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Badals enter Delhi
Free to roam |
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Egypt slipping into chaos
State of the Republic
It’s nature’s law
Enabling police to handle rape cases
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Free to roam
The government’s proposal to abolish national roaming charges is logical and is bound to be welcomed by customers. Roaming charges are an anachronism that trace their origin to the interconnection and carriage charges that telecom operators paid to one another when they provided connectivity to users who were outside their telecom circle. These charges were billed to the users as roaming fees. Many telecom providers like Airtel, Vodafone, Reliance, Idea, Tata and BSNL have a presence that spans the nation. They do not need much to provide interconnectivity, and thus they often, if not always, pay themselves when the customer is outside his telecom circle. The government is moving towards giving a single telecom licence to an operator, allowing the company to operate throughout the nation, thereby moving away from the circle system. It has also de-linked issuance of licences from the allocation of spectrum. Given this scenario, it is only logical that charges for roaming should be abolished and customers provided with seamless connectivity. However, the telecom companies look at roaming charges as a significant factor in shoring up their bottom line. They add up to as much as 10 per cent of the revenue collected from the customers. The telecom sector is facing various pressures, but it has shown a remarkable ability to adapt to the changing times, even as it has provided one of the most inexpensive telecom services in the world. Telecom usage in India is increasing at a very fast rate, and more and more people are using data services to add to the voice experience that they already have. Providing free national roaming is bound to increase telecom usage.
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Egypt slipping into chaos
Egypt’s transition from dictatorship to democracy is faced with uncertainties. The dictatorship of Hosni Mubarak came to an end with people making different kinds of sacrifices, but their hope for the dawn of a new era of people’s representatives running the government may get belied if the prevailing situation does not change. The minorities and liberals in Egypt seem to have no faith in the government headed by the elected President, Mohamed Mursi. The drive launched against the Mursi administration appears to be supported by denominational lobbies active in the region in the wake of the Arab Spring. They seem to be working on a theory that if Egypt gets into an unending turmoil, the military can step in with generals running the government with declared and undeclared support from regional powers desperate to see the situation in West Asia changing in their favour. Denominational politics is not allowing the situation to stabilise in both Egypt and Syria. What happens in Egypt, however, may affect the West Asian scenario more decisively than in Syria or any other country in the region. The misfortune of the Mursi government is that it is not trusted by any of the dominant religious lobbies in the region — Sunni and Shia — because of its connections with the Muslim Brotherhood, which believes in Wahabiism. But President Mursi himself is to blame more than anyone else for the sorry state of affairs in Egypt today. He went ahead with his idea of holding a referendum on the controversial constitution, not bothering about the consequences. Now when protests against his government are showing no signs of coming to an end, he has declared a state of emergency in three states and has called for a dialogue with the coalition of opposition parties --- the National Salvation Front. But the Front has rejected his offer of talks, saying that no such engagement is possible so long as President Mursi does not give the way for a national unity government in Cairo. Mursi is paying for his mistake of not making drastic changes in the new constitution before holding the referendum.
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Won't you come into the garden? I would like my roses to see you. — Richard Brinsley Sheridan
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State of the Republic PRESIDENT Pranab Mukherjee’s broadcast on the eve of Republic Day came as a breath of fresh air in the stifling aftermath of the monumental public rage, especially among the young and educated urban middle class, over the horrific gang rape in Delhi. His call to “reset our moral compass” was timely and much needed, as was his emphasis on “women’s rights as a civilisational principle”. And he bluntly told the “elected representatives” to “win back the confidence of the people”, adding that “the anxiety and the restlessness of the youth should be canalised towards change with speed, dignity and order”. Whether the utterly self-seeking and insensitive political class would heed the President’s sage advice is a moot question. Another encouraging and welcome development — the submission of the report of the committee, headed by former Chief Justice of India J S Verma, on hardening the laws and administrative procedures to curb sexual offences against women — followed quick on the heels of the President’s uplifting address. Remarkably, the comprehensive and thorough report was ready in a record time of 29 days, a day ahead of the deadline. I know of no other commission or committee in this country that has completed its work within the given timeframe. In former Attorney-General Soli Sorabjee’s words, the Verma committee — that included Justice Leila Seth, formerly Chief Justice of the Shimla High Court, and Gopal Subramaniam, a former Solicitor-General — deserves a mention in the Guinness Book of Records. Also it is no exaggeration to say that most of the committee’s recommendations are sound and have met with the public’s approval. There seem to be only two exceptions: the committee’s recommendation against lowering the age at which juveniles must to treated as adults, and its suggestion for the withdrawal of the immunity given to the military personnel under the Armed Forces (Special Powers Act) in relation to crimes against women. The Manmohan Singh government and Opposition parties must do their duty to get the necessary legislation enacted speedily in the Budget session itself. After all, at its Jaipur conclave the Congress party was greatly worried about the alienation from it of the country’s educated youth. For their part, opposition parties had clamoured for the most stringent punishment to rapists. Yet there is uncertainty on this score. Doubts arise on two counts. First, there is understandable apprehension that Parliament’s Budget session might go the way of the monsoon one, thanks to Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde’s gratuitous and objectionable remarks about “Hindu terrorism”. The enraged BJP is making no bones about its resolve to disrupt Parliament unless and until Mr Shinde is sacked, and both Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh offer an apology, which is most unlikely. Secondly, the Congress party’s own treatment of the eminent trio constituting the committee was shabby, to say the least. The party’s suggestions to the committee reached it on its last working day. A few hours earlier, long past the midnight hour, a ruling party underling had the temerity to wake up Mr Verma to force the party document on him. The former chief justice naturally refused to be trifled with. However, Ms Gandhi had the grace to apologise for the squalid incident. The same cannot be said, alas, about Mr Shinde and Home Secretary R. K. Singh. It was their ministry that appointed the committee. But neither of them deigned to interact with it even once. Probably taking a cue from them, Delhi’s Police Commissioner Neeraj Kumar also stayed away from the committee’s hearings and sent his juniors to make a “presentation”. The nadir was reached when the committee’s report had to be presented to a joint secretary in the Home Ministry because his superiors were “unavailable”. Of the great many events on or around Republic Day, including what many have dubbed “cultural terrorism” at the Jaipur Literary Festival, let me discuss only two because they could have serious repercussions on politics and polity in the weeks to come. First, there was a time when it seemed certain that the BJP, under pressure from the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS), was about to shoot itself in both its feet and offer the Congress an invaluable gift by re-electing Nitin Gadkari as the party president. But then, literally at the eleventh hour and fifty-ninth minute, wiser counsels prevailed. Mr Gadkari was denied the prize he coveted and Rajnath Singh became the compromise president of the deeply divided saffron party. It is too soon to say how the party would fare under his stewardship. But it is already clear that he would be supportive of Narendra Modi’s grand ambitions. A senior BJP leader, Yashwant Sinha, has more or less proclaimed that Mr Modi would be the party’s prime ministerial candidate. In Karnataka, the BJP is facing a grave crisis but it is confident of riding it out by getting the 13 MLAs ratting on it disqualified by the speaker. Secondly, while the BJP has sensibly freed itself of the Gadkari Cross, on the other side of the fence, the Congress seems determined to carry the Shinde Cross all the way. He is a decent individual but in the critically important Ministry of Home Affairs he is out of his depth. The blunders he has committed in the recent past include his disastrous invitation to his Pakistani counterpart, Rehman Malik, to Delhi. Now he is at least partially to blame for the huge mess the Congress has created in relation to the decades-old demand for the creation of a separate state of Telangana by separating it from Andhra Pradesh. Leave alone its dithering and blatant breach of promises in the past. Only a month earlier, after an all-party conference, Mr Shinde had categorically committed the government to taking a decision before January 28. Currently, Congress leaders are competing with one another in offering fatuous reasons for breaking this commitment, too. Already clashes between crowds demanding Telangana and the Andhra police have begun. Even a political novice knows that there would be trouble in Telangana if a separate state is not conceded, and there would be upheaval in the other two regions of the state if it is. The Congress will have to bite the bullet sooner or
later.
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It’s nature’s law AS you are, once was I, as I am once you will be; so prepare for it and follow me”. I read this on a gravestone in a cemetery several years ago. We all know that the sun rises in the morning and sets in the evening. And sunset is followed by night and every night has a morning. This is nature’s phenomenon that no human being can change. Similarly, anyone who takes birth has to die one day. This again is nature’s rule and no one can alter it. Like sunrise and sunset, the cycle of birth and death also keeps repeating. All religious books are unanimous on this point. Even top scientists, who were sceptical about it a few decades ago, have written books proving the theory of reincarnation. One of them is the Canadian scientist and psychiatrist, Ian Stevenson. We know that death is a certainty, yet we forget about it. When we see others dying, we feel obliquely at that time that our journey of life will continue unabated. The same is the thinking of a serving person. When he sees others retiring, he does not think of his retirement. We do not realise that our unrealistic thinking cannot avert the inevitable from happening. We should not forget about our retirement and death, which are certainties of life. If we remember these realties, our life would be different from what it is today. The quantum of crime has increased manifold in recent years as compared to what it was about four decades ago. The saying that “power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely” was never as true as it is now. Anybody who has a political or financial clout can ignore the law with impunity and can get away by killing a person or bending any rule. But does he know that one day he has to answer to Him for his brutal behaviour and the sins that he is committing in this life? If you look around, you will find that the people who are God-fearing are generally more rational. Coming back to the gravestone inscription, “So prepare for it and follow me”. How does one prepare for it? If we keep in mind that we have to die one day and that day is fixed, then we will keep away from evil as well as from all evil creatures and turn to good deeds. Good deeds take us closer to God. Money even in tonnes cannot give happiness. Real happiness comes from our good deeds, which take us closer to the supreme power. Thus, we become God-fearing and always think of doing good to others. Gradually, this thinking turns us into good souls. This results in the acceptance of what God does to us. This acceptance, which takes time, banishes the fear of death from our minds. And this is the way recommended by the sages to prepare for the ultimate
day.
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Enabling police to handle rape cases
The Justice J.S. Verma committee, set up in the wake of the Delhi gang-rape, has recommended tougher penalties and sweeping changes in laws in its 630-page report, which is also critical of the police response and role
Strong legislation, as demanded by the Delhi rape case agitators and recommended by the Justice J.S. Verma report, is only one part of the solution. The key issue, however, is the implementation of the law. In the UK, a nation whose justice system has been used as a model in our country, rape goes largely unpunished as, according to government statistics, only 5.7 per cent of rapes officially recorded by the police in England and Wales end in conviction. This is when it is estimated that only 10 to 20 per cent of rapes are brought to the authorities' attention. Alarmed at the trend, the government has promised to address the "justice gap".
Low rate of conviction With 24,206 rape cases reported during 2011 in India, the conviction rate stands at 26.4 per cent, or 4,072 convictions, while 11,351 acquittals were recorded. Rape is a repeat offence unless the perpetrator is apprehended, and also where women are repeatedly ignored by the police when they report sexual violence. Even if the crime is recorded, very often the victim is forgotten after an initial hue and cry. By and large insensitivity, if not hostility, of the criminal justice system towards the rape victim is a significant factor in the low conviction rate and a high percentage of rape cases going unreported. There is a direct relationship between the effective control of crime and the criminals being made to feel that the commission of crime almost certainly leads to conviction. In India, all across, there is poor investigation and understanding of the law in many cases. In most of the failed cases, either the prosecution could not provide enough evidence, or the victims turned hostile, probably due to security reasons. If the police fails to support women when they report abuse, which falls in the 'stranger rape' category, then just imagine how much worse it is when the case involves acquaintances which constitute about 97 per cent of the rape cases, wherein there are greater chances of victims turning hostile at a later stage of the investigation as they settle the matter among themselves. Medical evidence, which is vital in rape cases, is not preserved properly due to delays in reporting the crime and gathering evidence in the pre-trial stage, lack of training and unavailability of forensic kits during investigations. And even when the investigation of rapes cases is poorly done, responsibility of the police is rarely fixed and officials responsible are not punished for their laxity. Delays in receiving Forensic Science Laboratory reports for medical evidence related to cases add a sense of indifference in investigations. Once the investigation is over, delay in the trial of such cases and a long course of legal proceedings become other impediments in dispensing justice to the victims. The defence side in such cases tries to push for adjournments by filing a petition under the Criminal Procedure Code's section 317, giving excuses such as ill-health of the accused. Rape is a unique crime because in no other case are victims subjected to such scrutiny in courts. Victims are often reluctant to open up before courts and the police. Owing to delays and long-drawn out legal proceedings, and with no witness protection programme, very often the victim is influenced by the accused and is forced to withdraw the case and prosecution witnesses turn hostile or forget details of the incident. An inadequate number of courts to try such cases is also a reason for the inordinate delays and the low rate of conviction. A speedy trial of rape cases through fast-track courts may address many of these issues.
Measures to be adopted Nothing can replace measures of basic professional policing like proper preventive patrolling, a quick response, especially when the distress caller is a woman, and thorough investigations and follow-up during court trials of cases related to atrocities on woman. All police officers should be made to undergo a mandatory one-week gender sensitisation course. Investigations of such cases should not be handled by the regular law and order police but by a separate, trained police wing. There is also a need to set up Rape Referral Centres in every district with one-stop service. Such centres set up in the UK provide medical care and a forensic examination for evidence collection under one roof. These centres can be funded and run jointly by the health department, the police and voluntary agencies. For strengthening the investigation and medical forensic evidence collection, the forensic science laboratories will also need more personnel and funding if they are to keep up with an increase in cases coming to them. DNA technology is a strong tool that arms the investigators with clinching evidence in rape cases. However, this is not used as often as it should be, barring some high-profile cases, due to lack of knowledge, unavailability of a testing facility at all laboratories and the cost of testing involved. The Singapore Police Force in collaboration with National Technological University has developed a mobile DNA analyser which can be used for an onsite analysis of samples and is cost effective. Such appropriate technology can prove to be extremely useful for investigators in India too.
US shows the way In the US, in the last 40 years, several measures have been initiated both in terms of legal procedures and investigations to cope up with this situation. Several steps have been initiated such as prohibition of the victim's prior sexual activity from being entered into as evidence, elimination of the requirement that there be a corroborating witness to a rape, and creating procedures to collect physical evidence from victims. Today the US police and prosecutors are extensively trained in how to move cases forward, and sexual-assault investigative and prosecutorial units are common in most major cities. The introduction of rape kits to collect physical evidence by the police has significantly enhanced the effectiveness of police investigations in the US. A rape kit contains instructions, forms and aids such as slides, boxes and bags for collecting and storing evidence such as clothing fibres, hairs, saliva, semen or body fluid, which may help identify the assailant and provide evidence supporting prosecution in a criminal trial. Since the rape-kit testing was completed in 2003, the New York Police Department has seen its arrest rate for rape increase dramatically, from 40 per cent to 70 per cent of reported cases, and there are increased numbers of prosecutions and convictions for rape. Above all, states should empower the survivors of sexual assault and witnesses by giving them a regular access to information about their cases and providing them protection, wherever required. California has a victim-notification statute that requires law enforcement to provide information about the status of the rape case to the victim. Such information holds the government accountable to each individual victim. Then, it is also vital that vulnerable victims and witnesses of rape cases are covered under the Witness Protection Programme so that they do not turn hostile during the trial.
Deeply engrained culture Crimes against women account for about 10 per cent of the total IPC crimes in India. An increase in the women police strength, from the current less than 7 per cent to at least 25 per cent of the total civil police, to handle women-related problems will be another step in the right direction as this will make a woman feel confident to approach the police and report cases. There is a strong case for increased awareness and sensitivity starting at the school level. The police should visit schools and colleges, involve teachers and professors to spread awareness about safety and security among girl students. Women police officers could also be posted as Police Liaison Officers attached to major girls' schools and colleges, with a working office on the premises, to be available and deal with police-related problems faced by students. A media exposure to women helpline numbers will enable the victims to know that such facilities exist in the police department and how to access them. A widespread belief that it is common for survivors to make false allegations is also misplaced as the figure for false accusations is just about 2 per cent. When women aren't believed, no wonder an overwhelming majority of rape cases aren't even reported in the first place. Another belief that needs to be challenged is that women are partially or totally responsible for being raped if they wear revealing cloths.
What should be done
Rohit Choudhary , an IG in Punjab, is the author of "Policing: Reinvention Strategies
in a Marketing Framework"
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