Women In India

What could be a matter of  bigger  shame  than  women in India  being woefully  unsafe, always under fear  when outside their  secure environs  and  treated shabbily with hardly any opportunity  for an  honourable redressal. Shockingly in some cases they are even not safe inside their homes.The common perception is  that  Indian men are   insensitive  towards them, perhaps most of them are so.  This deplorable apathy is the result of  the mindset  that they  are  weak , unequal and even mere objects. Perhaps centuries  of  their subjugation  has not  allowed  our society to accept them as equals. We may  worship dozens of goddesses ,  but respect for  women in our daily  lives , whether  at home, office or public places,  is palpably  absent  in  the Indian psyche . And what makes the situation even more miserable is that  both the  Executive and  Judiciary  have dragged their feet  during all these years in the  post independence era  in creating an environment of lawfulness even when the Constitution empowers them to do so as their solemn duty and not favour to  the  people of this country.

 Dignity of women is  seriously at stake as many live and die in shame in rural and urban India alike. Statistics projected  by  the media or NGO’s  is but  a thin slice of the  monstrous   tumor  growing at a galloping  pace. Perhaps the malaise is symptomatic, the root lies somewhere else.

I am an ex-navy officer , who after active service , have  engaged myself in  life's second innings towards writing  on issues that concern  us as a society.  One is  indeed much moved by the public  debate that is  being thrown up by all thinking citizens of India which should  surely  lead to a positive change.  The recent film Naam Shabana on the same issue  has attempted a rather radical approach but surely shows an Indian woman in good light. Brave, unapologetic, hard-hitting.

I have tried to analyse the matter more holistically and hope to find resonance with the woman world.

There are some important questions which could be directly or  obliquely connected with the subject  that need to be answered today if we  want to move forward :

- Are we evolving as the right  society  ?

- Isn’t our development somewhat lopsided ? Too few possess  too much,others look at them in jealousy, greed and resentment

- Isn’t materialism thriving to the extent of becoming a virtue today ?

- Aren’t   we  too readily  falling  for the  pleasures of  senses  ?

- Isn’t  fashion, night-life, alcohol, social visibility  happening too fast and too much,not taking everyone along ; what many call inclusive growth  ?

- Are we not setting a wrong definition of success for the youth to follow ?

- Isn’t obsession for power, money and fame  becoming a dangerous triangle ?

- Do we  not set different  social  and moral standards for our sons and daughters when they are growing up ?

- Aren’t women to blame too in this sordid saga of their commodification ? Are they not wearing their sexuality a tad outwardly ?

- Is she not shedding the lady-like image ? Is she not obsessive to get equal to men and in the bargain trying to outdo men in wrong areas ?

- Haven’t  godmen  and religion  failed  the humanity at large ? Who  are the new gods today ?

       

I see a three pronged strategy to  create a safe and respectable environment for women in  India :

1. PERSUASSIVE             2.  PREVENTIVE                         3.  PUNITIVE

PERSUASSIVE

- Revive  the value system through moral education  at home and  schools.Mothers and sisters have a role in doing so. Family  remains  the cradle of child’s  character and  future afterall.

- Sensitize men in general and policemen in particular through written and spoken word. Organisations to hold seminars and workshops.Frequent debate in the Parliament and Assemblies is called for. Even conduct counseling for minor offenders. They are part of us.

- Films and TV serials  must not  show  women in poor light. More than the content, its  the treatment  which is so very  important. Till  education is 100 %, we are not yet a mature enough society to handle  culture of sexual liberation.

- Female actors and models  should  say  no to mindless  nudity and sleeze. All limits stand breached. Titilation  may be acceptable but not  cheap arousal or down right vulgarity in language and visuals. Doordarshan has always had better content  than private channels.

- Political parties should incorporate their  policy  on sexual offences towards women in their manifestoes. MPs,MLAs,MLCs and Sarpanches should be made more accountable in their constituencies in  bringing about the change.

- Encourage women to join police and legal professions.

PREVENTIVE

- Create an overall atmosphere of lawfulness through better Govt–Police  co-ordination

         FIR  to Conviction, the entire chain must flow efficiently.

- Bring in police reforms on priorty. Make the profession attractive by paying them well. Let officers only deal with such cases till such time lower rung policemen come of age. There is a need  to  instil  in them a sense of pride and professional excellence,  as displayed by  the Armed Forces of India.

- Effect  Judiciary Reforms, create fast track courts, have more Judges, increase age for Judges.

- Have more roving patrols, use technology – cameras, hooters, laser torches, GPS assisted one-button alarm on mobile phones to alert police stations and hospitals in proximity.

- Men to come forward to form Monitoring  Groups  in local trains, buses and localities.

- Women to dress up more discreetely visa vis area they are in, time of day or night and other considerations, till such time Rule of Law is in place. May be it would be prudent to change into more hip clothes  at the party venue.While it is good to demand one’s right, some responsibility  must  also come with it.

PUNITIVE

- Rule of Law  be imposed with  ruthlessness and govts to demonstrate  it in no uncertain terms.

- Death Penalty   be provisioned in rape and brutalization of women  as deterrent.

- Rethink on Law against commodification of women. Make molestation, lewd words punitive.

- If offences against women are to be made non bailable,  ensure speedy trial and conviction.

Encourage witnesses to speak up and give testimony  without fear.  Police  should  gain confidence  of people.

- Put posters of offenders on specially erected notice boards in localities. Show them on TV.

- Debar offenders from representing people in Lok, Rajya and Vidhan Sabhas.

             

 Finally an objective, practical and efficacious solution will emerge  through debate and discussion at  various levels.

            

             

WHOSE DOGS ARE THEY ANYWAY ?  

Playing golf on a nice summer morning  seemed a reward in itself when the rising sun had just started to cast  its orange  glow on the dry rocky mountains yonder, the verdant stretches of the Kharghar Valley Golf Course began to receive shadows of clouds floating in randomness  signifying early onset of monsoon, the first recital of the baani (hymns) was heard from the Gurudwara in close vicinity and the gentle balmy breeze caressed my forehead with a motherly touch  -  one thought one was divinely blessed. But then the writ of the ever unpredictable, all powerful Time had a different plan for me. Seven stray dogs came to attack me, unprovoked, unchecked. Not one, not two but a formidable pack of seven.  It was the most petrifying, unnerving and traumatizing experience of my life.  In fact it continued to haunt me and shake me up in cold sweat for many nights. I started to fear sleep for I would see the open jaw of a ferocious alpha male just about six inches from my throat, the moment I closed my eyes. Facetiously speaking, one could handle a single lion but certainly not seven canines. I saw a grand conspiracy at work, heaven downwards !? But then at that moment I managed to save myself with some bit of courage and clumsiness and in doing so got two fractures on my wrist as I fell backwards  and put my hand down for a controlled  landing of my 85 kg body.
Now the whole discourse on philosophy starts. Law of Karma or Flaw of Karma, wrong-time-at-the-wrong-place theory, ability of dogs to recognize the evil in human beings, dogs' dislike for golf and golfers, the cause and effect principle; the list has been growing with more people I meet ! But the irony is that dog lovers are not only unapologetic but have been on an pre-emptive move, perhaps  expecting  negative publicity. Its a strange world - humans can be in danger from animals but it is sacrilege to do anything against them; such is the new philosophy of the animal activists -  a bit irrational I thought. Accepted that Dog is Man's best friend but can we not categorise dogs here ? For,  all dogs are not well behaved to put it mildly. Some people have an acquired sense of love for dogs because their children have learnt in public schools  to love animals. One of our ministers in the Government is a great activist of animals, generally with a warped sense of love for  animals. The limited point here is that we need to rationalise the disproportionate love for stray dogs. I suppose its fashionable to talk about kindness towards animals. Such people rarely adopt a stray dog but have no empathy to see them languishing on the dirty streets of Indian Metros.Be that as it may, there is no good enough argument to put forth when it comes to safeguarding  humans against predators infiltrating into  human civilisation. The counter argument one invariably gets is that it is the human civilisation which is constantly expanding into their habitat. Can we respect both the arguments and find a durable solution ?   (April 21 2016)