Delhi Rape: Random Thoughts II

India's Tahirir Square moment seems to have opened a can of worms - the issue of sexual harassmsent, patriarchal values, sex ratio and many other gender centric issues have now become part of public discourse and also caught many political leaders with foot right inside their mouths.

Talking of unparliamentary remarks, I thought the last word was said when Sanjay Nirupam made the 'thumka' remark about Smriti Irani's TV days and questioned her 'charitr'. How wrong I was! Even after that there was a steady flow of statements on same misogynist lines.

But it was Abhijith Mukherjee's remark that really took the cake. To begin with somehow I had hardly heard about him, though he is the son of President Pranab Mukherjee. His comment that only the painted and 'dented' (can't figure out what he mean't) women go for protests against the Delhi gangrape, showed Dilli Durbar's total disconnect with reality. His remarks even managed to divert the brickbats his father was getting for government's ineptitude in dealing with crimes against women.

Even after the woman's death, we had some BJP leader saying girls should not wear skirts. Once again the onus of upholding morality has fallen on the shoulders of girls. What to do boys will be boys - with libidos akin to water cannons, pumped up on a sumptuous diet of Honey Singh lyrics, Sunny Leone videos and a 'haseena maan jayegi' mindset!

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It is also a protest against a crony capitalism where not only wealth but even policing is cornered by a bunch of oligarchs, who have laid siege on Lutyen's Delhi.

Almost 30 per cent of the police force, probably the smarter and fitter among the lot, is tied up for the well being of these VIPs. Most of these policemen may be doing precious little other than buy vegetables for memsahibs and drop their children to school. This is not just the case with Delhi, but with most state capitals.
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Apart from the brutality of the incident, what probably evoked such a groundswell of protest is a feeling of empathy among the common public. The woman had gone for a movie and then taken a bus along with her male friend (thankfully, having a boyfriend no longer raises eyebrows or has been overlooked for now). The time was around 9:30 pm, not an ungodly hour. Somehow unlike earlier instances of such assaults this time there was no she-asked-for-it ring around it.

This particular case did manage to pierce through the iron curtain of public apathy. And the Delhi-centric national media was more than eager to roll in its OB vans and cameras and milk the issue dry for TRPs. 
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It was indeed a heart warming sight to see the agitators withstand the water cannon in a chilly Delhi winter, when people even loath to take hot water baths. It is indeed ironic that the government came out with so much alacrity to quell the agitation, but did not even utilise half of that zeal in making streets safer for women.

But the agitation was not free from its share of controversies. It took a violent turn when some political goons joined the agitators and provoked the police. A more unfortunate fallout was that some of the women agitators themselves were eve-teased by men, who were drunk, and had come to have some 'fun'. What better place than a crowded protest meet where women have turned up in large numbers!
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Hang them, castrate them ... these nostrums were not just mouthed during angry private conversations, but in Parliament, TV debates and message boards of various websites. We had Mohandas Pai, former Infosys HR chief and revered figure of India Inc, come on TV and say that rapists should be castrated. The message board warriors wanted rapists even stoned to death, bobbitised; and in Facebook we had pictures of men hanged in public for rape in Saudi Arabia with numerous 'likes' and 'shares'. All this must have been sweet music to the Saud dynasty, Mullah Omar, Ayman al-Zawahiri and late Osama bin Laden!

But seriously, it shows the disgust the general public has towards the way our police and legal system functions and the pathetic conviction rates, which makes them advocate such drastic measures. And not because they have now fallen in love with such medieval practices.
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Now the Indian media, be it TV or newspaper seems to be on an overdrive to report sexual assault cases. Suddenly incidents happening even in remote parts, which usually used to get buried in inside pages as 'fillers' or 'killed' for more important stories, are getting prime-time slots.
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Came across a really hard hitting video of Kavita Krishnan, secretary of the All India Progressive Women's Association, which actually covers the whole gamut of the issue. Wish there were English subtitles, so that those who do not understand Hindi could also follow it.

Also Read: Bangalore Beat

Delhi Rape: Random Thoughts

While watching the horrific saga of the rape of a girl in a bus in Delhi unfold on various TV channels, the sound bites that a reporter managed to get from the parents of one of the culprits left me shell shocked.

The mother of the accused said that after the incident he came home, had food and slept. He did not reveal them anything about it  nor showed any signs of remorse, uneasiness or even a lack of appetite. He behaved like one of those regular youths who come home after socialising with friends. 
Probably he thought the girl and her friend may not live to tell the tale. Even otherwise they would never be caught or if at all caught, they will be easily let off. The level of cockiness (no pun intended) and dehumanisation exhibited by the person was appalling, to say the least.

The guy's parents said that he slept soundly till 10 am and they  could not sense that their son had committed a crime that had caused national outrage. They came to know only when they had police at their doorsteps.

However, to the parent's credit it must be emphasised that they showed courage and forthrightness to face the camera and concede that the crime was unpardonable and their son ought to be punished, if guilty.

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Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit comes before camera and says the permit of the bus used by the rapist has been cancelled! Big deal. The guy will most probably get it revoked in a couple of months.
Yet another foot-in-mouth remark by her. It comes close on heels of her earlier comment that a family of five members can buy monthly grocery for Rs 600.

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One Delhi girl says on camera that while travelling in buses, it is routine to get groped on breasts and thighs. Then she adds, in a relieved tone, that  compared to what happened to this para-medical student, it is nothing! Now such is the level of expectation (as good a nil) of safety while using public transport.

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A tweet by Arvind Kejriwal reveals that in 2012, 635 cases of rape were registered in Delhi, but nobody has been punished so far! No wonder these incidents happen with such impunity.
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Poor Narendra Modi. No one doubts his victory chances, but may  have to share the limelight with this horrific incident.
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Wonder why the head of the accused is often covered using a dark coloured cloth.  Surely they do not deserve any privacy or anonymity, unlike the victim. Their face should be very much visible for all to see. An exception could be made for juvenile criminals.
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Delhi is in a league of its own, when it comes to crimes against women. Remember the Naina Sahani tandoor case? or for that Geeta and Sanjay Chopra kidnap and murder case? The list is sickeningly long.
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TV actress and BJP MP Smriti Irani revealed that while covering this very rape incident, a woman TV journalist  got nearly molested by  some four-five guys who came in a car! She was saved by her alert camera man. Even in this surcharged atmosphere, for some it was business as usual.

Also Read: Bangalore Beat
 

 

 

Guns Come Calling

Yet another shooting took place. No, I am not referring to Connecticut, but our own Connaught Place in Delhi. A guy at a Dhaba was quite pissed off on being served leftover food and after few rounds of heated arguments, took out his gun and fired at the waiter. Probably he was not a good shot, the waiter escaped unhurt and the police were prompt enough to arrive and arrest the quick-gun Pande.

It is not yet clear whether the weapon he used was a licenced one or not, but most probably it might be latter.  Going by the recent events it looks like we are sitting on a huge pile of unlicensed weapons; and they are now making their presence felt in urban centres.

The recent killing of liquor baron Ponty Chadha at a farmhouse near Delhi and the attack on a hospital in Guragon point to the alarming trend of use of illegal firearms and the lack of scrutiny by authorities while issuing licence for firearms. Sukhdev Singh Namdhari - an alleged conspirator behind the murder of Chadha and his brother, obtained arms licence and passport by providing fake residence proof. He even got his arms licence renewed twice without surrendering the original documents.

The landed gentry in villages have always owned guns, ostensibly to guard their farms and for hunting. The gun culture in the badlands of Chambal valley and Bihar enjoyed a wild-West like cult image. The illegal arms factories dotting some of the small towns in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar mainly catered to the dacoits and naxalites in the hinterlands. The end of Phoolan Devi era brought down big-ticket dacoities, which used to hog media headlines.

Now the guns manufactured in these units are finding its way to places such as Delhi, Gurgaon and other urban centres in North India. They are no longer fired just in the air during weddings and other celebrations, but are being used to prove a point. They are brandished during road rages, at toll plazas and other places to prove Mao Zedong's dictum that "power flows from the barrel of the gun".

With wheels of justice in our country hardly proving to be any deterrent, guns are being used with impunity and often in public places like crowded streets and hospitals. It looks like we are heading towards a Kalashnikov culture that has blighted Pakistan since late 1970s.

Also Read: Bangalore Beat

Intrepid Katju

Justice Markandey Katju never fails to create a stir or for that matter stay away from the news for long; but he does manage to kick up a meaningful debate. Though his provocative remarks often contain a kernel of truth, not many seem to get a sense of it and quibble over the form. When Bal Thackeray died Katju was one of those honourable exceptions, who chose to call a spade a spade and did not resort to singing his praises out of fear.

His recent remark that "ninety per cent of Indians are idiots and can be easily taken for ride" has not gone down well with many. He himself said it was to provoke people into thinking and not fall to the guiles of politicians and religious mobsters.

He said that a communal riot could be set off in Delhi for a paltry sum of Rs 2,000 as all somebody has to do is disrespect a place of worship and people will start fighting. "You mad people will start fighting amongst yourself not realising that some agent provocateur is behind this," he said.

One can hardly disagree with him as numerous inquiry commissions held after riots have time and again proved it. But sadly little action is taken against the guilty or hardly any lessons are learnt. Hence these riots happen with alarming regularity. Katju then remarked that “80% of Hindus and Muslims were communal.”

All these comments did not go down well with the Internet Hindus, who were more than eager to brand him a Congress agent. The comment boards in Hindustan Times and Times of India, which are never moderated, were replete with trolls against him. However, unlike other occasions, this time they did not have a free run as there were many Katju supporters vociferously defending him.

The very next day two students from Lucknow filed a case saying that Katju's remarks denigrate Indians. To the credit of these students, it needs to be said that they took a far more civilized route than say burning effigy or hitting the press council's chairman’s photo with chappals; usually the norm in our country.

In his rebuttal he said, "The figure 90% is not a mathematical figure, it simply means that in my opinion a large proportion of Indians (and again I repeat, not all) are fools."He then goes on to say the he wants Indians to prosper and have decent lives, "which is only possible if the Indian masses develop the scientific outlook and scientific temper and give up casteism, communalism, superstitions and other mental attitudes which a large part (not all) of them presently suffer from." The Press Council chairman added that, "Truth is sometimes bitter, but sometimes bitter medicine has to be given to an ailing person."

Katju then recounted some of the scientific developments that happened in the ancient history of the country and felt that down the line we gave up the scientific temper and lost out to Europe in the race to civilization.

Tracing the origin of communal divide within various communities, Katju said they began after 1857 revolt, thanks to the divide and rule policy of the British. This explanation to me sounds a bit simplistic. The divisions along caste and communal lines was in fact more pronounced during those periods, but somehow each community used to live in isolated enclaves and was at peace with others. What the British did succeed was in fomenting tensions and violence among them.

After Independence initially some of our leaders tried to build bridges among different communities. But somehow all that was undone by later leaders, who began treating each community as vote banks. Regarding this he said, "When most of our people go to vote they cast their votes on the basis of caste or religion, not the merit of the candidate. What else is the meaning of vote banks? And this is exploited by some unscrupulous politicians who know how to manipulate and manage these vote banks. That is why many persons with criminal backgrounds get elected."

He also laments about the rampant superstition in the country and describes astrology is 'humbug' and says that even the so called educated people are hooked to it. In a recent survey at software firms across the country, it was found that superstitious practices were rampant, especially in companies based in Bangalore and Delhi. The high pressure dog-eat-dog atmosphere in these offices is making them do whatever it takes, even superstition, to succeed.

It was found that employers were resorting to Feng Shui and Vastu Shastra, while employees were using lucky charms such as stones, rudrakshas and bamboo shoots to boost their careers. Superstitious practices were more prevalent among top management officials.

Lastly he does not spare his bugbear - the media. "A large section of the media, taking advantage of the backwardness of a large section of our people, dishes out lives of filmstars, cricket, etc as if these are the real issues before the people, when the real issues are socio-economic."

Also Read: Bangalore Beat

Indian Sports in Dire Straits

Indian sports across the board are on a bicycle-stand-collapse mode. The humiliation at Eden Gardens on Sunday was the new low of this free fall. For England the happy hours started shortly after lunch on Saturday, when they picked up six wickets for 36 runs. Only R Ashwin stood in the way from an innings defeat.

For a country where cricket is nothing short of religion, losing back-to-back matches on the home turf is nothing short of sacrilege. The players got pilloried by all and sundry. Amidst this entire din, Indian hockey squad, which lost to Pakistan in Champions Trophy for third position, got off lightly. But to be fair to them, their performance in this tournament was far more laudatory.

A couple of days ago it was India's Olympic shame, with the International Olympic Committee suspending the Indian Olympic Association for violation of the international Olympic Charter. At least in this case the players were not to blame. In fact they had done the country proud by bringing in the richest haul of medals in the country's history at the recently concluded Olympics.

The suspension will prevent them from competing in the Olympics under the Indian flag. For the athletes it is a harsh punishment for no fault of theirs. This suspension could also cost them in terms of funding from international organisations. Barely have we started tasting some success at Olympics, but now it looks like it’s going to be snuffed out.

Following IOC's example, the international boxing body International Boxing Association (AIBA) also decided to provisionally suspend the Indian Amateur Boxing Federation (IABF). Boxing has brought many laurels to us in international events and we can ill afford to allow the suspension to happen.

On both counts the international bodies have objected to the way elections to these sports bodies were recently held, which of course were riddled with allegations of nepotism and corruption. Its an open secret that almost all sports bodies in the country are dominated by politicians with dubious credentials, with some like Suresh Kalmadi even having served jail terms. They are attracted because of the money involved; nurturing talented sportspersons is the last thing in their minds. Not surprisingly, they inspire little confidence among international sporting bodies.

It’s time we brought in candidates who are interested in sports, preferably former sportspersons or coaches and those industrialists who have set up institutes to nurture sports, like say MRF pace academy or Tata football academy.

Hitherto, if at all we have produced sportsperson of world class stature, the country's sports system had little role in it. They all came up despite the system and each sportsperson has his/her story to say as to how much they had to struggle to overcome the obstacles posed by the system. It’s time we made the system work for them.

Also Read: Bangalore Beat