Established 1946 Price : Rupees Five Vol. 67 No. 49 May 2013 bring more cheer January 6, 2013 S. Viswam Youth comes of age Kuldip Nayar Though revelers stayed on the look forward to the new year with Violent Economic “Reforms” thoroughfares in major cities till hope and anticipation. and Violence against Women the early hours of the New Year Vandana Shiva Day celebrating the arrival of 2013, However, the second fortnight of India really entered the new year December proved to be a particularly I witness- on a somber note, an undercurrent demoralizing one that left the entire Vandana Shiva of despair, helplessness and gloom country shell-shocked and driven to dominating the general mood. The sustained self-introspection about - Why I am culpable year being kicked out had brought no the growing vulnerabilities faced Sujan Dutta cheer to the country and its people. It by women in India. A single horrific was marked by controversies galore, episode involving a 23-year-old and groups led by Anna Hazare kept medical student from Uttar Pradesh Moment of Profound Grief brought home to the nation some Uday Dandavate reminding the people at large and the government all through the year and realities of the ground situation day in and day out that corruption concerning the safety and security Liberty and Gun Culture was the major ailment affecting of our women, who constitute half K. S. Chalam the nation’s health and well-being. the country’s population. The girl With the economy in the doldrums was raped, beaten up, brutalized and The rusted steel frame in the wake of the global recession, humiliated by six men in a moving Harsh Mander with two-digit rate of inflation bus in New Delhi and thrown out making living more expensive on the streets. Her boy friend was Communal Riots Riots -2012 and with a government paralyzed assaulted. The story would have Asghar Ali Engineer by the formidable challenges it was had a customary ending but for the clearly unable to cope with, there was fortuitous coincidence of a police Editor : very little for the citizen to be happy patrol vehicle passing by the spot G. G. Parikh about. Indeed, in retrospect, it would where two helpless souls were in Managing Editor : Guddi seem that 2012 turned out to be one great agony and were taken care of of the worst post-independence immediately by shifting them to a D-15, Ganesh Prasad, years, since it dampened the mood hospital. The customary story would Naushir Bharucha Marg, of virtually every section of the have been that the rape episode Mumbai - 400 007. society from the rich to the poor, would not have been exposed but from the urban to the rural, from would have been buried by the Email : [email protected] the corporates to the factories and victims, their parents and any others plants. There was good reason to in the civil society who might have 2 JANATA, January 6, 2013 come to know of it. In the event, Between the lines the plight of the victims came to public notice, and the media did its duty by highlighting the tragic and Youth comes of age unfortunate aspects of the victims. The rest, as they say, is history. Kuldip Nayar Seldom in the recent past has a single episode roused an entire How heavenly to be alive when belatedly, asked the political parties nation and made them conscious of the youth is asserting itself. Even to make proposals, indicating that their guilt in allowing hundreds of the sons and daughters from well- the Manmohan Singh government rapists escape the law and hundreds off families joined the protests. I was at a loss. of victims and their families enduring recall the Quit India movement in agonizing periods of trauma and 1942 when on the call of Mahatma Hurriedly, it appointed a shock. Seldom in the recent past Gandhi people came on to the probe committee and a judicial has such a comprehensive, vast streets to demand the British to quit. commission to suggest new, harsher and multi-dimensional coverage There was a spirit of sacrifice and laws. Former Chief Justice of India given by the national media (of all J. C. Verma was appointed to head languages and regions) to a single dedication in their demonstration. the commission. I wish this process episode. Rarely, if ever, has the This time one felt his or her had been gone through after a joint plight of a criminally assaulted personal loss in the death of the session of parliament as demanded girl has endeared herself to the 23-year-old after being gang raped. by the opposition. Then suggestions entire nation, and never before have made by MPs could have been so many cursed so many targets Young faces, lighted by the candles (principally the police and other law- they carried, adumbrated the idea incorporated in the proposed laws. enforcing authorities) for inaction of India which knew of no caste, The nitty-gritty of improving the and irresponsibility, and never before no religious identity. It was a united legal apparatus is all right up to a has such extraordinary resolve on nation mourning the death of its point. But what the government public display of readiness to take proud daughter. It looks from protest fails to realise is that its thinking follow-up action on atrocities on marches and condolence meetings is out of date. It is still stuck in women. In a sense, a young girl’s that the gang rape has awakened the the status quo while the youth courage and bravery, her sacrifice nation to brutalities against women wants parivartan (change). and her tragic death unified a nation as well as non-functioning rulers. and inspired one and all to ensure That the stir was peaceful despite The system is too effete to that her death would not go in vain. lathi-charge and water canons shows restore confidence in the majesty the maturity of participants. of law and to ensure protection Millions of words have been to all, particularly women. The printed in the newspapers of India, The rulers had no clue of why government’s own record is poor. and of the world, highlighting the such defiance had taken place and It has done very little to combat need for rendering justice, through what they should be doing. Initially, corruption which dominated the tight laws and stringent punishments, they did not want to come in the open debate until a few months ago. To to rape victims and victims of all to address the gatherings because inspire confidence, the least that kinds of violence against women. there was no connect between them New Delhi could have done is to The government has been flooded and the students. None in the ruling have made the Central Bureau of with advice, suggestions for action, leadership had fathomed the anger. Investigation (CBI) independent. and description of the concrete steps Then the government panicked and The agency continues to function at it could take to make it difficult for leaders like Delhi chief minister the whim of the ruling party. rapists and criminally minded men Sheila Dikshit wanted to interact to assault women. The government with the students squatting at Jantar One thing which has come as has given the impression that it has Mantar, India’s Hyde Park, but she a surprise to me from the current remained sensitive to the public was refused entry to the place. Home protests is that the youth wants (Continued on Page 5) Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde, to remain apolitical. No notice JANATA, January 6, 2013 3 was taken of the presence of Aam Aadmi Party, born out of Gandhian Violent Economic “Reforms” and Anna Hazare’s movement to have Growing Violence against Women Lokpal (ombudsman) at the centre to combat corruption. The youth Vandana Shiva seems to prefer people’s movement to a political party. Today the brave and courageous Could there be a connection I find that there is some survivor of the Delhi gang rape between the growth of violent, awakening in the political parties breathed her last. This blog is a undemocratically imposed, unjust too. They appear to have started tribute to her and other victims of and unfair, economic policies introspecting their own conduct. violence against women. and the growth of crimes against From the statements they have women? made, it is evident that they want Violence against women is as old to rise above party considerations as patriarchy. But it has intensified I believe there is. on violence against women. This and become more pervasive in the evokes hope that the government recent past. It has taken on more Firstly, the economic model and the opposition will reach a brutal forms, like the murder of focusing myopically on “growth”, consensus on the steps to stop the Delhi gang rape victim and begins with violence against women even molestation and eve teasing. the suicide of the 17-year old rape by discounting their contribution to The problem is the male. Without victim in Chandigarh. the economy. changing his mindset, there can be no gender equality. He still treats Rape cases and cases of violence The more the government talks women as a thing of pleasure. His ad nauseum about “inclusive growth against women have increased chauvinism has not lessened over “ and “financial inclusion,” the over the years. The National Crime the years as the remarks by some more it excludes the contributions Records Bureau (NCRB) reported people’s representatives, MPs and of women to the economy and 10,068 rape cases in 1990 which MLAs, made after the gang rape, society.