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Hurrah for little crimes
The message is that the little lie, the small infraction is all right
B.G. Verghese
 The
BJP has just taught us something of the new morality that governs our lives. The Union Transport Minister, Nitin Gadkari, was shown riding a scooter in Nagpur without wearing the helmet which he has been advocating for road safety. The newspapers depicted him cheerfully entering the RSS headquarters unmindful of his transgression. There was no subsequent apology or acknowledgement of error; nor do the police seem to have pursued the matter waiting as they were for directions from above. Citizens protested this brazen conduct to no effect. And then a party spokeswoman told a national channel that Gadkari's was only a minor offence. He had driven no more than 400 metres and that too on a quiet by-lane. Why was a mountain being made out of a molehill? Why, indeed! Because little crimes unpunished, encourage ever-larger transgressions. Some years back, in Bangalore, as party president, Gadkari had said that something he had done was not moral but not unlawful. So the message is that the little lie, the little crime, the small infraction is all right — at least for the mighty! Now Modi has repeated the nonsense he patronised in Dina Nath Batra's book, “Tejomay Bharat” — a compulsory reading in 54,000 Gujarat schools — about India's invention of stem cell techniques in epic times since the Mahabharata tells us that Ganesha had an elephant's head implanted on his torso through plastic surgery. These remarks were made in a speech in Mumbai on October 25 and subsequently posted on Modi's website (Indian Express, October 28.). Is this the superstitious garbage the nation needs to learn from the Great Teacher? This same Batra text patronised by Modi equates India with Akhand Bharat that incorporates Tibet, Bhutan, Nepal, Afghanistan in India. Such maps are totally unhistorical and un-constitutional and are yet being propagated as the authentic image of India. How can the Prime Minister wilfully indulge in such criminal folly and get away with it? He must be hauled up and made to retract. Here again we see the mighty indulge in little lies. The man repeatedly lied about his marriage before the Election Commission until ordered to tell the truth or face electoral disqualification. Only then did he grudgingly acknowledge that he had unceremoniously dumped his 13-15-year-old wife within a day of the nuptials. With what moral voice does Modi address the nation? No “achhe din” can ever emerge from such dubious foundations. Meanwhile, the RSS is taking over the government by the day. On October 28, several ministers were summoned to meet RRS advisers in Delhi to discuss their plans and programmes. These sessions are to be represented across the board. Such tutoring surely violates administrative norms with ministers being called upon to share ideas with and do the bidding of unaccountable ideologues. Such tendencies can only undermine the system. It is time the alarm bells started ringing. The government has got egg all over its face by the bravado with which it has given the names of foreign bank black money holders, albeit in a sealed cover, to the Supreme Court. It had scoffed at the UPA for not revealing the names and getting the money home, despite its pleading confidentiality of treaty obligations in sharing this information. It is now making the same plea in a totally dishonest 100 degree somersault that its spokespersons are defending with classical gobbledygook. What riled the court was the selective leak of nine out of 627 names in order to show up the Congress in a bad light. The court would have none of this gamesmanship and ordered a full, confidential disclosure of the list to it. Further orders from the court are awaited. In yet another smart turnaround in which Arun Jaitley has become so adept, the Finance Minister has advised the CAG not to sensationalise his reports and arouse lynch mobs but rather remain cool and objective. Earlier, in the year Jaitley was leading the charge when the UPA was being indicted. What this illustrates is that our leaders, across parties, lack moral fibre. Now, with the possible early approach of elections in J&K, Delhi and Jharkhand, the BJP has talked of offering Rs 5 lakh in compensation to every Sikh killed in the shameful 1984 riots. This is cheap electoral bribery and the CEC has objected. Just compensation is always welcome, but what of rehabilitation and justice for the victims? Justice has yet to be done to the Sikh victims of Congress brutality. The BJP has an equally dreadful guilty conscience about the Gujarat holocaust of 2002 and is hoping the final submission of the Nanavaty Commission report, now ready for submission after 12 wasted years, will bury that issue. Strangely, Nanavaty never found it necessary to summon Modi, the central figure in this grim tragedy, for questioning. However, other cases are still being heard, with murder-accused like Amit Shah out on bail, virtually absconding from justice. And finally, the month ended with an inglorious BJP-led competition to pit Sardar Patel against Nehru and Indira Gandhi and appropriate him as their idol. Such silly ploys will not work even if the Nehru-Gandhi name has been shamefully overworked. For a party busy dividing the nation, it is strange to appropriate Patel as a unifier. They had divergent views on some matters but worked loyally and unitedly under Gandhi. Building the world's tallest statue to Patel on the banks of the Narmada is a crude vulgarity that will only caricature his new-found devotees. www.bgverghese.com
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MIDDLE |
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The paisley tie and the prisoner’s diary
Harish Dhillon
 Uncle
Harpal was not my uncle and Chachaji Santokh Singh was not my Chacha. And yet they meant as much to me as any uncle or Chacha because, between them, they did more for my parents than anyone else in the world.As I have written elsewhere, my father was a prisoner of war in Singapore for almost four years during the Second World War. My mother adopted the garb and lifestyle of a widow. She wore white, ate only vegetarian food and, other than her duties as a doctor, attached to the military hospital, kept very much to herself. Friends and relatives feared for her sanity. Then Uncle Harpal and his family took charge. The children would take turns to sleep at their aunty ‘Bhuto’s house. Against her protests she was taken to see movies and on picnics. Uncle Harpal and Aunty Surjeet made sure that she attended every festivity in their fairly large circle of friends. They worked the miracle of bringing her back to some semblance of normalcy. In the prison, my father was befriended by Chachaji Santokh Singh. They became the best of friends and, when my father came down with diabetes, Chahaji took charge. By all the means at his disposal, some of them extremely devious, he ensured that my father got the required medicines. If my father came out of this experience alive, it was only because of Chachaji's administrations. My contact with them continued, if in a desultory way, after my parents had passed into the shade. I did bring them together at my daughter Naina's wedding almost 20 years ago. She had insisted that the guest list should be limited strictly to very close friends and relatives, people who mattered to the family, people who would be happy to meet each other and catch up with all their news. At lunch I realised that Uncle Harpal and Chachaji Santokh were both there and that they had never met. It was a proud moment for me when I brought them finally together. I wish I could say that they became the best of friends, but that happens only in fiction. But it did mark the beginning of a new chapter in my relationship with them. I visited them often and our conversations transcended the past and embraced the present. We became friends in our own right, independent of what they had done for my parents. Uncle gave me a lovely silk tie with a paisley design, in extremely
bold colours. “I bought it years ago on a trip to England and have never dared to wear it.” Chachaji Santokh Singh gave me a diary which he had kept during his prison days, chronicling, amongst other things, his relationship with my father. They are gone now, and I miss them very much. When their loss becomes too much, I wear the tie and am wrapped once again in the warmth of Uncle Harpal's love and when I read the diary both Chachaji and my father come alive once again.
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OPED
— Women |
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When the victim is treated as accused
Rajesh Gill
LEGISLATION after legislation, amendment after amendment, seminar after seminar; and yet, every fortnight a woman lays down her life, suffocated by a system that refuses to respond to her grievances and deliver justice to her. Some time back in Haryana, two teenaged girls, with a bright professional career awaiting them, killed themselves because they could no longer bear the humiliation and hurt caused by repeated acts by some goons amounting to eve teasing and molestation.
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| Women of social organisations protesting for a thorough probe into the suicide of the minor girls in Rohtak. They felt humiliated because they were being teased and stalked. |
They definitely had shared their agony with parents, police etc., but yet found themselves fighting a lone battle. Very recently, in a prestigious medical college in Punjab, a postgraduate student, a young woman, whose parents must have invested hugely both emotionally and financially towards her professional training and future, committed suicide because she found it unbearable and was tired of persistent harassment and torture. Violated by relatives
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Matter of shame  According to the NCRB Report of 2012, Andhra Pradesh tops the list of States in percentage contribution to incidence and rate of crimes committed against women at 11.53 per cent.
It is followed by West Bengal (12.67), Uttar Pradesh (9.65), Rajasthan (8.64), Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and so on.
Among cities, Delhi, the Capital of India tops with 14.18 per cent contribution to incidence and rate of crimes committed against women, followed by Bengaluru with 6.18 per cent.
It is significant to note that the largest megapolises which are supposed to symbolise gender equality and freedom unfortunately are the most unsafe places for women.
Need to enhance feminine qualities across genders
The culprit definitely here is the “masculinity”, exhibited through an aggressive body language, vocabulary, habits and actions. Showing respect (especially to a woman); expressing concern; making sacrifices; resisting peer pressure; being soft and considerate; are all taken as feminine traits. Boys in Punjab and Haryana are trained to be aggressive, impatient, ambitious, disrespectful, ruthless and untidy. It is time these cultural norms and stereotypes are reversed. Imagine a society with only masculine traits (since women too are acquiring these in the name of gender equality); where impatience and violence rules. What we need instead is a feminine society where high value is attached with patience, affection, sacrifice and modesty. Laws do not have the potential of wiping out the age-old cultural norms that actually govern our lives. These regulate our behaviour irrespective of what laws prescribe. While we are performing magnificently at policy making and legislation; things have really gone awry at the very basic level, i.e. within families, at school and in neighbourhood. Let us go back down to the basics in an endeavour to build a more respectful society.
Capital loss
Delhi has emerged as the capital of crimes against women with an unparalleled spurt in such incidents this year, every day of which on an average saw five rapes, 10 molestations, 10 kidnappings and two eve-teasing cases.Crimes against women — rape, molestation and eve-teasing-registered a five-fold increase in 2013, compared to in the same period last year. As per the data, registration of offences has jumped by a significant 35 per cent in 2013, as compared to 2012. There is a 56 per cent increase in crimes such as outraging the modesty of women involving assault and a 37 per cent rise in offense of insult to women
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In a recent study on destitute women, one of my students has found startling facts about how scores of teenaged girls are violated by their own close relatives, supposed to be their protectors; and in case they run away from home to escape this persistent harassment, strangers, of course men, pounce upon them, at times leaving their progeny in their wombs, and causing permanent scars on their bodies and souls. Many of these victims get mentally disturbed in the process. They are unable to make out as to who impregnated them and how they can get out of this state. As it happened in one of the short-stay homes in City Beautiful some time back, such mentally challenged women are continuously violated by the very men who are supposed to look after their wellbeing. The question is why do the laws meant to protect women become redundant at such moments? Does it then make any sense to have so many amendments and new statutes? After all, where is the problem? Do we nip the evil in the bud? Absolutely not! I have come across a number of women, rich and poor, young and old, illiterate and highly educated, sharing their stories of continuous humiliation caused by their male bosses, colleagues and even subordinates at the workplace, which goes on and on; despite repeated signals by them against such acts. Recently, a senior woman professor shared with me how when she was young and single, she was repeatedly complemented on her dress and physique by her senior male colleagues, despite her annoyance. Scores of young women research scholars have shared with me how they have been suffering embarrassment at the hands of their male supervisors and even Class IV employees, whose eyes are perpetually fixed upon their chest. The question is, why don't these women complain? No courage to complain Why do women not have the courage to complain? Yes this is a million-dollar question. Having been on several committees against sexual harassment at the workplace, my experience has shown that a majority of women keep on suffering acts of sexual harassment or even professional harassment not necessarily amounting to “sexual” harassment, quietly. A few of course muster courage and complain. By and large, such women, an aggrieved party, are made to explain their position as if they are the accused. Not to speak of male colleagues, even their female colleagues and superiors would give them a smirking look, ridicule them and would often side with men, only and only because these men are at the centre of power. It is a pity that many of such women complainants get bogged down by such smirks and taunts, by their own sisters, getting into depression due to persistent stigma. I have often seen both male and female members of committees against sexual harassment taunting the victims even when all evidence supports their accusations. In one such committee, when a young woman complainant appeared before the members, along with her father who supported her, one of the members commented: “Look! These girls take so much effort in looking beautiful and wear jeans-sheens; and then they complain that they have been sexually harassed.” Biased committee I felt ashamed to be a part of a committee that was so patriarchal and biased. In another such committee, when a complainant came with her parents and narrated her painful experience of continuous harassment by a male teacher, two women members started counselling the parents “Look, if this complaint is pursued, your daughter will earn a bad name. She has to be married off too. So please give it a thought before you pursue your complaint.” As expected, the parents gave in writing that they did not want to pursue it and withdrew their complaint. Protector turns perpetrator Very often, when an aggrieved woman gathers courage to lodge a formal complaint, she finds herself absolutely alone, with nobody to support her. Even the authorities to whom she makes a complaint, threaten her as if she is the accused. Instead of getting a sympathetic hearing from the authorities, even when it is prima facie a genuine complaint, she often has to fight a lone battle. This is mainly because in every case, men are in an absolute majority at the helm of affairs. Fortunately, I have also come across men, though very few in number, who have the capacity to empathise with an aggrieved woman, yet most of them find these cases titillating and amusing. They are without any human consideration at all. Wherever a complainant gets justice, it is only and only because of the head of the institution. It is he/she who has a major role to play. If driven by sycophants, he/she is likely to play with the statutory provisions, on the other hand, one who has a moral commitment and guts, sees to it that justice is delivered to the genuine complainant, while a fake complainant gets penalised for misusing the statutory benefit. However, the greatest harm is done by the institutions which with their patriarchal approach refuse to adjudicate the issue with objectivity and integrity. Victim pushed to the wall While a majority are immune to facing personal comments, sexual gestures and gendered humiliations on a daily basis, only a few take the courage to expose such acts at the cost of their own career, reputation and peace of mind. Mostly, for them it is like banging their heads against a wall, with no response, no reaction, no sympathy; being pushed to the wall, to an extent, that the only way left to them is to end their lives. Only after a suicide takes place, the whole system comes into motion, though just for a few days, again waiting for another one, and the story goes on. Raising one’s voice  The question these lost lives leave thus is for all of us to answer: How long shall raising your voice against injustice remain an offence? A recently quoted statement by a senior judge explains the situation very appropriately. Justice R.S.Sodhi, former Delhi High Court judge said, “Exposing corruption per se is absolutely within acceptable norms of disclosure.....We must know the horses that are dirtying in the shed and get rid of them.” (quoted in Excise Law Times, Vol. 307, Part 4:A143, September, 2014). It is high time we evolve a system that punishes the culprit and not the victim.
The writer is Chairman, Department of Sociology,
Panjab University, Chandigarh
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