RAPE CULTURE

She was waking back to her home after having a good time on the bank of river .She was praising  her antlers when suddenly she  found three wolves moving towards her.Before she could do anything  they were over her ready to kill her and satiate their famish.This is what happens in most of the cities across India when men forget to be men and women become an object of lust.

Over the years this has increased exponentially .The latest incident has caused furor across the country .The cruelty and the brutality showcased by the accused is unprecedented.It is high time that something is done.But before putting the onus on police or the judiciary or society . Lets discuss the cause of this heinous crime:

a)Alcohol and Drug Consumption:Alcohol reduces inhibition, clouds judgement and impairs the to interpret cues.Most of the rapist are under the effect of alcohol when they do so.

b)Psychological Effects: Sexual abuse is also a learnt behavior in some individuals.They had witnessed molestation in their early childhood which leads to a behavior where a man regularly justifies being violent.Sexual  aggression has been linked to violent childhood and uncaring fathers.

c)Family Honour :A society which blames women for rape does so to save the clan's honour. Such attempts encourage rapists to continue with their acts with impunity.

d)Physical and Social Environment:The society we live in defines what we become when we grow up. The way women are being objectified in today's society and how she has been reduced to furniture or a tool .

Rape exists because of a patriarchal misogynist culture that condones it whether tacitly or explicitly and because of widespread lawlessness that encourages it.

We must educate people starting at school level about respect for women for personal spaces and for rule for law.We need to introspect all of us on how we contribute to objectification of women.We need to sensitize the society we live in.
In terms of law we urgently need a more comprehensive and inclusive definition of sexual violence critical amendments that will reduce the time taken for trials harsher punishments and police reform. all of these are doable.

These measures will take time to show their effect. But at least we can make a start.

Freedom of Expression!

"Take again section 124A of Indian Penal Code" Jawahar Lal Nehru said. "Now as far as I am concerned that particular section is highly objectionable and obnoxious and it should have no place in an body of law that we might pass" Unfortunately it remains in the statute book and is used time and again by those who are  powerful and wealthy. Article 124a of the Indian Penal code states that whoever  by words either spoken or written or by sign or visible representation or otherwise brings or attempts to bring into hatred or contempt or excites or attempts to excite disaffection towards the government established by law shall be punished with imprisonment to which fine may be added.

The million dollar question here is that how does one define sedition ? Prior to independence Mahatama Gandhi was arrested on charges of sedition by the British Government. He even said"Affectation cannot be created or regulated". The Indian Constitution believes that people in India have the right to express their concern and protest against what they find unacceptable. If the protestors are slapped with the charges of sedition for expressing their concern or rejecting a belief it defeats the purpose of democracy outrightly.

In the present scenario the charges of sedition are being slapped on cartoonist and individuals who voiced their opinion on internet.The incarceration of cartoonist Aseem Trivedi for incitiing disaffectation is bizzare. Some of his cartoons might have been of bad taste but nowhere they incite disaffectation.The arrest of cartoonist Binayak Sen affirms that our politicians need to learn how to take humour in good taste. The businees of the cartoonist is to use an established image and add his personal opinion to it.

The misuse of the law does not limit itself to journalist or cartoonist . Even the bourgeois has not been spared.The incarceration of two women from Mumbai for their comment on Bal Thakery is latest in the incidents.The comment did not criticize Mr. Thakrey or his supporters .It just expressed it's displeasure over the fact that a bandh had been observed on he death of Mr Thakrey.This remark was neither derogatory nor seditious but the complaint filed against the girl said that the remark had hurt religious sentiment. Well if this is the case then any remark made by anyone could hurt anybody's feeling .Then it all boils down to one simple thing that we are not allowed to comment or express our disapproval of  anything related to an iconic figure.
The updated rules for the cyber cafe make it difficult for them to operate as they have to see that it is not used for illegal activities.Certain abstract terms such as "obscene " are left to the interpretation of the user .The internet companies are being asked to screen the material being posted by the users.Considering the number of users of internet in India this seems to be an impossible task.The companies have been asked to shift their servers to India so that they can be effectively monitored.Such efforts try to control and restrict the innovation in internet . It controls the growth of internet.India is one of the biggest democracy in the world and in a few years the number of internet users would surpass those of USA hence we must be a model for others to follow. If we continue to restrict freedom of speech other countries would see it as a precedent to carry out their actions.

RIGHT TO OPPORTUNITY!

   

India has entered to make education a constitutional right .The act cam to force on 1 April 2010

The RTE act looks forward to:

1)Provide elementary education to all children between the age of 6 to 14.

2)It confers the responsibility of providing free education upon local authorities and government.

3)It lays down norms ding pupil teacher ratio, infrastructure,teacher working hours .

4)It prohibits a) physical punishment b) mental harassment c)screening procedures for admission d)capitation fee e) private tuition by teacher e) running schools without recognition.

Pitfalls in the act:

1) The act provides free education up to the age of 14 but it is oblivious of the predicament   that a disadvantaged child will suffer after he/she has studies in an elite school. How will he/she will be able to cope up with a school below par .They would feel dismayed, crestfallen and beguiled.Moreover the act does not talk about the education of the child before six.

2)It confers the responsibility of imparting free education on local authorities which might pave way for corruption .The schools which ought to be recognized by these local authorities might have to grease their palms failing which they might lose their licence

3) The prerequisites for a school to get recognized are not pragmatic  Schools sans playground cannot be recognized .At present time when land prices have shot up this is like asking for moon. There are thousands of unrecognized schools running in the country.They provide education to poor children who cannot afford an elite school.The stringent rules place good and bad unrecognized schools under the same radar.A large number of schools will  get closed due to this which will be a huge setback for the implementation of the act.

4)The act does not define the teaching standard which is a huge blow to the act itself.Talking about infrastructure and playground but not about teaching standard is like a movie with huge sets but no screenplay.

A dream of educated India cannot be fulfilled just by providing 25 percent reservation in elite schools.It needs something more than that.Government should try to incorporate private schools which are not able to fulfill the prerequisites help them raise  their standard and incorporate them into the formal system..Moreover the upper limit of the age should be up to eighteen.The  Government should be far sighted when it comes to such issues.

HOW MANY GIRLS DID WE KILL TODAY??

tA lot has been said and written about female infanticide but being a girl provokes me to write and express my concern about it.Some things that I am going to say have already been said but it need to be reiterated time and again as those words fell on deaf ears.

The horrendous crime was initially committed in the form of female infanticide when science was innocuous and ultrasound had not made its way into the infirmary.But when laws  made it arduous and technology coupled with acrimony made it cinch for the perpetrators to  fulfill their desires it was then when some from the medical fraternity decided to cash the occassion .This was in 1980s. Sonography had made its way in the hospitals and  "culprits" received salvation in pathology. 

The reasons for this are  cited below:

1)Dowry: The insurance paid by the parents to the groom's family to secure a haven for their daughter have  culminated into a practice of ending this liability before it could afflict their financial status. After all "Prevention is better than cure".

2)Hum do Hamare do:Since  the management decided to curb the population growth in India  the notion changed from "HUM DO HAMARE DO" to "HUM DO HAMARE DO LADKE".After all the society desirous of male child would not let a notion mitigate their intent.Hence their discretion was that if their could be just "do" it should be "do ladke" .

Old Age Security: The institution of marriage in countries like India states that the post marriage the better halves should be punctilious towards their in-laws . Such customs imbue people with a desire of male child who could be their support in their last days on earth.

 Needless to say  this praxis spread like fire in woods.It went unheeded till Maharashtra government took cognizance of the fact and enacted a law the Regulation of the Use of  Prenatal Diagnostics Act. Following this, the governments of Punjab, Gujrat and Haryana passed similar laws.Similar efforts at the national level resulted in the enactment of the Central pre-natal diagnostic technique (Regulation and the prevention of misuse) Act 1994.The object of the Act is to prevent the misuse of such techniques for the purpose of pre-natal sex determination leading to female feoticide.In 2001 , a PIL was filed with the Supreme Court.The Supreme Court directed the states to enforce the PNDT Act. It also directed nine companies to provide the details of the ultrasound machines sold to clinics in last five years.It also asked medical associations sich as the Indian Medical Association to furnish the details.

Only in 2002 , eight years after the PNDT act was passed that the Medical Council of India authorised under section 23(2) of the Act to take action against any erring medical practitioner - recognized undertaking sex-determination test with the intent to kill the foetus.Manufacturers of ultrasound machines are now required to sell their products only to registered clinics. 

The question is how do you comprehend the intent of the medical practitioners and the  perpetrators involved . The medical practitioners are to be penalized for such heinous offences. But to my knowledge there are hardly (or rather no) any cases of de-registration and criminal prosecution. This is being done in packages:ultrasound followed by abortion .It is being done in broad daylight in states like Punjab ,Haryana and Maharashtra.

IIt is not the legislature but the executive that needs to pull its socks up.The quintessence of this is South Korea. Few years back it was in the same social predicament but stricter enforcement of laws , where in 1991 eight physians in Seoul had their liscences suspended ,had a deterrent affect on other physicians. .In the following year the sex ratio fell from 117 to 113 suggesting that punitive measures are effective.
The fallout of this practice are conspicuous in the society in which we subsist:

PROSTITUTION: It will result in the intensification of prostitution. A colossal number of males have reached their reproductive age.The unbalanced sex ratio does not let them do away with their single tag. These  legion then embrace this path culminating in expansion of this industry . The after effects are increased women trafficking and coercion. 

POLYGAMY:Reduction in the number of females is resulting in the practice of polygamy.States like Haryana where men are in their 30's prefer such practice. Girls from outside the state are purchased and they are forcefully married to male members of the family.They are physically abused by all of them .If their are five male members in the family the girl is assaulted at the hands of all the five members.She commands no respect and she can be abandoned at their will.

Crime against women:The girls that survive have to face challanges throughout their life.They live under  the impression that they are weak and they should be obliged to their parents for the life given to them. Even if parents are supportive they have to face the society oustide home.They are an eye-candy for big boys .Eve teasing has become the norm of the day. It has become part and parcel of the society.Passing nasty comments is considered to be a birth right by boys. Rape ,Gang rape, women trafficking are increasing at an alarming rate and surprisingly instead of blaming the customs of the society or the etiquette of the boys  we suggest girls to behave like a demure.We live in a society where we teach girls not to get raped instead of teaching boys not to rape . We are slaves of the age old thinking that boys are bound to misbehave which we cannot change.
We are a part of the male dominated society and we cannot expect justice from males . If we want justice and respect we have to bring ourselves in a position that we can demand justice . Respect is to be earned not begged.We talk of women empowerment but time has come when we need to act upon the belief of which we have so strongly spoken .  
SOLUTION:

EDUCATION:Education is to women what moksha is to seer.Just like a seer that spends his life looking for a window that will take him to the divine world where there is no fear women of this generation need that window of education which will take them in a world where there is no humiliation.This grave step will release all the female souls that are yet to arrive in this temporal world of the derogatory position they hold now.

SELF DEFENCE: An aphorism that we read as toddlers says"God love those who love themselves".But as it is said that all that is achieved easily is taken for granted so is the quote.In Mahabharata when Draupadi stressed her vocal chords and echoed "Krishna" God himself came as a savior but this strategy will not work now.We cannot depend on omnipotent omnipresent almighty to save us from the perils of the society.We need to stand up for our own rights . Enough has been said about the physical power of the girls.We might not be as strong as boys but we can make ourselves capable  by learning sum martial arts. This will boost our confidence.
There is no sure shot method but there is definitely a hope that someday this will change.

Lets not this praxis tarnish our culture which always respected women revered them worshiped them not only as deities but also in the form of a mother .Lets not put a full stop to a mother in making by ending her life in the womb .Lets give her a chance to be someone's sister someone's better half someone's friend . Can you imagine a world without women??? How it would be ? How would a painting look like it it is filled with just one colour ?Let all the colours mix, that gives them a purpose ,that gives the painting a meaning .

RELIGION KE RAKHWALE

MOKO KAHAN DHOONDE BANDE MAINE TO TERE PAAS MEIN ,
NA MANDIR MEIN NA MASJID MEIN NA KABE KAILAASA MEIN,
These golden lines have been written by KABIR and read by millions but unfortunately understood by some. The present doctrine of dharma and karma has changed drastically since politics has become an integral part of these so called PATTERN MAINTAINANCE GROUPS and “religion ke rakhwale”. The on going regressive hate policy of the political parties has dug the ground for many ayodhya and godhara in India. These pattern maintenance group have done nothing but only increased their vote banks and paved their way into politics. The conversion of mosque into temple in the 1990’s which led to the riots all over Uttar Pradesh killing thousands of people and leaving many others homeless. The issue has not been resolved by any of the governments but is always a hot topic during elections of many communal parties. Then the second biggest massacre was that of godhara in which property was set to arson and many people were charred to death. The inciting quotes of on the name of religion dividing them into two groups and converting them into ruthless devils is highly inhuman. The most recent example of Karnataka in which many churches were attacked . The attacks on pubs , Christians, valentine day celebrations etc telling it to be a threat to indian CULTURE .Those people are moving freely , though they had been arrested but were later set free .Though the government says it is unbiased ,not to forget they are being backed by them as well. If the government is not biased then why are so many cases against these leaders being withdrawn? The attack on non-Marathi’s , leading to exodus of people from Maharashtra. This thought will be followed by all those selfish aspirants who want to gain potency and mollah. The public is made foolish each time and we are senseless people who get hypnotized each time. All I want to say is Maharashtra belong to Marathi’s Gujarat to Guajarati’s then who does india belong to. If all other religion followers should be converted to Hinduism then what is democracy all about? This is a country which had been a abode from Aryans to mughals and Portuguese. Let’s not tarnish it’s image.PLEASE!

THE SLUMDOG THING

Ever since the release of Danny boyel’s “slumdog millionaire “and its huge success across the globe there have been numerous talks of it being selected because of the projection of India’s poverty. The dejection and the destitute of the people living in slums is being considered
as the main reason of it’s worldwide acclaim. But the question is “are the slums of India different from what it has been shown in the motion picture”. The slums of Mumbai are no different from what it has been depicted in the movie .According to the survey up 60% of Mumbai's population, that is approximately 7 million people are slum dwellers. . Slum inhabitants constantly have to deal with issues such as, constant migration, lack of water, no sewage or solid waste facilities, lack of public transit, pollution and housing shortages. Hence the situations depicted is not a figment of imagination of the director.

The comments of Mr.Amitabh Bachaan on his blog “If SM projects India as third-world, dirty, underbelly developing nation and causes pain and disgust among nationalists and patriots, let it be known that a murky underbelly exists and thrives even in the most developed nations” simply express his frustration of not being a part of the movie. The movies itself has a scene in which the American lady tells Jamaal “this happens in our country as well”. All others criticizing the movie want to gain something out of it .Anybody who is nobody wants to be somebody at the expense of famous people like them. Moreover we should not forget that not only the background but the whole cast is Indian from a.r rahman to gulzar and anil kapoor. In addition to it it has been written by an Indian writer and the plot has been developed by him. So let’s not blame Danny Boyel for it .Let’s be optimistic and look into the positive points of the movie. The movie just doesn’t depict the destitute of India it also depicts the fighting spirit of the male protagonist Jamaal. It shows that it is not the bookish knowledge or the studies of school that makes one wise. The wisdom can be achieved by the analysis of day to day happenings. It shows the true love of Jamaal for Latika which never fades away. The movie does not have a tragic ending or a climax which shows that dreams never turn to reality but it gives a ray of hope to those who have stopped dreaming .It shows that life might not be a bed of roses but hard work and faith never goes unrewarded. True prayers are never left unanswered. It has a moral that you are what your thinking makes you. Jamaal and Salim were subjected to same conditions and circumstances but how one grew to be a gangster and the other turned into a simple person who later became a millionaire. In the end all I can say is positive things happen to positive people.

DOES INDIA NEED FREEDOM FROM KASHMIR AND KASHMIR FROM INDIA !

The K- factor is in news yet again but this time for some wrong reasons. The dispute over the amaranth shrine board and the consequences there after have left the valley under fire. The representation of Kashmir has been a problem ever since the independence. The then king of Kashmir hari singh decided to integrate into India. Ever since then Pakistan has been trying to merge India into its territory by all means. But this cry for freedom from India was always headed by so called “jihads”. The leaders of the hurriyat and the separatist movement were responsible for the outburst. This time it is a section of the common people who are voicing the slogan of “jive jive Pakistan” which means “Pakistan zindabad” and “meri pindi teri pindi Rawalpindi”. But are they a representative of the society .The answer is no. the majority prefers to stay at home passive .It is the minority that comes out openly in riots. The situation worsened from riots to curfew then killings. But the question is partition the only solution to the problem? The tragedy of India and the irony of crisis is that we have learnt nothing from our past. In 1947 India was divided into India and Pakistan. Then Pakistan was later divided into two Bangladesh and Pakistan. Has the situation of Pakistan and Bangladesh improved since then? Moreover if Kashmir separates from India is it in a situation to defend its integrity and existence? The fate of small countries has always been military rule. If it goes with Pakistan is Pakistan in a situation to accept it that is not able to control its own chunk of land? If we allow Kashmir to secede it will encourage other such movements across the country. The Naxalites will intensify their demands in north east India demanding separation. The question is what kind of freedom do they want? The situation of Kashmir is ot like Tibet. We have given them all the constitutional rights. The best way to solve the problem in my opinion is to remove or amend the article 370 which provides it special privileges so that Kashmir is treated as the rest of the states. Like this they will be able to recognize themselves as all other states. The secular and the pluralistic will not be defeated. . The people of India have always empathized with the sentiments of the people in the valley. We consider them an integral part of the country. The long term problem of representation of Kashmir problem will be solved. Moreover the administration and the governance should enforce the law strongly. They should be tough towards terrorist .The common people have to come out to defend themselves and the fabric of their state. They should follow the example of Punjab in this case who eradicated terrorism from their state and are now flourishing. So it should be “jive jive Hindustan” and not “Pakistan”.