in particular (and India in general, for that matter) — despite the alleged gang-rape and murder of two women who’d been gang-raped, the gang-rape of a 12-year-old girl by five minors or the very public gang molestation of a girl who dared to wear a mini skirt, and that Assam CM Tarun Gogoi frothed at the mouth with not-so-flattering terms such as “demonic” and “pure evil”.
The writer could have probably given the article a more objective and international perspective by including his ingenious take on outfits such as the Roast Busters, a sex offender group formed by two West Auckland teenagers. Just a suggestion, Mr Horner.
The opinions expressed are those of the writer/columnist and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of this website.
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