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Visible signs of bonhomie
Severe turbulence |
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Gallows for infanticide
Strategic encirclement by China
Riches beyond compare
Truth in a maze of figures
Female infanticide
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Visible signs of bonhomie
There
can be little doubt that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has taken a calculated risk by holding out an olive branch to his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani at a meeting on the sidelines of the South Asian summit in the Maldives. Much as India may deny (so as to keep the hawks at bay) that the agreement to revive the stalled joint commission, to liberalise the visa regime and to dismantle excessive trade barriers amount to a tangible headway in the “composite dialogue”, there is an element of pragmatism and realism in going ahead with normalisation despite some of the major irritants persisting. Mr Gilani, too, has been pragmatic in moving beyond the perennial bones of contention. While Dr Singh has risked the censure of the Indian opposition by calling Mr Gilani a “man of peace” at a time when cross-border terror has far from abated, Mr Gilani has assured the Indian Prime Minister that it would conclude the trial of seven 26/11 accused on its soil soon. Pakistan’s Interior Minister Rehman Malik added his bit when he affirmed that the lone surviving assassin in the November 26, 2008, Mumbai carnage, Ajmal Kasab, should be sent to the gallows. At a time when much of the world is benefiting from geographical divisions into trading blocs, the biggest thrust in the Manmohan-Gilani meeting has come from Pakistan declaring on the eve of the summit that it would grant India Most Favoured Nation treatment and India going a step beyond and declaring its intent to give “preferential trade” status to Islamabad. This is not to say that the serious differences that persist would necessarily not erode the new-found bonhomie if rhetoric is not backed by work on the ground. With elections round the corner in five states, Prime Minister Singh can hardly afford Pakistan’s dragging of feet in dealing with the perpetrators of terror. Home Minister Chidambaram has complained time and again about Pakistan’s inaction against the 26/11 masterminds and the slow pace of the trial on its soil. Islamabad has also turned a deaf ear to India’s demand for voice samples of the perpetrators of terror. The Gilani government will have to deliver on these sooner than later. Besides, whether the Pakistan army which holds the key to how much its government delivers would cooperate in the process is still a factor that begs an answer.
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Severe turbulence
Thousands
of passengers have been affected by the cancellation of a large number of flights by Kingfisher Airlines. The woes of what was once a flagship of privatisation in India are many, and it is widely known that the second largest airline in India is facing a cash crunch. It suffered a loss of Rs 1,027 crore in 2010-11, and in recent days, it has been revealed that it has an accumulated debt of Rs 7057.08 crore. Major oil companies have stopped selling oil to it on credit and are asking for daily payments. The lenders who arranged long-term leases for the company are talking of re-possessing aircraft for which the airline has defaulted payments. The airline has not flown 36 per cent of the flights allotted to it daily since Sunday. The Directorate-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has the right to ask the airline for an explanation as to why it had not taken the regulator's prior approval to curtail its flight schedules, especially since the cancellations came during the peak travel season. However, at this time, what matters most is that the passengers who had booked Kingfisher flights should be sent to their destinations by alternative means, through other airlines. There have been various questions regarding the quality of management of the airline, and concern has been expressed earlier too. The airline has not made a profit since its inception in 2008. Privatisation has its own perils and it is unfortunate that the airline which at one time sought to set new standards of civil aviation in India is facing such a crisis. There is no doubt that the twin attack of a price war and rising fuel prices has contributed to the present state of affairs, but this is not necessarily the only reason for the airlines’ woes accumulating. Even as the management and the creditors work out a proper solution, the airline must make all efforts to spare its passengers the burden of sharing its agony.
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Gallows for infanticide
Sangrur
District and Sessions Judge MS Chauhan’s order of capital punishment against a father who snuffed life out of his four-day-old daughter is rough but apt. Indeed, what can be more barbaric than a father killing his own child? That this happened in Sangrur district of Punjab which has one of the worst child sex ratios in the state only proves that the son preference continues to have psychotic dimensions in the region. In fact, so strong are the societal pressures to have a male heir that not too long ago in the neighbouring state of Haryana a woman was killed for not bearing a baby boy. While the heartless act of the father in the Sangrur case can never be condoned, equally abominable are the crimes of those who flout the PNDT law, go in for sex determination and abort the foetus if it turns out to be a female. That the practice of female foeticide is rampant in relatively developed states like Punjab and Haryana, both of which have dismal sex ratios, speaks volumes about the patriarchal mindset that has deep roots in the feudal society. Perhaps the sociological reasons behind the obsessive son preference may lie in social practices like dowry. However, the real culprit is a bigoted mindset that prevails not only among middle and lower middle classes but also upper classes which are as guilty of killing unborn daughters. While the recent data may have proved that the middle class’s attitude towards girls is changing, clearly much more needs to be done. Unfortunately, not only has the fear of law not worked, even positive incentive schemes of the government have not yielded the desired results in dissuading parents from eliminating daughters. Perhaps, a mass movement alone can be the answer to this widely prevalent social evil. Punitive judgements, like the one delivered by judge Chauhan, too will be able to make a difference only if these are followed by equally deterrent action not only in cases of female infanticide but also foeticide. Let it not be forgotten that in 2010 only 13 convictions took place under the PNDT Act.
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Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less. — Marie Curie
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Strategic encirclement by China
China
views India as a future challenger for supremacy in Asia and has been engaged in the strategic encirclement of India through its proxies like Pakistan along our land borders and its “string of pearls strategy” in the northern Indian Ocean region. However, till very recently India had not taken recourse to proactive measures to develop counter- leverages of its own. This is now changing gradually as India has begun to reach out to its friends in Southeast Asia and further east along the Asia-Pacific rim as part of a carefully thought through strategy to develop some pressure points. The first step in the new “Look East” policy is to propel India’s strategic partnership with Vietnam to a higher trajectory. One month after China objected to oil exploration by India in the South China Sea under a contract awarded to the Indian state-owned company ONGC Videsh Ltd by the Vietnamese and three months after the Chinese Navy warned Indian Naval ship Airawat, which was sailing in international waters between the Vietnamese ports of Nha Trang and Hai Phong, to leave Chinese waters - a warning that INS Airawat ignored --- India and Vietnam signed an agreement on energy cooperation during the visit of Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang to New Delhi. The two countries also decided to pursue a regular security dialogue. Visibly incensed, China’s state-controlled media responded angrily. The Global Times warned that prospecting for oil in China-claimed waters would “push China to the limits”. The relatively more moderate People’s Daily also did not mince words: “… China should denounce this agreement as illegal. Once India and Vietnam initiate their exploration, China can send non-military forces to disturb their work, and cause dispute or friction to halt the two countries' exploration.” The China Energy News said, “India is playing with fire by agreeing to explore for oil with Vietnam in the disputed South China Sea… its energy strategy is slipping into an extremely dangerous whirlpool.” Chinese analysts are perhaps unaware that the ONGC’s association with Vietnam for oil and gas exploration goes back 23 years. For the time being India has chosen to ignore Chinese warnings and continue its activities in accordance with the contract signed by ONGC Videsh with Vietnam. Defence cooperation between India and Vietnam is being gradually stepped up. Recent news reports have suggested that India is considering the sale of the non-nuclear BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles to Vietnam. A case can be made out for the transfer of obsolescent SRBMs like the Prithvi missiles to Vietnam as these are likely to be removed soon from the Indian arsenal. Some Indian analysts have gone to the extent of saying that India should project Vietnam as “India’s Pakistan” in its quest to develop leverages against China as Vietnam offers India an entry point through which it can “penetrate China’s periphery.” Others have suggested the supply of military hardware at “friendship prices” and the provision of advanced combat training facilities in India, especially for Vietnamese fighter pilots. Another nation on China’s periphery that India has begun to engage pro-actively is Myanmar. India’s relations with Myanmar, a devoutly Buddhist country, have been traditionally close and friendly. India’s national interest lies in a strong and stable Myanmar that observes strict neutrality between India and China. For India, Myanmar is a bridge between the countries comprising the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, or SAARC for short, (Myanmar has an observer status at SAARC) and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). President Thein Sein of Myanmar visited India in October to further cement the growing relationship. China has made rapid advances into Myanmar and established close political, military and economic relations. China is engaged in exploiting Myanmar’s oil and gas reserves, is building a 1,100-km overland pipeline from Kyaukryu port in Myanmar to the border city of Ruili in Yunnan and is developing Sittwe as a commercial port on Myanmar’s west coast. It is natural that Chinese naval activity in the Bay of Bengal will soon follow. China has also been stepping up arms sales to Myanmar as other nations, including India, are loathe to sell offensive military hardware to that country. The key drivers of the India-Myanmar strategic relationship are cooperation in counter-insurgency operations and the need for India to ensure that Myanmar is not driven into Chinese arms through neglect of its security concerns and arms requirements. Indian insurgent groups (NSCN, ULFA and Manipur rebels among others) have been operating out of their bases in the weakly controlled areas across the borders of Manipur and Mizoram and Myanmarese rebels, primarily the Chins and the Arakanese, have often taken shelter on the Indian side. The two armies have been cooperating with each other for mutual benefit. India-Myanmar cooperation is also essential to control narcotics trafficking and to curb the proliferation of small arms in the region. India and the other regional powers can play a positive role in the re-entry of Myanmar into the international mainstream so that it can be nudged towards becoming a strong and stable democracy. India is also developing a low-key security relationship with Japan and South Korea. During Defence Minister A. K. Antony’s recent visit, Japan agreed to join India for the first bilateral naval and air force exercise in 2012. Significantly, stepping up defence cooperation, the two countries agreed to deal with maritime security issues, including anti-piracy measures, freedom of navigation and maintaining the security of the Sea Lanes of Communication to facilitate unhindered trade bilaterally as well as multilaterally with regional neighbours. The Japan-India Defence Policy Dialogue will be held in Tokyo in early 2012. This will be followed by staff-level talks between the Japanese Ground Self-Defence Force and the Indian Army, and staff exchanges between the Japanese Air Self-Defence Force and the Indian Air Force. As India begins to flex its maritime muscles and reach out to its East Asian and Southeast Asian neighbours, the geopolitical implications of enhanced strategic cooperation will not be lost on China. The footprints of the navies and the merchant fleets of India and China will increasingly criss-cross in future and there is need for a serious dialogue to avoid clashes. Both nations need to exhibit maturity and balance in their responses to the emerging challenges.n The writer is Director, Centre for Land Warfare Studies, New Delhi.
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Riches beyond compare At
the time of my retirement I was fairly certain that I had lived a satisfactory and successful life, and I looked forward to spending the rest of it in the serenity of a village near Dharampur, at peace with the world and at peace with myself. I had played a good long innings as a schoolteacher. Then as the months went by, I was seized with doubts. I had nothing to show for it all, not even any interaction with any of my old students. I explained this away by telling myself that times had changed, that the student-teacher relationship was no longer what it used to be. And that for the second half of my innings I had been older than their parents. I was someone whose feet they touched, someone whom they listened to with respect but someone they couldn’t really relate to in any personal way. But soon I began to think that there was something more to this distancing. I began to question my professional abilities. Perhaps I had not been as good a teacher as I had deceived myself into believing. Perhaps I had not touched their lives in any meaningful way. Perhaps I had gone through life without making a difference to those whom I had taught. Waves of sadness, regret, and yes, despair, swept over me. Then last week, in Delhi, I was invited to dinner by one of my former pupils. She had thoughtfully invited another four of my former students too. Inevitably, the conversation centered on their time in school and then turned to my teaching. They talked in turn of how much they had enjoyed my classes and the influence that my teaching had had on them. They talked about how I always went beyond the syllabus and how they had lived their lives by many of the values they had learnt in my class. One of them asked if I remembered his first birthday in school. I had forgotten, but I remembered now. His mother had promised to come up but had not been able to. I had found him lonely and forlorn, wandering around the Quad and had quickly rustled up an impromptu birthday party for him. It was the kind of thing that any teacher would have done and I had thought no more about it. “It is the most beautiful thing that ever happened in my life.” Normally, I would have brushed all this impatiently away. But today my heart was too full. I had a lump in my throat. The tears had sprung to my eyes and I was afraid that if I tried to speak they would begin to flow. They had given me a gift, something that not all the gold in the world could buy. All doubts were stilled, all questions silenced. I had made a difference to the lives I had touched. I was once again at peace with myself and with the
world.
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Truth in a maze of figures The data pertaining to Census 2011 recently released for the national and state levels has indicated interesting trends in sex ratio, a variable that has been recognised internationally as a strong indicator of gender justice. While census figures of 2011 show an increase in sex ratio from 933 in 2001 to 940 in 2011, i.e. an increase of seven points, these at the same time show an alarming decline in the child sex ratio (0-6 years) of the country during the same period from 927 to 914, i.e. a decline of 13 points. There are now 48 fewer girls per 1,000 boys than there were in 1981. In fact, the drop in child sex ratio is much more worrisome with its enormous future implications. Confusing figures
Alarmingly, all the remaining 27 states/UTs have seen a decline in the child sex ratio during 2001-2011. However, despite the increase in child sex ratio, Haryana still stands at the lowest level with 830, Punjab occupying the second place with 846 and Jammu & Kashmir stands third with 859 female child sex ratio. Importantly, no state/UT has female child sex ratio over 1000 in India. Haryana has no reason to rejoice an enhanced child sex ratio with one of its district, Jhajjar, having recorded the lowest child sex ratio at 774 in the country. Further, two villages Bahrana and Dimana in district Jhajjar, have shown a sex ratio as low as 378 and 444 respectively (Haryana Health Department, 2010). It is interesting to note that in Punjab, while all districts witnessed an increase in child sex ratio during 2001-2011, a decline in the case of sex ratio has been witnessed in Bathinda. On the contrary, in Haryana, during the same period, while sex ratio declined in two districts, i.e. Mahendragarh and Rewari, at least five districts have gone down on child sex ratio, i.e. Bhiwani (10 points), Jhajjar (27 points), Mahendragarh (40 points), Rewari (27 points) and Faridabad (5 points). The data certainly calls for immediate attention.
Can we jump to conclusions?
There has always been a tendency to jump to conclusions while interpreting the census figures. Quite frequently, the states with an improved sex ratio are designated as women friendly, while those with a decline are named daughter killers. Particularly disappointing has been the reported irrelevance of literacy levels for sex ratio trends in Haryana. In fact, an inverse association has been found between the two in case of Mewat, Fatehabad and Palwal, the districts with the highest sex ratio in 2011 Census with low levels of literacy. Conversely, the districts with lowest child sex ratio, i.e. Jhajjar, Rewari and Faridabad happen to be among the districts with high levels of literacy in the state. In Punjab, however, Hoshiarpur happens to be the district with both the highest sex ratio as well as level of literacy. Bathinda on the other hand, with the lowest sex ratio is also among the districts with the lowest literacy levels, much below the state level. Similarly, Tarn Taran, with the lowest child sex ratio, also happens to be a district among those with the lowest literacy levels. It would be wrong to conclude that literacy has either no connection or an inverse connection with sex ratio. Similarly, it would be erroneous to jump to the conclusion that the districts with low sex/child sex ratio are daughter killers and vice versa. The fact is that these are the districts with high industrial and population growth rates, thronged by a large army of immigrants, generally male dominated, often resulting in an adverse sex ratio. Hence, low sex ratio in fast growing districts may be related to male selective in-migration while high sex ratio in backward regions may be related to male selective out-migration. The argument gets substantiated by the fact that female sex ratio in rural India is higher than urban India. Overall sex ratio in rural India is 947 whereas it is only 926 in urban India. It would be wrong to jump to the conclusion that rural population is more patriarchal without going into the trends of male out migration from rural areas, resulting in a higher sex ratio.
Infant and maternal mortality
Further, patterns of sex ratio may also be related to patterns of infant mortality and maternal mortality. For instance, the Sample Registration Survey of the Registrar General of the Census for the year 2003-5 showed that in Punjab, which had a child sex ratio of 798 in the 2001 Census, the infant mortality rate among girls had risen from 52 to 55, whereas it had fallen among boys from 46 to 37. Also, the incidence of gender violence, terrorism and crime may be associated with adverse trends in sex ratio, as suggested by numerous studies. Thus Jammu and Kashmir has shocked the nation with an 82 point decline in sex ratio for children by jumping down to 859 from 941. This decline, however, shall have to be explained through different factors in view of the highly volatile political scene in the state, with adverse gender implications. It may be added that J&K has a lower literacy rate than the all-India level of 68.64 per cent; with a whopping gender gap in literacy at 20.25, higher than even Bihar, lowest at the literacy level.
Need for systematic analysis
Systematic and detailed analytical studies need to be conducted before drawing any conclusions from this data in order to avoid any simplistic generalisations. Huge variations are discernible within the states, which need to be examined. Trends in sex ratio need to be analysed in relation to the patterns of migration, occupational structure, gender violence, political turmoil, literacy, and so on. Haryana and Punjab, the states with the lowest child sex ratio despite an increase during 2001-2011, have a long cultural history of a strong patriarchy. They have failed to translate their economic progress into cultural advancement. Studies have indicated that more and more people, rich and poor, rural and urban, literate and illiterate, are opting for a male child. Sincere efforts are required both by the state as well as the civil society organisations towards:
Monitoring gender violence
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Effective implementation of women related legislations
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Banning of caste Panchayats which thwart state initiatives towards women empowerment
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Studies must be undertaken to
identify the incidence of female foeticide
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Targetting culture- the real catalyst for desired change
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Consolidation of decentralised Panchayats, especially the women members
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Working towards “safe” environment, both public and private (for women)
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Focus upon education and not just
literacy
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Utilising media for gender sensitisation
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Conduct systematic studies to identify the bottlenecks in achieving gender justice
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Remember, Census Statistics just give indications which require interpretation followed by action. The writer is Chairperson, Departments of Women’s Studies and Sociology, Panjab University, Chandigarh
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Female infanticide Some
misconceptions about the existence of female infanticide need to be corrected so that the problem of female infanticide and the advanced version of it, that is female foeticide, can be put in proper historical perspective. A majority of people think that this practice originated somewhere in India or Asia. Anthropologists Laila Williamson, Vicente Lull and Joseph Birdsell have clearly stated that many evidences do exist which indicate that female infanticide was prevalent even in Paleolithic and Neolithic times. Women and young girls used to be killed /sacrificed as they were considered a burden on the tribe. In precarious times of famines or drought they were degraded as they increased the burden on the tribe by bearing children while the males were considered bread earners. In such times a half of the girls were usually killed or abandoned by their parents. Three thousand bones of young children with evidence of sacrificial rituals were found in Sardinia. Child skeletons with marks of sacrifice have been found also in Egypt dating 950-720 B.C. and in the Gezer excavations. Majority of these bones were of females. There is clear evidence that besides these, Carthaginians, Phoenicians, Canaanites, Moabities and Sepharvites also offered their first born child as sacrifice to their Gods. The common method used by Romans or Greeks was abandoning babies on manure heaps from where some ancient Egyptians adopted them, raised them as slaves and named them as ‘Copro’ so that they could be recognised even at a later stage, from where they were rescued. In Greece, as it was a common practice to kill a girl child by exposing her, the decision to expose the child was typically the father’s, while in Sparta the decision was taken by group of elders. This act was not considered a murder and if by any chance the child was rescued by any passerby, it was thought that God wanted to let her live. These girls were not directly killed but a majority of them were put in a clay pot or jar and deserted outside the front door or on the roadway This practice was so prevalent in ancient Rome that some letters dating back to BC 1 have been preserved. In Sweden also children were sacrificed. In pre-Islamic Arabian society, female infanticide was practiced as a form of post-partum birth control. Some authors state that female infanticide was common all over Arabria especially by burying the girl child alive. In Siberia also infanticide has been reported. In China, sex selective infanticide was so common that a newborn girl child was put into a bucket of ice cold water which was called ‘ baby water’, and left her there to die. In Japan, the common slang used for female infanticide was ‘ mabiki’, which means to pull plants from an overcrowded garden. The typical method used to kill the newborn girl till 19th and early 20th century was smothering through wet paper on the baby’s mouth and nose. About South Asia, it was found by historian Firishta that among feudal Rajputs during Middle ages, as soon as a girl child was born, it was held in one hand and with a knife in the other hand, it was announced that if any person wanted her as his wife, he might take her then or else she was immediately put to death. It was common to find parents throw their girl child to the sharks in Ganges river as a sacrificial offering. In Alaska, people used to expose their girl child on ice and left her to die. Some parents before exposing the girl child, stuffed her mouth with grass so that her cries were not heard. All this went on till 1940’s. Maidu Native American twins were considered dangerous and hence always killed along with their mother at the time of birth. In Texas, female infanticide was rampant to such an extent that to cover up scarcity, wives had to be obtained from neighbouring groups. The killing of the unwanted girl children has been going since ages in all civilisations. Female foeticide has added a new dimension to the sad chapter of atrocities against womanhood. The writer is Deputy Medical Superintendent, Government Medical College and Rajindra Hospital,
Patiala.
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Only one state and one union territory has higher female sex ratio in India, i.e. Kerala and Puducherry with 1084 and 1038 females per 1000 males respectively. Interestingly, the sex ratio for the country at 940 is the highest recorded since 1971 and 29 states/UTs have observed an increase during the last decade. On the other hand, three major states, i.e. Jammu & Kashmir, Bihar and Gujarat have shown a decline in sex ratio in the same period. Further, while the country as a whole has seen a decline in child sex ratio since 2001, the conventionally patriarchal states, notorious for low sex ratio, i.e. Punjab and Haryana, experienced an increase in child sex ratio for the same period, sharing the trend with Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Mizoram and Andaman & Nicobar Islands.