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No room for theatrics
Hansi-Butana dispute |
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Augmenting infrastructure
The Anna effect
Inner beauty
A woman's desire to look beautiful and desirable is as natural as any other womanly instinct. However, societies all over the world have issues with it and impose strictures on what she should and should not wear. Many women continue to defy these norms and dress as they please.
Decent or not, judge ye not
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No room for theatrics
Anna Hazare
is indeed on a roll. Buoyed by the growing public support to his anti-corruption crusade and perceiving the confusion in the Congress over the attitude it should take towards his movement, he is resorting again to the language of ultimatums. His warning to the Manmohan Singh government to pass the Lokpal Bill by August 30 or else…. is fraught with dangerous consequences. Whatever be Anna’s credentials as a crusader, a Bill that is before a standing committee cannot be bulldozed through Parliament. What the country needs is a well-thought-out Bill that will stand the scrutiny of the judiciary and would serve the public purpose of curbing the deadly menace of corruption. Anna’s threat that he would not leave Ramlila Maidan in Delhi till the version of the Bill drafted by civil society (the Jan Lokpal Bill) is adopted by Parliament runs contrary to the spirit of his agreement with the Delhi Police before he undertook his fast at Ramlila Grounds. The flip flop of the government over Anna Hazare’s movement has given the civil society activists hope that they can browbeat the government into submission. But while a spirit of accommodation is one thing, it would be wrong for it to capitulate. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has indicated that there is a lot of scope for give and take and the government is open to discussion and dialogue. The Anna team must now reciprocate and return to the negotiating table. Much ground has been covered by the two sides in working out the Lokpal Bill which had been hanging fire for 42 years. It is now time to work constructively to build upon the edifice that was created by the joint panel of the government and civil society. The Opposition parties have jumped into the fray to draw political capital out of the whole contentious issue. Anna Hazare on his part has redefined his agenda to include land reforms, farmers’ rights and an improved education system. But it would be in the fitness of things that the pace of intended reforms on curbing corruption be pursued with purposefulness and single-mindedness. In that task the onus is on the government, the Opposition and civil society, all in one go.
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Hansi-Butana dispute
Sharply
divergent views came up before the Supreme Court during the hearing of the dispute over the Hansi-Butana canal on Friday as each of the four parties – Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and the Centre – stuck to its known stand. The Centre has suggested the canal dispute be handed over to a committee of experts drawn from Punjab, Haryana and the Central Water Commission. This makes sense. Punjab’s fear that Haryana would complete the work of concrete embankment of the Hansi-Butana canal by the time a solution is found can be allayed by maintaining the status quo until the experts give their verdict. Haryana claims that this being an inter-state water dispute, it does not come within the purview of the Supreme Court and a tribunal is the right forum for its settlement. This is unacceptable to Punjab. Rajasthan’s grouse is that the recently built 109-km Hansi-Butana canal has reduced the water supply from the Bhakra main canal to its areas. Punjab asserts that the Hansi-Butana canal’s flawed design blocks the natural flow of rain and Ghaggar river waters, leading to floods in its villages. However, a preliminary report by the Central Water Commission has questioned Punjab’s claim and maintained that the toe wall being built along the canal may not cause floods in Punjab. If the CWC report’s findings are confirmed, the Akali and Congress leaders in Punjab would be in for major embarrassment as they had launched an anti-Haryana blitzkrieg in recent weeks over the issue. The flood-hit villagers from Punjab and Haryana held a joint “mahapanchayat” recently where they asked politicians not to play politics and instead stop floods by desilting and widening the Ghaggar. Water is the backbone of a state’s economy and the lifeline of its people. Instead of arousing passions over the sensitive issue, politicians of the states concerned should rise above narrow interests, sit together with experts and sort out the issue in a spirit of give and take.
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Augmenting infrastructure
Confronted
by the demands of providing adequate medical facilities in rural India and bringing about rapid growth in medical tourism which is projected to go up to $ 2 billion by 2012, according to a CII-McKinsey report, the Health Ministry has to take concrete steps to improve medical infrastructure. For this, the most urgent is a demand for more medical colleges and to plug the deficit of faculty in medical colleges that is reported to range from 25 to 33 per cent, according to a report prepared by MCI (Medical Council of India). To achieve this, the government has announced creation of an additional 7000 MD seats to tide over the crisis of faculty shortage by 2014. But there is a huge requirement of infrastructure to fill these 7000 seats and to produce competent MDs. Medical education in India has to learn a few lessons from the exceptionally fast mushrooming of engineering colleges in the country, where quality became the first casualty. Of late, the Union Health Minister, Ghulam Nabi Azad, had cleared the decks for private companies registered in India to set up medical colleges to increase human resources in the medical sector. He had also proposed to increase the retirement age from 58 to 65, whereas the MCI had proposed the age of retirement at 70. As of now, the country produces only 35,000 medical graduates in a year, it needs to add 10,000 medical seats each year between 2012 and 2016 to get at least 50,000 medical undergraduates over five years. An alarming 4.5 lakh deaths take place annually in child birth alone, due to lack of trained obstetricians. India has just one doctor for 1,700 people. China's doctor population ratio stands at 1:1063, Korea 1:951, Brazil 1:844, Singapore 1:714, Japan 1:606, Thailand 1:500, UK 1:469, US 1:350 and Germany 1:296. Even to achieve the WHO-recommended ratio of one doctor for every 1000 persons, it will take India another 15 years to get there. Therefore, for the time being, the three-year rural healthcare course can be a good solution to address the acute shortage of doctors in villages.
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The only ones among you who will be really happy are those who will have sought and found how to serve. — Albert Schweitzer
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The Anna effect
There
are no other words to describe the unfolding events. It appears to be a revolution in the making before our own eyes. The picture of Anna Hazare sitting on the grass at Raj Ghat on August 15 reminded one of Mahatma Gandhi and his satyagraha movement. Anna himself said that he sat there to pray and seek Mahatma Gandhi’s blessings before he began his fast on August 16. The events quickly followed. He was arrested on May 16 morning from his Mayur Vihar residence after he told the police that he would proceed to Jayaprakash Narayan Park for his protest fast as announced. The police produced him before an executive magistrate, who ordered Anna’s detention for seven days in judicial custody under Sections 107 and 151, Cr P.C. — an arrest to prevent the commission of a cognizable offence. He was then taken to Tihar Jail and was put in one of the enclosures which also had well-known suspects in the 2-G and Commonwealth Games scams like Suresh Kalmadi. This was a thoughtless act on the part of the authorities. The Principal Executive Officer in charge of Tihar Jail later shifted Anna to his own office. Soon the Delhi Police authorities arrived to inform him that he was a free man. Anna, however, refused to leave the jail premises. In deference to the demands made by some opposition parties, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh read out a statement in the Lok Sabha on August 17 on the arrest of Anna Hazare. He said that he had high regards for Anna Hazare and his ideals. However, Anna’s approach was incorrect and it was not right for him to insist on the Jan Lokpal Bill to be accepted by Parliament. The Lokpal Bill, prepared by the government, was by now before the Standing Committee of Parliament. It is unlikely to be passed in the monsoon session of Parliament. This means the Bill will only be passed in the winter session. However, this enactment may not be the same as the Jan Lokpal Bill put forth by Anna Hazare and his associates. The Jan Lokpal Bill covers the Prime Minister, the Supreme Court judges and the MPs while they are left out in the Lokpal Bill of the government. Unless the opposition parties make drastic changes in the Lokpal Bill draft so as to include the crucial provisions in the Jan Lokpal Bill, the government’s Bill, even if passed, would not be welcome to Anna and other civil society activists. By August 17 afternoon, Delhi was exploding with demonstrations by various age groups — largely youth and middle-aged men and women. Students, office-goers, government servants, housewives, taxi drivers and people from various other walks of life poured into the streets and squares of Delhi to demonstrate in support of Anna Hazare. It was a phenomenon not seen in the history of the country since Independence. Even during the Jayaprakash Narayan-led movement, so much of demonstrations and crowds were not seen. They were all against corruption in various walks of life and among the various strata of Indian society. People collected at India Gate on August 17 evening with candle lights, torches, flags and placards; some of them marched towards Parliament House while others went to Jantar Mantar in Parliament Street. What provoked this tide of emotions and public outrage? The defining moment in the Anna saga was his arrest on August 16, when he was taken to Tihar Jail. On August 17 evening, Tihar Jail was witnessing interesting scenes. Anna refused to go out of the jail as requested by the Delhi Police, stating that he would not move out unless he was allowed to go to JP Park and begin his protest there. Sensibly, the Delhi Police this time dropped the conditions of size of the protesters, the number of cars to be parked, etc. Eventually, the police also agreed for letting Anna carry on with his fast programme for 15 days. However, it was agreed that the venue would be Ramleela Maidan. Some observers drew parallels to the 1975 Emergency and the Jayaprakash Narayan movement of the 1970s. Prior to Anna’s arrest some spokesmen of the Congress party as well as some ministers came out with devastating comments on the integrity of Anna himself. These pronouncements were misconceived and had the opposite effect on the people. While it is difficult to say at this stage how the Anna Hazare story will come to an end. In the coming days, however, one thing is certain – politics in India will never be the same again. The Anna Hazare movement has brought about a nationwide awakening on the horrors of corruption in India’s public life, and the need to eradicate it by effective means. The overwhelming majority is in favour of the provisions in the Jan Lokpal Bill. Within the next few days, one hopes some understanding may be reached between the two sides. The revolutionary atmosphere the movement has created throughout the country is unlikely to go waste. The main losers will be the government of the day and the Congress party, which leads the UPA ministry at the Centre. The people’s perception, which was shaped by Anna’s criticism and his movement, is for a change in public life. The first impact of the Anna phenomenon may be felt in the Assembly elections in UP and some other states next year. The parliamentary elections are due in 2014, still three years away, but the people’s memory of the Anna movement may linger on to create a hostile atmosphere against the Congress and its allies. The government of the day should redeem itself with specific measures of positive nature against corruption, black money held abroad, etc. The coming months will show which way the country is going.n The writer is a former Governor of UP and West Bengal.
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Inner beauty I
do not possess charming and attractive looks. Since childhood, I have been at the receiving end of bitter remarks on my physical appearance. I remember, during my childhood when I engaged in a fierce and fiery discussion and had the upper hand, the persons with a different viewpoint used to fire the ‘Brahmastra’ of commenting on my looks and complexion with all possible adjectives. I was often subjected to various names and similes. After some time I got used to it and started taking it lightly. But distinct feelings of grudge had started brewing in my head and heart that nature had not been generous to me. The other part of my mind continuously warned me not to let such feeling or complex creep in. I still remember those days when besides my siblings cracking jokes and remarks on my looks, our servant also never missed an opportunity to fire salvos on my appearance. At times I used to consider myself a loser on this front. After all these years, now when I am in mid-fifties, having grown up children, I still come across such remarks now and then although inadvertently, from my children. They casually thank god that they resemble their mother and not their papa. And then perhaps to appease me they in the continuity of their earlier uttering pray to god to grant them the intelligence and One day when our entire family was enjoying supper in the living area, someone asked my nephew (then eight years old), what was the most beautiful feature in each of the persons sitting there. He very energetically started commenting upon the physical features and everybody seemed to be enjoying the moment. I was the last in the line and was deeply engrossed in the thought that my nephew whom I love the most, when asked to comment on my ‘beauty spots’, would find himself in utmost dilemma as he would not find anything worthwhile. Finally my turn came. Everybody with an uneasy calm sat there waiting for the ‘verdict’-- the voice from an innocent kid is treated as the voice of God. He took his own time, threw a glance at me from top to bottom. His eyes clearly gave signals that the search was futile. Then ultimately he remarked: “Tau tera to bas pyar hi sabse achha hai”(Tau your love is the most beautiful thing in you). Everyone present there applauded the little boy’s remarks and congratulated me as if I had won an ultimate battle. I also considered myself a proud winner. The truth came from an innocent kid, the truth is said to be god, God is love and love is the most beautiful thing in this world. Satyam Shivam
Sundaram.
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A woman's desire to look beautiful and desirable is as natural as any other womanly instinct. However, societies all over the world have issues with it and impose strictures on what she should and should not wear. Many women continue to defy these norms and dress as they please.
Women
and clothes… never the twain shall break. Actually, a woman's obsession for clothes finds a match only in the attention paid by all and sundry to her wardrobe. Be it the fully clothed Pakistan's first woman Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani lauded for her immaculate dressing style or Sarah Palin's politically incorrect expenses on her wardrobe during her Vice Presidential campaign, women's attire — yes those of mighty and powerful too — is always under scrutiny. A subject of endless discussion and debate, it triggers a response almost bordering on frenzy. So men and other members of society in convoluted twist of reasoning attribute sexual harassment meted out to her to her choice of dress or undress. The world may have entered 21st century and women's rights to equality may be a given… they have yet to earn the right to dress as they please. Somehow, somewhere nay everywhere and always a woman's manner of dressing finds a correlation with her desire to please / provoke/ tease men. Women dress up for men, goes the popular conception and thus by default they acquire a moral right to give her a dressing down on how to dress up. Father, brother husband, why even a passer-by, takes it upon himself to offer a sartorial guide (read sermons) to women. Thus a seemingly private, and one would dare say a trivial; issue is often used as an alibi and ruse to justify sexual violence. Small wonder, Vicky Simister, a SlutWalk supporter and founder of the London Anti-Street Harassment campaign says, “Why is the focus always not on don't rape but how not to get raped.” Indeed, the attention paid to women's clothes hasn't started with SlutWalks. Around the globe women have faced punitive action for not only their dare-to-bare attitude but simply for defying diktats imposed on women's dress. Dress codes for women are a routine affair and in every society varying degrees of strictures are passed on what she can and can't wear. No wonder a statement on women's right to choose their dress free of coercion was submitted by Amnesty International on 55th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women in March. Perhaps, how women dress isn't as simplistic and mundane matter as gender correct feminists would like to believe and propagate. Sensibilities, too, vary from culture to culture. In Sudan a woman is fined for wearing a trouser and in Germany a court orders that employers have the right to ask women employees to wear underwear. The power of dress and the reaction it evokes can't be underestimated. Women are indeed judged according to it and even a fashion stylist admitted that a dress gives a lot of information about the person who is wearing it. May be, some women do dress provocatively to attract attention which again ought to be their business, even when few cross the line of decency. But modesty vs vulgarity…who will be the judge? Moral policing has reprehensible ramifications. Different societies have different yardsticks. What is provocative to one may be sensuous to another and vice versa. In Islamic nations baring of an arm or even neck is considered unacceptable. So how much skin show is deemed proper in the so-called liberal societies? According to a study, 40 per cent skin show is alluring and attractive. Does that mean women's natural prerogative and desire to look good is not disputed here? On the contrary as the policeman's remark in Canada that has found an echo in some other male voices too has proved, globally too, hackles are easily raised. Women who revel in their femininity and sensuality are looked at with suspicion if not outright condemnation. Why even the debates on SlutWalks mostly in the West have missed the point that SlutWalk campaigners were making: “Being in charge of our sexual lives should not mean that we are opening ourselves to an expectation of violence, regardless of if we participate in sex for work or pleasure.” Strangely, its not men alone, even women thinkers in the West seem to have got the whole objective of SlutWalks upside down. Ironically, it's in India that court judgments have ruled that a woman's character, howsoever, licentious is no excuse for rape. Yet it was in India again that SlutWalk was postponed for organisers couldn't decide on the dress code and finally held one in respectable clothing. SlutWalk campaigners in Canada rightly say, “Being assaulted isn't about what you wear; it's not even about sex; but using a pejorative term to rationalise inexcusable behaviour creates an environment in which it's okay to blame the victim.” And its this blame game that women — SlutWalk participants or not— have issues with. Sexual freedom, liberty to dress and body integrity are not disparate ends of the continuum. While women must have the right to exercise freedom over all issues personal, society must provide an enabling mechanism to protect them physically. In the meanwhile majority of women around the world will bear in mind Susan Catherine's thoughts: “Remember that always dressing in understated good taste is the same as playing dead.” And would rather be alive and continue to dress, sensuously, sexily even at the risk of being labelled sluts.
Decent or not, judge ye not On
January 24, 2011 Constable Michael Sanguinetti spoke on crime prevention at a York University safety forum. He said that women should avoid dressing like 'sluts' in order not to be victimised sexually or physically. The result was that over 3,000 women gathered at Queens Park, Toronto, (April 2011) and then moved towards the Toronto Police Headquarters protesting against the statement. The issue soon snowballed and protestors in more than 25 countries joined the movement
SlutWalk, now branded as a 'social movement', which has seen the participation of women from all walks of life. On June 25, 2011 Delhi hosted the country's first SlutWalk renamed
'Besharmi morcha'. The issue is -- what is 'decent dress? Do we have the right to prescribe dress codes? A college in Haryana recently prescribed that girl students should not wear jeans. Another institution of higher education in Punjab enforced a dress code of salwar kameej for its girl students. A militant group in the Kashmir Valley insisted that all women were to wear veils. Messages insisting that women wear the veil or face death had been posted outside girls' schools and colleges and as a result attendance in schools and colleges dropped drastically in the Kashmir Valley. Another girls college in Chennai had a workshop in the college where the authorities insisted that a 'decent' dress code is important for women's own good. We are all aware of how the Taliban insists that even the toes of women should not be visible under the 'burqa' because this attracts the attention of men and could lead to sexual violence. What to speak of Afghanistan even in a country like Sri Lanka where women have a high level of literacy and commonly hold important jobs, a school ruled that mothers coming to collect their children from school must wear sarees. Are we taken to believe that violence against women takes place because women are provocatively dressed and therefore men are 'forced' to make sexually coloured remarks or even commit rape. If yes, the more important question that emerges is where does the problem lie? Is something wrong with the mindset of men who treat women as sex objects or with women's dress? Behind this diktat or concern lies a device to control. The fear arises out of the belief that if women are not 'appropriately dressed', they will invite sexual violence. This despite the fact that there is no data or study which establishes the fact that the victims of rape or sexual violence dressed in a particular manner. Let us take 'saree' as an example; the most respectable Indian dress can be considered as the most seductive and provocative dress as well. Is it not an issue of dress but basically the mindset of the men who view a woman only as a 'sexual object' rather than an individual to be respected? I am reminded of a conversation that I had recently with a senior (almost 78 years old) brilliant woman writer and scholar who also happens to be an exceptionally beautiful woman. Her observations on how men view women are extremely pertinent. She noted that although she had made path breaking intellectual contributions in her field of work, but all her life she was always admired more for her beauty rather than for her brains by her male colleagues. To quote the organisers of SlutWalk in Toronto from
Facebook, “when we began Slutwalk, we wanted to loudly and fiercely fight victim-blaming and slut shaming mentalities and ideas that circulate around sexual assault in our city and our country.” Whether it is Toronto or Delhi is this too much to expect from those who are expected to govern the state. The other day we had a senior police officer in Delhi advising women not to go out alone at night without being accompanied by a male member of the family. My daughter never wore a saree while living in Manhattan, (New York). She said that walking down the streets of Manhattan wearing a saree would attract as much attention as wearing shorts or a miniskirt in a sabzi mandi in Delhi. Many of us may have been victims of sexual harassment on the street, in the buses and trains or even in our workplaces or educational institutions despite the fact that we are 'appropriately' and 'decently' dressed. Is it not a common sight to see a group of girls or a girl walking down the road being followed by boys or men passing lewd remarks? I believe that most women and girls have the required sensibility to dress according to the occasion and if some do not, it is their choice. But the notion that 'provocatively' dressed women are to blame for sexual assaults and the victim rather than the abuser is to be blamed is completely off the mark and has to be changed. However, I am not comfortable with the choice of words SlutWalk because the word slut has historically a negative connotation. But may be a more subtle word would not have caught the attention of the world to the extent required on this important question of women's right to dress as much as 'slut' has. The issue under discussion is — should society prescribe a 'decent dress code' for women so that our streets are safe for them? Discussions and definitions of sexual harassment are important because it can then educate society and promote conscientious evaluation of behaviour and experience. (The writer is a Professor of
women's studies and director Women Studies Research Centre, Kurukshetra University)
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But if you thought clothes maketh a woman… well more like marred and mauled by it. The famous science fiction writer Robert A Heinlein may profess: “I don't see how an article of clothing can be indecent. A person, yes.", a majority of men, however, feel clothes do decide whether women are indecent or not.