The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Veiled Agony
Domestic violence: Women deny it, men trivialise it
Minna Zutshi
Tribune News Service

Human Rights violation

Violence against women at home is "the most pervasive form of human rights abuse". Domestic violence was declared a Human Rights issue for the first time at the United Nations Conference in 1994. Psychologists say domestic violence wrecks havoc on the personality of a woman. "The constant threat of violence creates a feeling of helplessness, which destroys a woman's sense of self. The intermittent use of rewards (in various forms) creates yet more confusion in a woman's mind. She is torn between torment and gratitude," says Ms S. Gill, a psychologist.

"It's a misconception to think that only women are victims of domestic violence. Even a man can be a victim of violence accruing from fights between couples. It's not that the husband decides to beat up his wife or vice versa, rather domestic violence is the offshoot of a dysfunctional relationship."

— Ms Navtinder Aggarwal, college lecturer.

"Husbands beat up their wives when they are provoked. There's a lot of intolerance these days. Wives should understand that their husbands have professional tensions. Of course, in some cases, where a husband is a drunkard or an addict, wife is at the receiving end."

— Ms Kuldip Kaur, homemaker from Jalandhar Cant.

"It is important to maintain family harmony. If we keep harping on domestic scraps, it would be of no use. It would only lead to more friction. I think wife-beating is more or less prevalent in families of low socio-economic status"

— Ms Sunita Kak, government employee.

"Domestic violence can be dealt with only if women become financially independent. So, they should strive to be on their own."

— Ms Devi Mehandroo, social worker.

"I have seen domestic violence from close quarters. My elder sister was a victim of this atrocity. Her husband would beat her black and blue, and turn her out of the house. Seeing her plight, my mother vowed to herself to make her other daughters economically independent."

— Ms Harbans Arora, former teacher.

"Wife-beating is quite common, but it is not at all condonable. In fact, it is highly condemnable."

— Mr Nasib Singh Saroya, retired principal.

The statistics may not be startling. In fact, hardly any statistics about domestic violence are available, though a study conducted in association with the International Centre for Research on Women (ICRW) suggests 80 per cent men from Punjab think violence is justified if wife is "disrespectful" and 60 per cent justify it if wife "does not follow instructions".

The city, in spite of its NRI-centric image, swanky showrooms and modish outlook fares as bad as other cities of Punjab on the score of domestic violence. Here too, domestic violence is often glossed over as "a family problem" that is outside the purview of non-family members. In fact, people are so cagey about discussing it that some would even question the very existence of domestic violence. (Sample this: A city-based advocate, commenting on domestic violence, laughed it off as a "battle fought with ladles and spoons"!)

Others, more mindful of facts, agree about its selective existence. Some dismiss it as a class-related malaise. The upper sections of society here are predictably loath to admit that it exists in their circles. Women, too, find it rather hard to say that they are victims of domestic violence. But domestic violence is a hard reality, which cannot be swept under the carpet, as Ms Chanchal Malhotra, a counsellor with ASSHI (Association for Social Health in India), Jalandhar branch, says. "We receive about 200 cases annually. But this could well be a tip of the iceberg," she adds.

Domestic violence, particularly wife-beating, is more common than it is perceived to be, feels Ms Surinder Kumari Kocchar, a social worker and one of the trustees of the Desh Bhagat Yaadgaar Hall here. "In a recent case that was brought to me, the husband had beaten up his wife so badly that she went to stay with her parents. The husband shifted to his brother's home, while their children were left in the care of the latter's paternal and maternal grandparents. It was not just the wife who was the victim; even the children had unwittingly become the sufferers," she explains, adding that the economic independence of women can go a long way in helping them combat the violence against them at home.

The Protection of Domestic Violence Bill defines domestic violence as "habitually assaulting or making the life of the aggrieved person miserable by cruelty of conduct, even if such conduct does not amount to physical ill-treatment, or forcing the aggrieved person to lead an immoral life or otherwise injuring or harming the aggrieved person."

A 36-year-old Jalandhar-based victim of domestic violence, pleading anonymity, says¸ "I have been through it all. There were times when I blamed myself for my husband's violent behaviour. My husband would come home and, without any apparent provocation, start abusing and slapping me." She adds, " Social conditioning makes domestic violence seem condonable. Women often think that some fault of theirs must have provoked violence against them and that they can escape it if they are careful enough. Often, there's the tacit support of family and community." Another victim, who is reluctant to reveal even her age, says sneeringly, "Wife-beating is considered to be a sign of masculinity."

Interestingly, the Women's Cell here has not received even a single complaint of domestic violence in the past few years.

Mismanagement delays energy project
Deepkamal Kaur
Tribune News Service

While paucity of funds is a common stumbling block for most of the projects undertaken by the government, this is surprisingly not a reason for the delay being caused in the completion of Sardar Swaran Singh National Institute of Renewable Energy Project on Jalandhar-Kapurthala Road.

Complicated architectural designs, shortage of labour, failure to fill the post of director since its inception in 2000, bureaucratic set up coupled with some gap between the planning and execution departments, seem to be some of the factors causing hindrances in the accomplishment of the ambitious Rs 10 crore-project spread over 75 acres of land.

While the foundation stone of the project was laid in May 2000 and construction began in August 2001, work in not even a single building of the complex has been completed so far. The then-contractor - Uttar Pradesh Rajya Nirman Nigam (UPRN) - was given the deadline of April 2003.

However, due to slow progress being made by the UPRN, the contract was terminated in October 2002, when just 15 per cent of the work had been completed. After a gap of six months, the CPWD handed over the job to Panchkula-based Ankush Engineers and Contractors who were to complete within the stipulated period. Unfortunately, this company too could not complete its target in time and it is now being estimated that the project will take another year and a half to get accomplished.

This delay has affected hundreds of postgraduate students who have been waiting to get trained in bio-energy technologies such as production of biogas, large-scale culture of microbes for high rate mechanism and production of hydrogen ions by electrolysis and solar power.

The basic architectural plan of the building has been made in such a way that it controls assimilation of excessive heat that would be radiated during the research projects conducted in the institute. Keeping this in view, most of the buildings of the administrative block and technical services centre are being made with curved sloped roofs to deflect UV rays and sunlight.

A water body that will flow alongside the research blocks to lower down the temperature is also under construction. The hostels for trainees also have domed roofs for the same reasons. On the other hand, research centres have been made thermostatic with double walls constructed on all its sides. Wind tunnels have also been made in the form of underground pipes, so as to make the temperature constant inside.

Officers engaged in the project said that the vacant post of director was another reason why the project was not being undertaken very seriously. They said that the post had been advertised six months ago and several applications had also been received, but the matter had not been pursued.

Tonga: Once the king of the road is now a
relic of the past
Varinder Singh
Tribune News Service

The stately tonga is near extinction in the city. — Photo by S.S. Chopra

It's a familiar rhythmical sound — the tick-tock of tongas marching past the road. In the heavily crowded bazaars of the city, they remind one of some old Shammi Kapoor romantic movies. But these tongas are fighting a losing battle of survival in the wake of the onslaught mounted by fast-moving public transport vehicles — cars, auto rickshaws and buses — which are about to gobble up this symbol of Punjabi tradition in the next few years.

For a few surviving tongawallahs, who have so far managed to fight the odds, running this "graceful" vehicle is more a matter of passion than compulsion. It is this passion, which has been driving them, just as their previous generations were driven by the magical confluence of mechanics and animal power.

From lowly tongas to magnificent raths

Financial constraints involved in plying the tongas have forced a few tongawallahs to venture into a comparatively lucrative business of providing "raths" (chariots) for marriage ceremonies. "In a marriage, a rathwallah gets anything between Rs 1,500 and Rs 2,000 for just one night," said a tonga driver. There are about 10-15 chariots, meant exclusively for marriage ceremonies in the city. "Though our next generation has stopped plying tongas, we will continue to run our vehicles till the end of our life, as we are neither educated nor can we run any other business. We are hopeful for the best, despite this gloomy phase," added Zia Lal.

While migrating from Lahore, Jhang, Lyallpur and Kasur during partition, their ancestors might not have ever dreamt in their wildest dreams that one day this very admired mode of public transport would pass into oblivion. In Punjab, tongas registered their presence in almost every second song, film and novel and, above all, in minds of Punjabis, for whom a tonga was as important as a Mercedes Benz.

Unlike rest of Punjab or northern India, some 25 tongas can still be seen rolling gracefully on the roads of Jalandhar. About a decade back, the city had more than 2,500 tongas. "Those were the times when tongas attracted one and all. About 40 years back, hardly a few could afford vehicles like scooters and cars and there were no bus services. For one day, our tongawallah was paid Rs 400-Rs 500," remembers a tonga driver Zia Lal.

According to tongawallahs, even in this era of stiff competition, they managed to earn between Rs 200 and Rs 250 per day. "But it is nothing if we consider the cost of inputs. Even if we get the cheaper Amritsari tonga, it costs us Rs 12,000 and the minimum price of a mare is roughly Rs 80,000. If we go in for a Patiala-made tonga, it costs us another Rs 30,000. However, due to competition, we charge just Rs 3 perhead," said Pappu, a tonga driver.

Tongawallahs maintained that about 10 years back, there were 12 designated tonga stands in the city, including the ones at Adda Hoshiarpur, Adda Tanda, Central Jail, Rama Mandi, Basti Guzan and Model Town, but now the tonga drivers operate either from the railway station or from near the Central Jail. The immediate threat to them is the demand by a section of auto rickshaw operators, who had been pressurising the Municipal Corporation to get the tonga stand vacated, so that it could be allotted to auto rickshaw drivers.

Traffic congestion, too, is taking its toll. Heavy traffic made driving a tonga nothing less than a nightmare, tonga drivers rue. "It is very difficult to manoeuvres the mare nowadays because of the traffic congestion. We cannot move out of our stand during the rush hours," said Satti, another tonga driver.

Galaxy of stars among DAV College's alumni
J.S. Malhotra

It rises to its mission of producing talented and formidable human resource for the country and the Dayanand Anglo Vedic (DAV) College here is a unique combination of simplicity and modernity. Students here are imparted value-based education using the latest technologies.

A holistic approach and an emphasis on total personality development of the students are the hallmarks of this college. Founded in 1918, DAV College, as it is known among locals, has achieved many a milestone, not only in the field of education but also in sports and culture during its 86 years of historical journey.

Socio-religious leader of the DAV Movement Mahatma Hans Raj was the man behind the setting up of the college in this part of the region in the pre-independence era. His sole motive was to impart value-based modern education to the countrymen during the British regime.

Pandit Mehr Chand, founder-principal, who remained at the helm of affairs till March 12, 1944, never drew a single penny as salary during the 26 years of his stint.

The multi-disciplinary college, affiliated to Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, is spread over 85 acres of land. It offers postgraduate courses in as many as 14 disciplines, including physics, chemistry, zoology, mathematics, computer science, commerce, English, Sanskrit, Hindi, Punjabi, political science, history, economics and business administration.

Keeping a tab on the changing global scenario, the college has also introduced job-oriented courses like bachelors in computer applications, B.Sc. (information technology), B.Sc. (computer science), B.Sc. (food science and technology), B.Sc. (economics ) and B.Com (professional).

The college, with the distinction of being the first college in the country to get four-star rating by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) in 2001, has a sustained record of excellence in academics.

"Our students are doing consistently well in the university examinations. We bagged 14 first positions, nine second positions and 10 third positions in the April 2004 university examinations. Besides, as many as eight students have been felicitated with gold medals for their outstanding performance in the academic session of 2004," says Mr M.L. Aeri, Principal of the college, who is busy these days in introducing reforms in lecture-delivery system and having a direct liaison with parents to ensure proper monitoring of the performance of their wards.

"In the present high-tech world, we need to introduce the latest technology. We have decided to put all relevant data pertaining to attendance and academic results on our website.

The students would be issued a "smart card" having a distinct user identity and a password to access the details by visiting our website. This will reduce the paperwork and the parents will also remain well informed about the activities of their wards. Besides, we are shortly introducing a video-conferencing facility on the college campus, wherein students can interact with experts from various fields," Mr Aeri says, adding that the college has over 5,000 students on its rolls.

The field of sports has also been dominated by the students of this college, which produced as many as 17 Olympians and 20 international players in hockey alone. In cricket, the college alumni Rajinder Singh Ghai, Vikram Rathore and Bhupinder Singh played for the Indian team.

"The kabbadi and squash teams have secured first position during the ongoing Guru Nanak Dev University Inter-College Championship, while cross country (12 km) team won the second position. Our hockey team has recently won the Nehru Champion Colleges Hockey Tournament. It was awarded Rs 1lakh as cash prize along with a trophy," the college authorities maintain.

The list of alumni makes the college proud. The Nobel laureate Dr Hargobind Khurana, renowned ghazal maestro Jagjit Singh, noted Bollywood singer Sukhwinder, famous Sufi singer Hans Raj Hans, the Commissioner of Police (Crime), Mumbai, Ms M.C. Borwankar and Dr. K.K. Talwar, Director of the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, were students of this college.

From the schools
J.S. Malhotra

Apeejay School students perform at UKG Day

Apeejay School here organised UKG Day for the students of pre-primary wing on Saturday morning with an aim to improve the personality of students.

The tiny tots displayed their talents through different items like Zelda and zebra, the selfish giant, rainbow dance, fantasy world and the birthday party. The programme was appreciated by parents, faculty members and guests.

Ms Benu Bhullar, wife of Jalandhar SSP, Mr Gurpreet Singh Bhullar, was the chief guest on the occasion. Ms Bhullar, while expressing surprise over extraordinary performance of the kids, termed such events as morale-boosters for the youngsters. The principal of the school, Ms Ranjana Sood, in her address, maintained that the school was regularly organising such activities.

Science Fair

Eklavya School celebrated Science Fair from Monday to Wednesday. Students of various classes participated in different activities during the three-day event. The students enjoyed watching documentaries on plant life, universe and planets on the first day of the fair. On Tuesday, the students were imparted information about properties and use of various science apparatuses like prism, microscope, magnifying glass and magnets. They were asked to handle the same. The students of LKG and UKG participated in a science quiz competition, while the students of nursery wing performed the candle experiment to show that oxygen is essential for burning. They also enjoyed hunting the hidden treasure (iron objects) with the help of magnets.

On the final day, a student of II class displayed the technique for making a water filter. Ms Sapna Bakshi, Principal of the school, maintained that the event was basically aimed to improve the information level of the students.

Best Brain Test

Around 7000 students from 15 schools of the district participated in Best Brain Test organised jointly by "Foundation", a division of Dream Weavers, and Rotary Club. The participating schools included Apeejay School, Montgomery Guru Nanak School, Guru Amar Dass Public School, Swami Sant Dass Public School, Rabindra Day Boarding School, Seventh Day Adventist School, Rich Harvest School, Ambika Modern School, Dyanand Model School, Lawrence International Public School, Delhi Public School, Tagore Day Boarding School and Shiv Jyoti Public School.

The students of Apeejay School bagged maximum number of prizes and their school was adjudged the best. Guneet, Chahat Chopra and Parth Mahajan of Class X bagged the first, the second and the third positions respectively, while Nupur Bansal, Apurjeeta, Pankaj Chhabra, Abhishek Pandey, Mitali and Nitin Uppal bagged the consolation prizes.

Cricket Tournament

Guru Harkrishan Public School, Delhi, recorded a sound victory against the host Montgomery Guru Nanak Public School by three wickets in the final match of the 5th Bhai Gobind Singh Pasricha Memorial Inter School Tournament here on Sunday. Elected to bat first, MGN boys scored 134 runs with the help of 28 runs off 34 balls by Sohail Singh and 26 runs off 31 balls by Roopak. Mandeep and Harpreet took two wickets each for Guru Harkrishan Public School. In reply, Delhi boys touched the victory by finishing the target in just 22.4 overs for a loss of seven wickets. Varun scored 29 runs (not out), while Gagandeep scored 29 runs and Amit contributed 27 runs for their team. Varun of Guru Harkrishan Public School was declared man of the match, while Gagandeep was adjudged the best batsman with Nitin bagging the individual trophy of the best bowler. The winners were awarded a trophy and a cash prize of Rs 21,000, while the runners up were given a trophy and a cash prize of Rs 11,000.

Calligraphy competition

Anjali Pahwa of Drashan Akadami Public School won the first position in junior section of inter-school Hindi calligraphy competition held here on October 9. Kamal of Apeejay Public School and Puja Verma of Saint Soldier National Public School secured the second and the third positions respectively. As many as 50 students from different schools of the city participated in the competition.

In senior section, Aashi Kalra of Darshan Academy Public School was adjudged the first, while Mani of Manav Model High School and Vikas of Saraswati Vidya Kendera stood the second and the third respectively. The winners were given prizes for their outstanding performance.