Societal Changes

When it comes to anything and everything, we start pointing fingers at the Government and we start pointing fingers at the Prime Minister.  What do we think is Governments’ responsibility? To enforce policy and to enforce law and order? No, that is something that Bureaucrats and Police is supposed to be doing. Government is Law Maker and needs to ensure that the Law is followed adequately and appropriately. I guess most of us would not align with the aspect, but that’s fine, differences are bound to be there and that’s good otherwise neither of us is going to learn something new.

Coming to the most talked about set of incidents, “Rape” in India, well, it certainly is the most condemnable act and when committed against minors, it is indeed a sin for which death is the only verdict. But then, would a death verdict be enough to clean the societal trend of rape? No, it is not because Rapes don’t occur just out of blue; they are committed by those who are mentally sick and do not know what respect means in the society.  These are the set of individuals who are dealing with low Self Esteem and Inferiority Complex and to counter that, they commit that crime.  Now, many out there would challenge my previous statement, but I would leave it to them to accept it or counter it. What I would focus on is the probable aspects that can be attributed as the cause of actual number of cases v/s reported number of cases.

The case is not just of India, rather is across the world that the Rapist is not sentenced by law as much as the victim is by the society and the media.  What happens as the debate on rape by the traditional as well as social media is nothing but discussing the aspects of how the victim was traumatized, without even realizing that the discussion and mention of the rape as well as victims’ reference adds to the trauma of the victim. 

The societal tendency of pointing fingers at the victim and accusing the lifestyle of the victim does nothing much but add to the trauma of victim.  Do you really think that the lifestyle of a minor say a 2 year, 4 year or 6 year old would be something that would attract the perpetrator?  Hell, No, it is the sick mentality of perpetrator, the way I mentioned earlier, is responsible for that crime. 

Coming to the Police and the Court halls, there also, the cops and the lawyers don’t do the best to help the victim, but they carry on the impact of rape by seeking answers to some really lead questions; some actually go to the limit of seeking minute details of the incident and add to the trauma of the victim. 

Points as discussed above do nothing but restrain the Rape victims to go out there and report the crime.  More so, it boosts the morale of those perpetrators in many cases where the victim retracts after filing a report and the perpetrator making pun on the law by walking free.

What I feel is that these aspects as highlighted above would need let even the death penalty would not be able to put a restraint on the act of Rape.  Until we as the society regroup and rework on the aspects of what is highlighted above, we never would be able to eradicate Rape as a crime.  There can’t be an immediate solution to the Rape, but there certainly can be an antidote that would result in longer run rather than immediate case.  

We should start from the first part of “Not Accepting” traumatization by Media, Police and Cops; rather we should work together to stand with the victim to not let that trauma extend beyond the incident.  Additionally, as a society, we need to put pressure on Jury to NOT permit post rape marriage between the perpetrator and the victim; as after that incident of rape, self esteem of the victims goes so low that if they have to tie knot with the perpetrator, they would NEVER be able to grow out from the trauma.  Moreover, what would be the opinion of Jury where a group rape is committed by 5 married men?  Certainly, its time to change the society first before seeking Death Penalty for Rape.

Legacy of H4 Visa

The day when the H4 Visa was created, least the regulators knew that they are creating a path of career destruction for millions. The Country, that has its base in immigrants and that has its most innovative developments initiated by immigrants actually made a gruesome mistake of barring immigrants from working, just because they were married to highly skilled immigrants in specialized roles.

What the regulators forgot then was the core that most if not all of the H4 dependents actually would be equally if not higher skilled and specialized as their H1B spouses would be.  And we all agree on this point as this is not the first time anyone is writing an article of this nature.  However, a partial relief came in during Obama regime when an executive order enabled H4 dependent spouses of H1B visa holders to obtain Employment Authorization (EAD) provided their spouses had their I-140 approved.  But others were still kept away from the "right to work". Strange isn't it that the H4 spouses who were working professionals before they moved to this country are treated as second grade unwanted residents although with their skills and specialization, they would actually generate more jobs and would add to the "Income Tax" paying population of the country.  Ah, but regulators and those opposing H4 EAD wouldn't be able to see this or should we say that they are blindfolded with what is politically correct thought and wave for them?

When "Save Jobs America" campaigns against H4 EAD or for that matter against the H1Bs also, why does it forget that on an average, US has shortfall of Skilled IT resources and in some work domains, the skills are far too less than what the actual demand is.  I can state this from my own experience where I have witnessed some insane hourly rate demands because some basic skills that are required in the trade have become "Niche Skills" just because the demand surged way past what the supply is. More so, the College Grads coming out will not be able to meet the requirements both by the sheer difference in Demand v/s Supply and by the experience required in those trade.  This doesn't mean that College Grads would not be good for those jobs, they would be, but then they would make a fresh head start rather than bringing their experience on the Subject Matter. This for sure is something that needs to be considered by the regulators before overturning the H4 EAD decision.

I am sure that the economic viability assessment that would have been conducted would provide far more insight with statistical data that certainly most of the Bloggers would not be able to collate.  The aspect that the US regulators need to note, understand, accept and acknowledge before making any adverse changes to the H4 EAD is - "What is more beneficial for the Country at large rather than what is Politically Correct?"  Indeed many a times the decisions are taken based on the Political Benefits and on the basis of What is Politically Correct, and such decisions never help in the Economic Growth.  

Regulators must also look at the aspect - "If L2 dependent of on L1 Visa Holder can get Employment Authorization, why should H4 Dependent only be barred from that Right to Work?  H4 dependents are as skilled and educated as the L2 dependents are and by no means should be restricted to the confines of their home. This if represented well in the Court of Law would become a challenging task for the government to answer, because this is where they themselves are back stabbing Right of Equality and the Diversity Program they advertise as the base of Right to Work.  And yeah, without explaining this, the Government would not be able to repeal L2 EADs as it would be another Political and Legal Challenge for them to face.