Rape's become a fashion, says education minister Bhupendrasinh Chudasama

Referring to the rising incidents of rape, state Education minister Bhupendrasinh Chudasama said on Saturday that "Rape has become a fashion". He was talking at the inauguration of Ahmedabad International Literature Festival on how immune society has become to the tragedy and how the lack of a support system leads to a rise in suicides.

"Society needs to worry," he said. "The sanctity of a relationship between a sister and brother, father and daughter, and uncle and niece is no longer maintained." He added that there was a need to discuss environmental and social concerns in cultural festivals such as these as literature can be an effective way of addressing what ails society.

"We need to work towards a system where we can instil self-confidence in students from a very young age so that they do not feel overwhelmed and take the wrong steps," he said. Meanwhile, actor Vivek Oberoi, who was also present at the event, said India had not exercised the soft power and diplomacy of its film industry to its fyull potential. He headed an interaction titled the 'Impact of reels on wheels of life'. 

"One third of tourism in Switzerland came about because the locales were shown in Yash Raj films," he said. "Countries offer discounts to Indian filmmakers to come and shoot at their scenic location, so that they can be showcased to the world. While in India, we pay a 'Sin' tax."