The biggest joke is that we are Indians

Recently, some states were awarded and farmers facilitated with “Krishi Karman” awards for excellence in production of foodgrains. Awards do not cost much, so why not distribute them and keep people happy? But, what about those farmers who had pawned or sold away their land owing to bad crop production or reduced productivity and are now at the base of the prosperity pyramid? Is the government looking at them or would they remain unnoticed and deemed to die a death which farmers of Vidarbha had to resort to due to zero crop production and untimely or nil help from the state? Mr. Mukherjee said a large number of small and marginal farmers who were at the bottom of the prosperity pyramid would need adequate support from the government. How come he realized this after being chosen as the President and not during his tenure as the Finance Minister? We have hoards of awards in our country but few to match the caliber or purpose for which they are announced year after year. Is our democracy a joke, a sham, or something to be laughed or pitied at or should we still have faith in our politicians in the wake of situations that surround us and have forced us to rethink about the state of conditions in our country? Political scams, scandals, rape, soaring prices of even the basic necessities, falling value of rupee, hike in petrol prices due to our government policies, stress on quota, and many more. Bofors was just a metaphor initially when we had first heard of major scams in our country, but now it is being understood as the most minor form of scam till date. People from neighboring states penetrate our territory and behead our soldiers but the Government still insists on peace talks with the perpetrators of the crime. The Government has been attempting to reap a hallucinatory crop called peace in the soil of instability and fanaticism. The foundation stone of the Government of India was laid down by Nehru who with his escapist theories and nonchalant policies allowed China to torture the people living on the borders and take away a portion of Arunachal Pradesh. Nehru with his voracious appetite for power and women came out with a rhyming phrase instead, “Hindi Chini bhai bhai.” When asked, he retorted back saying that the portion of land that China had grabbed from Arunachal Pradesh was barren and not even a blade of grass could be grown there. The question, which arised, “Do we give away portions of our homes to outsiders just because plants cannot be grown there or do we protect and guard our homes from inquisitive eyes and interfering nature of our neighbors?” The man had failed to take a stand when it was most required. Then he created his future generation that assumed the nature of a gluttonous government. The people stood bleary-eyed waiting for some improvement to happen at the center, but nothing ever good churned out from our years of patience and tolerance. People were divided on caste and communal grounds to pave the way for vote banks and criminals were allowed to participate in the electoral process. The unqualified candidates and antisocial elements won the elections, boisterously ran to the House of the People to represent us, and were ecstatic on seeing their bank accounts bulge with the tax payers’ hard-earned money. Scams involving embezzlement of money occupied the front pages of our newspapers. And then evolved gender biasness and crimes being committed against women on a major level. The crimes that were believed to take place only in rural or illiterate people started taking place among the urban people. People glanced, looked, and then shied away from participating in movements against the crime. And then came the Government’s response, “We will not allow the criminals to go scott free.” History repeated itself in India when it came to witnessing gory crimes and scandalous events, but we still learned nothing from the lessons that we took. We now totally believe that democracy in our country, joked as our motherland, has reached the stage of pretence with its roots being dug deep into corruption. There is no end to it since we did nothing in the beginning to counter or check it. Our condition is deplorable and our people have become nothing less of a joke in the eyes of the foreign countries. The phalanx of people that erupted against the corrupt practices of the Government has died and there is nothing that can fuel our hearts into participating in constructive measures in favor of the society.

We look at the mindless policies of the Government of giving away food entitlements and cash reimbursements to the poor people, when in reality it never reaches them; inability to nab criminals at the proper time, thus giving them ample time to erase off every trace of evidence.

What is lacking is group solidarity, a consciousness that can rise above loyalties to caste, communities, religion, and sects and release the inspirational energy that can turn us into the most advanced democracy in the world. There is a touch of nationalism, if cultivated properly in the minds of the people, can turn our idle and inactive streets into a revolutionary force that can clear the country of the cobwebs of corruption, bigotry, sectarianism, communalism, fanaticism, poverty, and nepotism.

But alas, our wishes and experiences will remain confined to books to be read by our future generations. The schoolbooks will read:

·        Honesty is a good policy at times but never mistake is as the best policy;

·         Respect your mother and sister as women, rest are objects to be stared at or ogled at;

·        Eve teasing is not a crime, it is just another price to be paid by the women in our country;

·        It is ok if you rape someone because the Supreme Court does not dare to give death penalty to the rapist, since they do not define rape and murder as the rarest of rare crimes;

·        If you want to earn money, you ought to be politician;

·        The illiterate politicians are richer than us, then where does the value of education lie;

·        We do not have enough jobs in this country, so try thuggery and robbery instead to earn money;

·        We are not Indians, we are either Hindus or Muslims or Protestants or Catholics or Sikhs or Parsis;

·        Being an Indian means tolerance even if someone barges into our territory and beheads our dear ones;

·        If you are poor, all you get to eat or consume is the repetitive rambling of the politicians;

·        Do not expect any help from the Centre, they are fending for themselves and earning for their children;

·        Politics is the most lucrative source of income, do not mistake it with service for the people;

·        Forget what Gandhi, Tilak, Vallabhai Patel or Bose had said, they have no relevance in today’s society;

·        Take care of yourself, the police are busy giving protection to the politicians;

·        If you want a promotion in your job, all you have to do is to get your identified yourself as low-caste citizen or someone belonging to some minority group; and

      Do not forget the advantages of buttering, for it is nepotism that will get you your desired job.  

The biggest joke, which I face everyday is that I am an Indian. I and many others like me are facing this joke everyday with every day of our lives being less painful than before, because as Indians we have been taught the virtue of tolerance, in our middle-class society, indefinite tolerance.

      

The state of West Bengal: CPM ever hungry for attention and power; TMC callous about its women folk

Today every newspaper is flooded with news about the much hated incident regarding eve-teasing that happened in Kolkata. Even as the woman (alleged to be a victim of eve-teasing) had informed the police that she was under pressure from the Trinamool Congress Party to withdraw the complaint regarding lewd remarks being passed at her by certain troublemakers, Communist Party of India (Marxist) took it as an opportunity to build a space for themselves in the hearts of the native people by backlashing at the TMC for lack of security for women in the state.

What remains to be seen is that neither the ruling party decides to take a stand on the issue nor the opposing parties do anything to ensure arrest of the accused. They both got engaged in a futile battle as to whose fault it was and what could have been done. But neither of them decided to meet the victims of the issue, the people who had got beaten up while trying to protect the woman, nor ensure proper inquiry into the issue. The blighters belonging to Communist Party of India (Marxist) forget that situations were worse when they were in power. 

India is a strange democracy. It ensures right to secure lives but does not guarantee freedom of movement or right to self-respect or protection from rotten elements who are bent upon to destroy the basic rules, which guide our civilization.

Spot the difference

Nirbhaya, or Amaanat or Daamini, we regret the hurt caused to you due to our negligence, depreciating morality of the Indian males, and the deficiencies in our hollow and ductile nature of our law and order system.

If asked to spot the difference, anyone would be able to do that barring some Indian men for whom women are just objects to be utilized and destroyed like the semi-naked mannequins found in malls.

Respecting women is a time-honored quality practiced by various global communities and cultures and embodied in the local customs or lore of most civilizations. But, regrettably it is not the same in India. With families opting for a male child, the tele-serials depicting the benefits of having and living in a patriarchal society, girls being popularized as `Parayaa Dhan’, marital rape not being stringently punishable, the Indian society seems to have lost on the basic moral value of respecting women and treating them with dignity.

Where the Indian civilization was based on the strong foundation of love and respect for all and where regard for women was the very basis of our distinctive culture, the ever wandering and lubricious nature of Indian men have seemed to put a dent on the definition of respect and corroded the entire foundation on which our culture was built. The Indian culture initially was intricately woven around the belief that India is our motherland but the ignominious and vicious character of a large percentage of our Indian population seemed to have eaten away the core around which our culture was so carefully wound.

The definition of being a woman has been limited to the very basics of having breasts and vagina and being an object of craving and lust rather than a human to be dealt with reverence and esteem.

It is not only important to spot the difference in the above pictures but also in the indifferent stance of our society and the reasons which triggered the change.

We do not have to veil our women to shield and respect them; we just need to instill in our men the timeless quality of honor and the priceless quality of consideration for women.

Instead of spurting out opinions on what should be done, let us be a catalyst in restoring the order, peace, and mutual respect for which our Indian culture was appreciated and praised by one and all.

The burning issues

With all the candle marching, discussions on social platforms, mourning for the rape victims, demand for capital punishment for the accused, and resolution of boycotting the Republic Day celebrations, we seemed to have precipitated down on one burning issue-to have a safe and free India that our forefathers had dreamed of.

We are a democracy with equal rights for all in the eyes of the world, but how many of us have been able to understand the true meaning of it?

The marches are over, the days of praying for the rape victim are over, but the issue still remains. The issues of the deteriorating condition of our country’s law and order system, the dereliction of duty of our police force, the widely criticized techniques used for grappling power by our politicians, the blindfolded nature of our Indian Penal Code, the increasing terrorist activities of some antisocial elements in our society, and most importantly our safety in and out of our homes.

Instead of thinking about the incidents that have rocked the peace of our country till date, it is time that we start thinking of the issues at hand. Instead of presenting our country as an embellished and ornamented nation with elements of a true democracy, let us ponder on the precipitated issue at hand and all that we have learnt and experienced.

Let us take a resolution of participating in the country’s system rather than laying back and criticizing it. Let us understand the meaning of the most famous saying in The Three Musketeers, “One for all and all for one.” Let us act collectively and also on an individual level towards the building of a society which our forefathers wished to see and we still dream to live in.

Increasing number of malls, fluctuating stock markets, spiraling growth in prices of commodities and metals do not define a nation. It is the people who define a nation. It is the people who make it work. Lamenting, mourning, grieving, and languishing on certain instances of crime would not help solve the issue. It is time we move back and understand why it went wrong; it is time we realize that we enough potential and power to bring about a resolution – a drastic change, if not a revolution.

It is necessary to identify the issues before we think to act upon them. The issues of rape, domestic violence, marital rape, dowry killing, mental and physical agony in a relationship, honor killing, rulings and decisions of khaap panchayats, use of quota system to gain power, safety of the grey population, rising prices, female infanticide, female foeticide, our corrupt politicians, black marketing, embezzlement of money for evasion of tax duties, money laundering acts, increasing LPG prices, our corrupt bureaucracy, J & K issue, our borders being captured and the local population being harassed by the Chinese army, use of antique artillery by our army, spiraling prices of essential commodities, rates of sugar being controlled by sugar barons (who are actually politicians and have manipulated the prices for their own benefits), lack of proper insurance guidelines for a secure society, ignorance of people about their rights and duties, lack of proper infrastructure, roads found in pits and pits in roads, improper facilities of clean drinking water, loss of electricity by our power stations due to lack of supervision, ever increasing school fees, lack of proper educational curriculum due to our ineffective education ministry, shortage of facilities for the jawans fighting on the border, improper behavior of the members in our Legislative Assembly, over dependence on reservation and quota system by our parties to grapple power, liberal outlook towards our neighboring countries, overrated opinions by our netas, the goons being given tickets to contest elections, cases pending against politicians and their henchmen being inefficiently dealt with or hushed up owing to bribery and other malpractices, people’s taxes being inappropriately spent on the comfort and security of politicians, and many more which I may be forgetting at this stage or am unaware of.

But, then there are solutions to all if we just decide to deal with them rather than wait for some angel to fall from Heaven and do the needful for us.

The issues are at hand; let us deal with them and solve them. We just need to change our outlook and do away with our lethargy. Let us stop looking at the things as they are and concentrate on how they should be. Accepting our faults and acknowledging the need for change is the desire of the hour. Tolerance may be good but being intimidated is bad.

Let us raise our bottoms and make a move. The society will conscientiously follow us. But, we must be the first to make a move.

Jai Hind!!!

Freedom with its meaning changed

Khudiram Bose just before his hanging. Khudiram Bose -- a freedom fighter of Bengal who laid down his life just to say his country free.

There was a time when freedom fighters went against the odds and gave their lives for freedom of our country. Peaceful protesters boasting of the spirit of non-violence paraded on the streets while the people looked up to them as saviors and their leaders. The phalanx of people held to each other with the common aim of freedom resurrected our nation from the clutches of the British Raj. After so many years, we see the same peaceful march of people to attain freedom not of the country but to reclaim the roads for our women. We were not safe then, we are not safe now either. We were killed by the foreigners then; we are killed and mutilated by our own men now. Our women feared the pierced gaze of the British then; our women fear the penetrative gaze of our men now. Our women feared sexual harassment from our invaders; our women fear offensive behavior and tormenting stare and intentions of our men. All these force us to think as to whether we are really free. As Guruji had dreamed of:

Where the mind is without fear

And the head is held high.

May be we have to still wait for that day to come, that day to arrive, and that day to give us peace and freedom of our soul.

The suffering continues

The Hindu : News / National : Delhi Police approached crematorium late on Saturday night

So, the worst is over because Nirbhaya will no longer have to suffer. She has been cremated and she rests in peace in the souls of women who may have witnessed similar incidents in their lives but did not fear to say so, she rests in peace in the souls of men who see women as humans with rights as equal as their own rather than what lies in between their legs. But, she left us with the biggest question to ponder on as to what was her fault? Is this the end or do we have more to see and witness? Can we bring about amendments in the existing laws? Will the ministers be also tried in the same way as the common men? Or do we need to live with our eyes and ears closed and our souls crushed with fear for the sake of survival? Will India ever see the dawn of civilization wherein all are treated alike and women are respected as daughters, wives, and sisters of everyone? Would we be able to shake off the lethargy and hypocrisy that surrounds our nature and keeps us from making any strong decisions? Or would we forget and fall back on the same guidelines issued by a patriarchal society that women are objects to be utilized and played with?

The suffering has not ended yet, it continues and will continue till the date we do not see any proper laws being made and implemented. We have enough laws in India but how many are being implemented on a stringent basis?  Let us participate and be a part of the law making process. Candle marches would not be enough, for our Government is more shameless than the British Raj. Let us do our bit rather than mourning, lamenting, bereavement, and extending condolences. It is the social behavior that needs to be tackled. The Prime Minister loves to speak in the comfort of his home. Moreover, he is a stooge in the hands of the Head of the All India Congress Party. He says nothing, does nothing, and participates in nothing. But, still he is respected by one and all because we have no one to look to as our leader. There is no one who has dared to come out in the open and lead the masses towards the making of a strong and secure society.

Today, we have so much to say but tomorrow we would have nothing to say. We will feel no anger, no pain, or no remorse. Tomorrow, we will have to play the roles that women have been playing for centuries.  Because, nothing will change tomorrow. You will still go to a police station and be judged and harassed after you've had the courage to overcome the moral policing. Your workplace will still be working on a sexual harassment policy because the harassment will continue. The laws will get made, the implementation and the implementor will still be the ones in question..we will still be perverts who will talk about violence and grope and gape at women in the streets, in a crowded place..We will still feel powerful because we just exploited a powerless. 

Nirbhaya living in our memories

Nirbhaya in her last days in her fight for justice

Nirbhaya is dead and our country is silent. Silent by the shock, grief, and anger against the perpetrators of the crime. We have lost one among us, do not know how many more we are yet to loose. How many more would have to go unnoticed? Unnoticed by us, unnoticed by the government. But, their is one thing which we dare not ignore. Her condition has brought us all together irrespective of our caste and communal biases. Suddenly, the whole nation seems to have opened its eyes against our hungry for power politicians. She is dead and lies in our memories as one of us who has lost her battle in her fight for justice. May her soul rest in peace and may our souls arise before it is too late.

Jai Hind !!!
RIP Nirbhaya !!!

Shame

With rape cases increasing all over India, there is one thing, which needs to be looked at. Are women safe in any part of our country? Whether in the capital or elsewhere, the rapists seem determined to intentionally hurt a woman's modesty, disrupt peace, and cause pain and anger to their victims. What seemed to be a crime limited to only the uneducated and illiterate masses has now grown multifold in various parts of the nation and seemed to have endangered the safety of women everywhere. But, in spite of all this, our judiciary has not been able to come up with adequate amendments in our penal code or a strict police action. The integrity of our police force is debatable taking into account their recent lack of interest and show of sluggishness in the Punjab rape case. The victim committed suicide after facing threats from the perpetrators, apathy from the police, and ignominy. India hung its head in shame after the President's son made some``dented and painted" remarks against the protestors crying for justice for the victim. Rape, fear from the criminals, dereliction of duty by the police, long duration of trials, and inadequate implementation of the laws have added to the existing problems in our society. Where, on one hand, we had people who wanted to join defence or police force to serve our society, now we are faced with some exceptional characters inside the police force who ring up in the houses of common people to threaten them and ask for apology letters (as in the recent case of Parliament street police station). India shining seems to have lost its lustre with the recent upsurge of crimes against women. It is ironical that one hand we refer to our country as our motherland and on the other hand, our society lacks respect, esteem, reverance, and consideration for women. In our quest for a modern environment, we seem to have lost out on our culture and moral values, which are needed to strengthen and guard the roots of any society.

Life, Gender, and Law

Of all the things whose prices have been increasing day-by-day, life seems to be the cheapest. Not only the value of price has dropped in the last few years, the margin of its decrease is increasing everyday. We do not value life, whether human or animal, anymore. What started as a poaching of animals for the pleasure of killing and trade purposes, people have come a long way in committing crime amongst themselves by killing each other for money and other selfish reasons. There is increasing news of gruesome killings owing to quarrels, honour killing, murder in a bid to rape, murder after rape, and crime related to property disputes. Depravity and wickedness have become a state of the common mind.

Added to it are atrocities against women in the form of female feticide, killing of female new born, rape, domestic violence, marital rape, mental and physical torture for dowry, attempt to murder to make way for illicit relationships, and finally death of the victim to prevent identification of the criminal.

And then there is law, which is known more for delayed justice owing to piling of court cases and denied justice due to our corrupt system.

We blame our society and inefficient police system and judiciary for all the wrong happening in society. But, have we ever stopped and wondered as to what consists of society? It is we that the society is made of, rather put it as, the society is made of us, the people. We, the people, choose not to vote and do away with our basic fundamental rights and duties. In return, we get a government of the hooligans, for the criminals, and by the corrupt. We choose to criticize the system instead of taking part in the system or being a part of the system. We choose to tell our daughters to be safe rather tell our sons to behave themselves. We choose to celebrate the birth of a male child rather than treating our girl child as our own and spending our resources for their growth and upliftment. We choose to fear and keep ourselves mute and deaf to the corruption around us rather than raise our voice against that is profoundly immoral and malevolent. We choose to peep through the eyeholes in our doors and from our balconies rather than show our support to those who wish to bring a change around us. We, the people, are responsible for our doom because we have lost our calm and focus towards society in which we thrive and multiply, considering it our right to disrupt the peace and defer the rules that have been set for our own well being.

Serious systematic reform

There is a debate among the people and the leaders of the Opposition on the need for castration or introduction of death penalty for the rapists. But unfortunately, none of them is ready to look beyond these easily available options. Whereas castration may decrease the sexual prowess of the rapist, but will that make women feel safe on the streets? Will it teach men to treat their partners with dignity and respect? Is not there a need for overall systematic reform regarding all spheres of a woman's life? What about reforming laws regarding medical evidence, statement of the victim, hospital records, immediate medical aid to victims before lodging of FIR, complaints against harassment for dowry, eve-teasing, marital rape, destruction of evidence, physical torture, etc..? War hungry politicians have enough provoked the people to clash with the police and it is not surprising that the people have taken to the roads for justice. The class of Indians that is yet undivided in terms of caste, color, language, or creed have forgotten that there is more to be attained and established. A serious national review of all legal issues surrounding rape, sexual assault, and gender rights need to be done on a national basis. Women cells to deal with need to be set up with officials and counselors necessitating to be women. Speedy trials and adequate compensation in case of the aforesaid crimes should be assured. Government should be more open to communication and feedback (even if it means brickbats) owing to its nonchalant attitude and indifferent policies. There is a common feeling among bureaucrats and government officials that death penalty mandatory for rape will make it more likely that a rapist kills his victim. But in spite of the existing laws, there have been cases that the rapists have murdered or attempted to murder their victims. In such a case, a law should be enacted which will instill fear in the minds of wayward people before they attempt to do anything wrong with our womenfolk. Systematic reforms regarding all crimes against women need to be looked at again and amended as per the changing times keeping into mind the security of the women and children in our country. Rape cases that have not been decided yet need to be reviewed under the new laws to be enacted. What the government must do is to commit itself to employing all the recommendations, including any on police or judicial reform, and not simply pick out those, which are politically the most convenient.

Has tolerance become a democratic malady?

In Harish Khare's article, ``The temptation of anarchy" I found lines, ``It is tempting to suggest that stringent laws and stronger police presence alone would help roll back habits of violence against women. A major pre-requisite has to be a culture of dignity and respect for women" whose meaning I failed to understand. In a country like India, where women are not given due respect even in their own houses, can we expect men outside their families to look at the opposite gender with esteem and value as themselves? Easily said that laws cannot be secured on streets, but has not the mob been successful enough to sensitize the fact that we Indians need to do away with our insensitive government? But the biggest hitch lies in the fact that the peaceful protests carried out by people are being interfered with by hooligans and anti-social elements. Till date the protests, which were being carried out for justice have suddenly become a tool for the opportunistic politicians and miscreants to create an environment that has hung our heads in shame. Where on one hand the liberal sensitivities of the slowly increasing crowd were offended by lathi charge, tear gas, and water canons, petty politicians hungry for power fuelled the situation by mobilizing the crowd against the police by sending in their law breakers capable of arson and spreading disrupt among the peace loving people. Law against crimes like rape, eve-teasing, harassment (physical or emotional), domestic violence, and rape in marriage need to be put in place and our leaders need to understand the fact that a nation cannot progress if perpetrators of crime are allowed to remain in open for long. Capital punishment may not be the ultimate solution, but it is a good solution in itself. Castration can help, but the questions remain, ``Are the rapists only to be castrated? How many men need to be castrated? How many men would be willing to get castrated?" Tolerance is good, but as long as matters are within our endurance levels. Being in a democratic environment does not make us liable to tolerate anything and everything. Tolerance should be a quality but not a deprivation from tranquility and societal peace. Surely, we cannot make laws on our roads, but we as Indians can stand up together for justice that is wanted by and for all. We can stand up and let our countrymen know that the feeling of morality has not yet faded away from our conscience. We are still one and need to remain one despite the caste and communal barriers created by our power hungry politicians and the quota systems initiated and boosted by some petty forces beyond our reach.