Nirbheek - 'the Gun': A harebrained way to protect women

Rowdies, bullies, and other men who think it’s ‘fun’ to taunt or molest a woman, beware! The Indian Ordnance Factories (IOF) has come out with what they think will help women protect themselves from anti-social elements. The IOF’s latest piece in its kitty is a 7.65 mm .32” revolver, ominously named ‘Nirbheek’. While it might not transform women in India into a Sharon Stone in The quick and the dead or a Milla Jovovich in Resident Evil,  the deadly weapon is a ‘valuable contribution to women’s security’ — to quote an advertisement by the Field Gun Factory in Kanpur. Going by its confidence that a guns ‘protect’ women, it can be only said that the folks back in the IOF are on an overdose of James Bond and Lara Croft movies where the leading ladies effortlessly use firearms to tackle evil forces and save the world — of course after saving themselves.
At just 500 gms this titanium alloy gun, priced at around Rs. 1.22 lakh, could be the Indian women’s best friend. So, where the mobile apps, pepper sprays, taser guns and even China’s ‘hairy leg stockings’ have failed, the .32 is expected to hit the eye. Only if addressing women’s safety was so easy. Such lightheaded ideas come across only as an advertisement gimmick — and a poor one at it — to boost the sales of the product.

The safety of women is often a neglected subject in India. And in a society where such issues are seldom discussed, it is refreshing to see the IOF to produce a firearm keeping the safety and security of women in mind. But where it is way off target is to think that arming women will make them safer. If guns were to make people safer, America, with its liberal gun laws, would have been the safest place on earth. Going by the alarming number of shooting in malls, gas stations and even schools, it is clear that more guns is not equal to more safety. Moreover, how does a gun help a woman in a crowded train or on the dark street?