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Delhi’s
shame
Five cases registered against protesters
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Anti-rape law awaits House debate
Police action justified as protest turned violent: Minister
PM’s wife seeks harshest punishment for rapists
Women outfits oppose death sentence
Lokayukta police raids K’taka Deputy CM’s residence
Shettar wants meeting with PM on Cauvery issue
Divorce contributes to global warming, says Delhi study
CSD sales plummet as staff remain on strike
M’rashtra burns gutka for producing power
Poll watch to monitor MLAs’ work in UP
Mamata turns down Modi’s
invitation
Nithari killings: Koli gets death penalty in fifth case
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Delhi’s
shame Protesters made bids to group at places barricaded by the police. They finally made it to Jantar Mantar, the city’s most popular plaza for demonstrators of all hues and for all causes. While the police succeeded in keeping the groups of protesters from reaching either India Gate or Vijay Chowk, the scene of pitched battles on Sunday, the beefed-up security resulted in several traffic snarls in the capital. It also forced the government to shift the venue of bilateral talks with visiting Russian President Vladmir Putin to a more secure Prime Minister’s official Race Course residence instead of Hyderabad House, located close to India Gate. Besides restricting vehicular movement as a measure of caution, nine metro stations in the area were closed until further notice causing severe inconvenience to hundreds of commuters at busy inter-change stations such as Rajiv Chowk. After moves to outflank the police in a change of tactics, students began assembly at Jantar Mantar staging a peaceful sit-in. The ranks swelled as the thick blanket of fog began to lift. Learning from the experience, the young protesters today tried to dissociate from protests staged by student political outfits. There was some criticism that student wings of political parties had sought to hijack the spontaneous outburst of anger by the young on Sunday with police insisting that anti-social elements had infiltrated the ranks and were turning the protest violent. The protests today attracted youngsters from outside Delhi with some 40 students from Rohtak Medical College arriving here.
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Five cases registered against protesters
New Delhi, December 24 The first case was registered on December 22, the day when the public protested at Raisina Hill. The case was registered at the Parliament Street police station under IPC Sections 186 (Obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions), 353 (Assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty), 188 (Disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant), 147 (punishment for rioting), 148 (Rioting, armed with deadly weapon), 149 (Every member of unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common object) and 34 (Acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention). A section of the Prevention of Destruction of the Public Property (PDPP) Act, 1984, was also added in the FIR. Yesterday, four more cases were registered at three police stations in regard to protests against the gang rape. Two cases were registered at the Parliament Street police station against the protesters. One was registered under IPC Section 188. The second FIR was registered under IPC Sections 186, 353, 147, 148, 149 and 34. Police sources said former Army Chief VK Singh and Baba Ramdev have been named in one of these cases. A case was registered at the Connaught Place police station against the protesters. It was lodged under IPC Sections 332 (Voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty), 353, 186 and 34. The PDPP Act was also added to the FIR. Another case was registered at the Tilak Marg police station in regard to the massive and violent protests at the India Gate. The FIR was registered under IPC Sections 186, 353, 188, 147, 148, 149, 307 (Attempt to murder), 332 and 34. The PDPP Act was also added in this case. The IPC section 307 was added in this FIR because some members of the public had allegedly assaulted Delhi Police constable Subhash Chand. The police claims that he was admitted to the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in Delhi in a critical condition yesterday. Eight persons, who were arrested in the case, have been granted bail.
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Anti-rape law awaits House debate
New Delhi, December 24 That apart, the draft law as introduced in the Lower House is itself flawed and has been criticised by various civil society organisations for taking certain objectionable positions. While the Bill does well to expand the definition of rape by including for the first time non-penile penetrations (as the one seen in the Delhi gang rape victim’s case), it takes away a lot from the law by making sexual assault gender neutral. Lawyers Collective, which has opposed the clause, argues: “Gender neutrality will be a convenient cover for the patriarchy embedded in the operation of our courts and law, weighing heavily against the woman in trials. Gender-neutral laws can only work in a structurally equal society. Ignoring the structural inequality rooted in patriarchy and making an offence like sexual assault gender neutral will only work against the woman victim in rape trials. We recommend that while the survivor in cases of sexual assault can be gender neutral, the perpetrator in such cases has to be gender specific.” But the gender-neutral provision has been retained in the draft law. Arguing against it, Supreme Court lawyer Vrinda Grover said: “Any law a country passes signals who constitutes the victim and who constitutes the perpetrator in the society.” Activists agree that boys under-18 years can be sexually assaulted and have already been covered by the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Bill, which has been notified by the government. “Under the current law, women can be accused of rape. That’s ridiculous,” Grover says. While the government has constituted another committee to suggest new changes to the rape laws, the fact is the pending amendment Bill does not even recognise that sexual crimes form a continuum and sexual violence includes sexual acts that involve penetration by penis or other parts of the body and objects as well as the use of criminal force, including stripping, parading and mutilation, which are intended to sexually assault, degrade or humiliate women who are so targeted. “The Bill does not recognise the structural and graded nature of sexual violence. Sexual assault offences need to be graded based on concepts of harm, injury, humiliation and degradation, using well-established categories of sexual assault, aggravated sexual assault, and sexual offences. The amendments proposed by the government do not make any change in the archaic and weak definitions in the law on the aspect of molestation or sexual harassment, routinely inflicted on women in public spaces,” says a note submitted by women’s organizations to the Ministry of Home. The Lawyers Collective has also said: “We seek the removal of ‘outraging the modesty of a woman’ in Section 354 and its replacement with ‘violating the bodily integrity of the woman’.” This change, activists say, is based on the rationale to broaden the scope of the law and make it a graded offence to cover cases of even humiliation like stripping, disrobing, tonsuring, etc. that are not necessarily linked with sexual intent. What new law says?
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Police action justified as protest turned violent: Minister Minister of State for Home Affairs RPN Singh told The Tribune that the agitation had begun on a peaceful note and the government had gone the extra mile by reaching out to the protesters and agreeing to most of their demands like setting up of fast-track courts for sexual abuse cases and a day-to-day hearing of the gang-rape case. The junior minister said the government had also agreed to the suggestion that a special police be raised for the security of women and a directory of those accused and framed in sexual harassment and rape case be prepared. Most of these proposals had emerged from Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s Sunday morning meeting with a delegation of protesters. It was also attended by AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi. The minister was also present at the 90-minute interaction with the six-member delegation. Singh said not only did the government concede to the demands of the protesters but also laid down a timeframe for their implementation. He pointed out that the three-member committee set up under the chairmanship of Justice AN Verma to suggest changes in the rape and sexual abuse laws had been asked to submit its report within 30 days. He said once this report was with the government, its recommendations would be shared with all political parties so that they spoke in one voice when such laws were debated and passed in Parliament. On the demand for a special session of Parliament, Singh said it would be productive only after the Verma committee completed its report and the
government amended the laws based on its recommendations. On death penalty to rapists, the minister said the Verma committee would look into the suggestion but a large number of women groups were against it. They contend that death penalty could encourage rapists to kill victims to eliminate any witness to the crime, he said. The minister said the anger and pain of the people was understandable and that he had apologised to all those who were injured in the police action. He said the government was not against peaceful protests but was forced to act when the protesters broke barricades around the Rashtrapati Bhavan on Saturday and then indulged in stone throwing and arson the next day. “One policeman was critically injured and 18 others wounded. Buses, cars and public utilities were also set afire,” he said, adding it had become imperative to sanitise the India Gate and Rajpath areas as most sensitive and important government offices were located there. Probe ordered
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PM’s wife seeks harshest punishment for rapists New Delhi, December 24 “Kadi se kadi saza milni chahiye…(the harshest possible punishment should be awarded),” she said speaking on the sidelines of an event where she launched a book titled ‘Sikh Heritage: Ethos and Relics’ written by Sikandar Singh, one of the custodians of the relics, and Roopinder Singh, author and senior journalist with The Tribune Group of Newspapers. Sharing her mother’s sentiment, Upinder Singh said, “We need to revisit the laws immediately. This incident has disturbed society and outpouring on the streets is natural. It is rare to see people rising against such crimes and being heard. It is a very good sign as long as the protest is peaceful.” Upinder, a professor of history at University of Delhi, added that the debate on crimes against women must also focus on the culture of violence against women in our society.
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Women outfits oppose death sentence
New Delhi, December 24 There is no evidence to suggest that death penalty acts as a deterrent to rape. Available data shows that there is low rate of conviction in rape cases and there is a strong possibility that the death penalty would lower this conviction rate even further as it is awarded only in the rarest-of-rare cases. In a statement signed by more than 500 organisations participating in the One Billion Rising Campaign on Violence against Women in South Asia said, “The logic of awarding death penalty to rapists is based on the belief that rape is a fate worse than death. Patriarchal notions of honour lead us to believe that rape is the worst thing that can ever happen to a woman. There is a need to challenge this notion,” said Deepti of NGO Saheli. — TNS
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Lokayukta police raids K’taka Deputy CM’s residence
The Lokayukta cops raided seven properties belonging to Eshwarappa, including his house at Malleshwar Nagar in Shimoga, his official residence in Bangalore and offices of the educational institutions and business establishments owned by him, a house in Hassan and his old residence in Chakravarthy Layout in Vasanth Nagar, Bangalore. The sleuths seized Rs 10.9 lakh in cash, 1.9 kg of gold and 37 kg of silver during the searches. The raids are still on. A Shimoga court on December 15 ordered an investigation into a complaint filed by advocate B Vinod, who alleged that Eshwarappa, who holds the revenue and rural development and panchayat raj portfolios in the Jagadish Shettar-led government, his son Kanthesh and daughter-in-law Shalini had amassed wealth disproportionate to their known sources of income. Lokayukta police had subsequently registered a case and taken up investigation. Eshwarappa has been named as the first accused and his son and daughter-in-law the second and third accused in the FIR. Vinod contended that Eshwarappa only had an ancestral house in Shimoga before 2006 and after assuming office in 2008, had purchased assets worth crores by misusing his position. It is also alleged that a two acre plot of land in Bangalore has been illegally transferred in the name of Eshwarappa's wife. The prime land worth Rs 1.14 crore was given to her for Rs 22.8 lakh only, which is much below the existing market rate. Fearing arrest following the FIR, Eshwarappa and his family members have sought anticipatory bail from a Shimoga court. Eshwarappa has rejected Congress demands for resignation as deputy chief minister to ensure a "fair" probe. He is the latest BJP leader in Karnataka to face corruption cases. Around 20 of the party's 118 members, including several ministers in the 225-member assembly, are fighting corruption cases in Bangalore
courts. 7 properties raided Seven properties belonging to Eshwarappa, including his house at Malleshwar Nagar in Shimoga, official residence in Bangalore and offices of the educational institutions and business establishments owned by him, a house in Hassan and old residence in Chakravarthy Layout in Vasanth Nagar, Bangalore, were raided
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Shettar wants meeting with PM on Cauvery issue
In October, Shettar waited in New Delhi for three days to discuss the latest development on the Cauvery issue with the Prime Minister but was denied appointment. Apparently, the Prime Minister, who is also chairman of the Cauvery River Authority (CRA), could not review his own order (regarding releasing water to TN by Karnataka) even if he wished to, as the Act would not allow this without getting the approval of the CRA. Earlier this month, Shettar once again tried to meet Manmohan Singh to explain the “problems” being faced by the state in the wake of the Cauvery Monitoring Committee’s order to it to release water to Tamil Nadu. But the PM refused to meet him and Shettar could only meet the union water resources minister Harish Rawat in Delhi. Not one to be disheartened by Manmohan Singh’s rebuff, Shettar has sought appointment with him once again on the Cauvery issue. A meeting with floor leaders of all the parties of Karnataka and MPs from the state was held on December 15 and it was resolved that a delegation led by the Chief Minister would call on the Prime Minister and represent the views of Karnataka on the publication of the final award of the Cauvery River Water Disputes Tribunal. In a letter written to the Prime Minister today, Shettar sought an appointment with him for the Karnataka delegation to impress upon him the need to consult all the states of the Cauvery basin before issuing the final notification by the union government. Shettar said the union government should not take a unilateral decision to notify the final award of the Cauvery River Water Disputes Tribunal dated February 5, 2007 without consulting the states of the Cauvery basin. He said a civil appeal was pending before the Supreme Court. Also, Karnataka had already expressed its
reservations to the Cauvery River Water Disputes Tribunal about notifying the final award. Rebuffed twice earlier
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Divorce contributes to global warming, says Delhi study
She was fascinated when she came across a study conducted by scientists at the Michigan State University that was reported in the proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. It says that the global trend towards higher divorce rate has created more households with fewer people. More households mean more energy expended to build, towards fuel and to provide water for them. Globally, the study points out, the number of households is increasing much faster than the number of people. Even in regions with declining population, there is a substantial increase in the number of households. Divorce is the main reason for reducing the number of people in a household. Whether there are two or three or six people in a house, the amount of fuel needed for heating is about the same. “No data has been collected by any government or NGO in India to link divorces with global warming, but with my huge experience and studying research reports in the US (where divorce rate is alarmingly high) and Bangladesh, I can claim that in India also, the same story is happening,” says Bamba, author of a popular book ‘Perfect Marriage - Not a Mirage’ that she wrote on the basis of first-hand “encounters” with husbands and wives in different stages of agony and despair while holding the matrimonial court. Till recently, the 51-year-old was heading the Family Court in Rohini. She recently presented her research at the Delhi Judicial Academy during a workshop on ‘Why divorce is bad?’ Researchers at the Department of Women and Child at the centre have also taken note of it. A trained mediator, Bamba asks, “Is it not worth sparing a thought before breaking a marriage, and may be for humanity’s sake?” Currently, posted at the Patiala House Courts, soft-spoken Bamba always quotes American President George Washington’s comment in a letter dated May 1785 on the bond of marriage: “I have always considered marriage as the most interesting event of one’s life, the foundation of happiness or misery.” Researchers, says Bamba, also found that divorce tosses out economies of scale. In America, divorced households used 73 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity and 62,700 crore gallons of water in 2005 that could have been saved if households had stayed the same size as when they were married. Thirty-eight million extra rooms were needed with associated costs for heating and lighting. As per the study, in the US and 11 other countries such as Brazil, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Greece, Mexico and South Africa between 1998 and 2002, if divorced households had combined to have the same average household size as married households, there could have been 7.4 million fewer households. The number of divorced households in those countries ranged from 40,000 in Costa Rica to almost 16 million in the US around the year 2000. The number of rooms per person in divorced households was 33 per cent to 95 per cent greater than in married households. Talking about the “economics of love”, Bamba says a study conducted by the Centre for Policy Dialogue, Bangladesh, reported that taka 342,397.7 million, which was roughly 10 per cent of the gross domestic product of Bangladesh, was spent every year for the care of tortured or injured spouses, on their medical treatment, shelter and legal actions. Of the total cost associated with violence against women by their husbands, taka 131,180.7 million or 4.1 per cent of the GDP was spent on medical treatment of the injured or traumatised wives. Women victims needed to spend taka 17,917 million covering treatment, displacement, arbitration, civil legal service, criminal justice and lost working days, due to spousal violence per head per year. “India is not behind on this score though,” says Bamba. The finding that 10 per cent of Bangladesh’s GDP was being wasted due to ‘spousal violence’ has forced the government to take immediate measures to address the problem. The Bangladesh Government is now planning to include ‘domestic violence’ as a subject in the school curriculum. “Would not husbands and wives in India like to contribute to the GDP and help our economy grow?” asks the judge, who always advice litigants in the divorce cases: “Try to save marriage as this will save your energy and other resources… promote love for better utilisation of national income.”
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Book on rare Sikh relics released
New Delhi, December 24 The treasure-trove of relics, woven together by one of their custodians Sikandar Singh and author Roopinder Singh, was dedicated to the people at a quiet function here this evening. PM Manmohan Singh’s wife Gursharan Kaur launched the 204-page “Sikh Heritage: Ethos and Relics” published by Rupa. Gursharan took the occasion to remind the Sikhs of their dying mother tongue Punjabi. Eminent art historian Dr BN Goswamy and Gurinder Singh Mann, professor of religion at the University of California, nodded. The work introduces a repository of Sikh heritage. The collections are not simply manuscripts; these include objects used by the gurus, including the comb of Guru Gobind Singh. Also adorning the trove is a rare walnut wood “chariot” gifted to the fifth Sikh guru by a Muslim carpenter from Kashmir. “The rath was gifted to the fifth Guru Arjan Dev and was passed down to generations of his disciples. We have placed the chariot in its historical perspective. It was used to bring home the guru’s bride,” Sikandar Singh told The Tribune. The work’s biggest asset is its authenticity as Dr Goswamy explains, “Finally, you have a set of objects which are authentic and belong to the times. The authors have drawn the attention to the manner in which these relics have been preserved in obscure places for years.” Each work documented in the book bears a historical context. The story of Guru Gobind Singh’s hair strands and the comb is traced back to his disciple Syed Pathan, who helped him in a war. About the historical importance of the book, Roopinder Singh, co-author and senior journalist with The Tribune, said, “We have been able to showcase these relics in this manner for the first time. By placing them in historical perspective, we have conveyed that the whole is far greater than the sum of its parts. The work would be of great importance to the Sikh diaspora. It germinated from an exhibition of Sikh works which the Smithsonian Institute hosted in the US.” The work took the authors five years. Present also at the launch were Prof Upinder Singh, Prime Minister’s daughter and professor of history at University of Delhi; and her husband Vijay
Tankha, Prof of philosophy at St Stephen’s; former editors of the Tribune HK Dua and Hari Jaisingh; former director of PGI Chandigarh JS Neki; National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions member Mohinder Singh, Punjabi Akademi vice-chairman Anita Singh and famous hotelier Bhai Balbir Singh.
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CSD sales plummet as staff remain on strike
Chandigarh, December 24 There are five major canteens in the area with two located in the Chandigarh Air Force Station, one at Sector 21, Chandigarh, and one each in Mohali and Chandimandir. These are staffed by civilian employees hired on a contractual basis. The canteen in Chandimandir, the largest among the five, alone accounts for sales worth about Rs 20 lakh a day, according to office-bearers of the CSD employees union. With the employees being on strike since December 7, the total drop in sales from these five canteens runs into crores of rupees. There are about 4,500 CSD outlets nationwide with a combined annual turnover of Rs 10,000 crore, out of which a sizable chunk are those whose daily operations are run by civilians. Most large canteens, located in major military stations and cities where the clientele is heavy, are staffed by civilian employees who do not come under the purview of the Army, Navy or Air Force Act, but are governed by regulations applicable to civilian government employees. The total strength of civilian employees is about 7,200, out of which about 250 are working in the Chandigarh-Mohali-Chandimandir area. There are also hundreds of small CSD outlets at the unit level that are generally operated by service personnel from the respective unit. While the sales in these unit canteens have not been hit, the pressure on them has increased even though they maintain a limited inventory of items. A large number of ex-servicemen, who depend upon these canteens for provisions and other necessary commodities, have also been adversely affected. Employees said that canteens stock a large variety of edible items and commodities which have a limited shelf life and if there is no movement of such goods, there is a risk that these would ‘expire’, thereby adding to the damages. In a letter sent earlier by the All-India Defence Civilian Canteen Employees Union to the Defence Minister, the employees have demanded that the pay and allowances of the employees working in the CSD retail canteens should be on a par with those working in CSD wholesale outlets. Further, they are also demanding that the all CSD transactions be brought under the ambit of the Comptroller and Auditor General. employees’ demands
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M’rashtra burns gutka for producing power
Mumbai, December 24 “The Food and Drug Administration office in Pune has begun sending gutka and paan masala seized by it to the incinerators owned by the local municipal corporation where these are burned to generate power. Other regional offices will also come up with similar plans,” says FDA Commissioner Mahesh Zagde. Tough action by the authorities in Maharashtra has ensured that the ban on gutka and pan masala is enforced strictly. “We conduct regular raids on trains coming in from outside the state to seize these products,” says an FDA official. Only last week, FDA officials seized a huge consignment of gutka worth Rs 22 lakh from the Pushpak Express arriving from Lucknow. The consignment was being dispatched in 43 jute bags to buyers here. With the political establishment in Maharashtra solidly behind the ban on gutka and pan masala, trains, trucks and other vehicles entering the state are regularly checked for consignments. As of this month, FDA offices across the state had collected more than Rs 10 crore worth of gutka and pan masala, according
to reports.
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Poll watch to monitor MLAs’ work in UP
Lucknow, December 24 Interacting with mediapersons, president and founding member of NEW Trilochan Sastry from IIM Bangalore said the “Humara vote bikau nahi hai” (My vote is not for sale) campaign in Uttar Pradesh would be a replication of the Karnataka Election Watch chapter’s similar attempt to raise awareness among voters. The voters will be expected to hold their candidates accountable round the year. During the campaign, voters will be sensitised regarding the manner in which political leaders use money, power, vehicles, liquor and other freebies to get their vote and then ignore their interests for the next five years. In UP, the campaign will be launched on January 25 (National Voters’ Day). UP Election Watch convener Sanjay Singh released the criminal record of 47 Cabinet ministers in Akhilesh Yadav’s government based on affidavits submitted by them before the Election Commission. More than half (54 per cent) had admitted to having criminal cases against them.
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Mamata turns down Modi’s
invitation
Kolkata, December 24 This will be the third successive time that Modi will take over as Gujarat Chief Minister after BJP’s victory in the recent Assembly poll. Mamata, however, will not attend Modi’s swearing-in ceremony. She will also not send any emissary to Gandhinagar as she did during the oath-taking of Akhilesh Yadav at Lucknow and Punjab’s Parkash Singh Badal. Instead, speaking at a function of backward and minority communities at the Netaji indoor stadium in the morning, the TMC chief expressed her hatred and indignation at the BJP for working against the interests of Muslims and other minorities. She bunched the Congress and the CPM with the BJP by calling all three parties anti-people and
anti-national.
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Nithari killings: Koli gets death penalty in fifth case
Ghaziabad, December 24 Special CBI Judge S Lal found Koli, 40, guilty of the kidnapping, rape and murder of “Chhoti Kavita” (assumed identity given by the court) besides destruction of evidence and sentenced him to death. Koli was given death sentence for murder, life-sentence for abduction, 10 year rigorous imprisonment for rape and seven years rigorous imprisonment for destruction of evidence. The victim had gone missing from outside the house of Koli's employer Moninder Singh Pandher at Sector 31 in Noida in 2005 after which her father had filed complaint with the local police. Pandher and his domestic help Koli were arrested on December 29, 2006 after police recovered skeletons and other belongings of the missing girls from the drain outside his house. Pandher was not an accused in this murder case. Koli confessed to killing several girls, including the victim, chopping their body to pieces and throwing them in the backyard and in the drain near the house. The CBI had registered the case on January 11, 2007 relating to kidnapping, rape and murder of the victim. "Upon conclusion of the trial, the Special Judge for CBI Cases, Ghaziabad, found the accused guilty of kidnapping, rape, murder and destruction of evidence and convicted him," CBI spokesperson said here today.
— PTI
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New Delhi, December 24
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New Delhi, December 24