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Anguish over rape
A disturbing incursion |
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Disquiet behind bars
War crime trials in B’desh
Country-bound
Hope for gender-sensitive policing?
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Anguish over rape
After
initial disruptions, Rajya Sabha members were able to express their anguish over the Delhi child rape on Monday. To prevent the recurrence of such crimes there was a demand to amend the anti-rape law to ensure capital punishment for child rapists. Some wanted an all-party meeting to debate the issue. The public anger, triggered by the atrocity, was also directed at police insensitivity as it became known that there was an attempt to silence the victim's family with a cash offer. Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde himself displayed monumental insensitivity with his remark that "such incidents have been reported from other parts of the country also". Politicians usually produce more noises than light. Since Delhi elections are around, some are just playing politics. While there are long-term issues of addressing sexual repression, promoting gender sensitivity through education, improving living standards, purging society of biases against women and improving the over-all safety environment through better governance, there is one immediate issue that needs urgent attention, and that is, police reforms. Capital punishment on paper will not serve any purpose if policing remains substandard. According to the data compiled by the National Crime Records Bureau and published in a newspaper, more than one lakh rapists went unpunished across the country between 2001 and 2010 because of poor evidence. This reveals how shoddy investigation usually is in rape cases. Politicians make the loudest noises over such tragedies but when it comes to police reforms, they no longer want to lose control over the force. In 2006 the Supreme Court suggested reforms, including the separation of law and order and investigation work, fixed tenures for senior officers and a district-level authority to redress public grievances against policemen, but most states have disregarded the apex court's directive. Mere words of sympathy for rape victims will not do. If politicians are serious, they should set up more courts and appoint more judges to fast-track cases, and implement police reforms to ensure the certainty of punishment and that justice is not delayed. People should vote out the politicians who interfere in the system of justice.
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A disturbing incursion
For
over a week now, about 50 soldiers belonging to China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) continue to position themselves 10 km into the Indian side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Daulat Beg Oldie (DBO) sector of eastern Ladakh at a height of about 17,000 feet following a surprise incursion. This intrusion is a matter of grave concern and serves as a grim reminder on the tenuousness of the situation along the LAC with China even after half a century of the Sino-Indian War. It also reinforces the belief among some in India’s strategic community that the Chinese are untrustworthy and will seek to take advantage of any Indian shortcomings or softness along the 4,000 km disputed LAC. Transgressions such as these have not been new on the part of the Chinese. In the past, Chinese troops have intruded into the Indian side of the LAC but always returned soon after. What is different is that it is for the first time in recent years that Chinese troops have entrenched themselves so far into Indian territory while simultaneously claiming that they have not committed any transgression. What makes the situation complicated is that unlike the Line of Control along Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir, which is clearly delineated in maps, there is no such delineation along the Sino-Indian border. Efforts in this direction have been slow and without progress. The absence of a clear-cut delineation has resulted in differing perceptions and claims. It, therefore, becomes even more important that both sides exercise restraint and maintain the status quo, especially since they had two decades ago in September 1993 signed an Agreement on the Maintenance of Peace along the Line of Actual Control in the India-China border, which incidentally was reiterated in a joint communiqué issued during the Chinese Defence Minister’s visit to India in September last year. The last such intrusion that had led to a stand-off was in Somdorung Chu in Arunachal Pradesh in 1986 when the PLA intruded into the Indian side which had led to a stand-off and consequent military posturing by India. While rushing troops to the area should send a strong message to China, eventually New Delhi will need to resolve the PLA’s incursion through diplomatic channels. India must stay persistent and perseverant in ensuring that the Chinese troops withdraw from the DBO sector.
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Disquiet behind bars
Prisons
are a pool of people on the wrong side of the law, if not outright rouges. If they get up to any mischief, it should not be a surprise. However, when those given the charge of keeping them in check do not smell trouble as it brews, it is a surprise. Over the past few years riots in prisons in Punjab have happened far too often to be dismissed as unavoidable incidents. Monday’s violence at Faridkot Model Jail was only a repeat of what had earlier happened at Kapurthala and Jalandhar. One factor has been common in most prison riots — they followed the death of an inmate. The failure is at multiple levels. In Faridkot, prisoners felt they were not being given adequate medical attention when needed. It was the third death in a fortnight after which the violence broke out. Deaths in prisons full of addicts, ageing or diseased inmates are only to be expected, but certain human rights as per the jail manual have to be maintained — and medical facilities are the bare essential. To have doctors on the premises round the clock is a must, especially in such a large jail. Also, the attitude towards prisoners should not be all callousness. After all, they are incarcerated — to be released at some stage — in the hope of reforming them. Not being able to anticipate the unrest among the inmates, and then the struggle to put down the riot, were evidence of ineptitude of the prison staff. The jail cadres are a particularly disillusioned lot, not unexpected, given the nature of their job, and the fact that for years they continue in the same role. The chances of their being corrupted too are high owing to their perpetual interaction with convicts in a closed environment. This is where the higher echelons of the jail administration and government have to step in. Close monitoring and motivation of the staff are crucial. Being in charge of prisons is not considered a prized posting among IPS officers, but it does belong to one who believes in human reform.
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Life isn't a matter of milestones, but of moments. — Rose Kennedy
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War crime trials in B’desh
The
trial of war criminals was a long-pending issue in Bangladesh after it won its liberation war from Pakistan in 1971. This issue re-emerged on the eve of December 2008 elections when it was prominently raised by the civil society, especially the freedom fighters of Bangladesh. Seeing popular sentiment in favour of trial of war criminals, one of the main political parties in Bangladesh, the Awami League, adopted the issue on its own agenda. The issue was also adopted because it was felt that radical elements have grown stronger in Bangladesh as they were not punished for their war crimes. But as the war crime trials near their completion and verdicts start coming, an unprecedented wave of violence has been unleashed by the radical elements represented by the Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing, the Islami Chhatra Shibir. They are now openly supported by the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). The most important target of this violence has been the minority Hindu community and the law-enforcement agencies of Bangladesh. The Jamaat-e-Islami along with other Islamist parties grew stronger in post-liberation Bangladesh after it was rehabilitated by General Zia-ur-Rahman. Zia came to power after the father of the Bangladeshi nation, Sheikh Mujib-ur-Rahman, was murdered by radical elements in the army on August 15, 1975. They were subsequently also supported by General Ershad. Ershad declared Islam as state religion of Bangladesh. Even after military regime of Ershad was overthrown by a pro-democracy movement leading to the restoration of democracy in Bangladesh in 1990, Islamists continued to increase their influence in Bangladeshi politics through their astute moves. They had participated in the movement for the restoration of democracy, though the reason for their participation was very different. They were dissatisfied with the Ershad regime that had declared Islam as state religion but did not declare it as an Islamic state. After the democratic elections that brought a BNP-led government in power, the Jamaat kept supporting this which further increased its acceptability in the politics of Bangladesh. The Jamaat during the four-party alliance rule from 2001-06 was part of the government. Two important ministries were handled by it. During this period, it started the process of Islamisation in Bangladesh. It also gave tacit support to all extremist groups but denied its linkages when their cadres were arrested. These extremist groups targeted secular leaders. Sheikh Hasina herself narrowly escaped in August 2004 when an attack was carried out against her in Dhaka while she was addressing a rally. Twentyeight of her party cadres were killed, including Ivy Rahman, Women's Affairs Secretary of the Awami League (AL). These incidents made clear that if secular politics has to survive in Bangladesh then the war criminals personified by the top leadership of the Jamaat-e-Islami must be punished. The demand became strong when the issue was raised by the civil society in the run-up to the 2008 elections. The Awami League agreed to prosecute war criminals if it came to power. After taking over power in January 2009 Sheikh Hasina repeated her intention to prosecute war criminals. But the process was delayed as the Jamaat with the help of Pakistan’s ISI managed to incite a mutiny in the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) which nearly uprooted the Hasina government. Despite all these hurdles, the Awami League government managed to start war crime trials. It was expected that the Jamaat will resist it in the international crimes tribunals as well as outside on the streets of Dhaka and other cities. The Jamaat had tried to question the validity of the International Crimes Tribunals created to prosecute war criminals. It is now also resorting to violence after the verdicts have started coming. The violence was little muted when the first verdict came in the case of Abul Kalam Azad, as he had already fled the country to Pakistan, where there is no danger of him being prosecuted. The second verdict was a little surprising which led to only life sentence to Abdul Quader Mollah, a war criminal and leader of the Jamaat. It created a different kind of reaction among the Bangladeshi population who were secular and progressive. They came out in large numbers on Shahbagh Square on February 5, demanding capital punishment to the war criminals. This has also revived ‘the spirit of liberation war’ in Bangladesh. The unprecedented sit-in demonstration led to Parliament amending the International Crimes (Tribunals) Act, 1973, with a provision that allowed the state to file an appeal with the Supreme Court against any inadequate sentencing of the tribunals. However, this spontaneous movement has also created worries for anti-liberation forces like the Jamaat and some sections of the BNP. The Jamaat and the BNP have tried to denounce the Shahbagh movement for not taking up the issue of restoration of the caretaker government and corruption cases. Their opposition to Shahbagh protestors became more strident once these protestors started demanding a ban on the Jamaat-e-Islami and seizure of the various businesses owned by it. The BNP, which for a while was careful not to openly support the Jamaat, has given up all such inhibitions. Now the party has come out in open support of the Jamaat-e-Islami. Possibly to express solidarity with the Jamaa, BNP leader Khaleda Zia had cancelled meeting with the visiting Indian president in Dhaka – a meeting her party had itself sought. Prof Ishtiaq Ahmed in his book “State, Nation and Ethnicity in Contemporary South Asia” points out that Hindu population that was 18 per cent in 1971 came down to 13 per cent after the liberation war. Presently, it is 8 per cent. This situation is because of the continuous violence Hindus have faced in Bangladesh on one pretext or the other. The minority community is facing once again similar violence at the hands of extremists in a large measure represented by the Jamaat and a section of the BNP. The violence against them has intensified after the death sentence that was awarded by the International Crimes Tribunal-1 to Jamaat Nayeb Ameer Delawar Hossain Sayedee for war crimes. The Jamaat cadres allege that Sayedee was sentenced to death because of the deposition of Hindu witnesses. The minority community has been targeted in Noakhali, Munshiganj, Dinajpur, Barisal, Gaibandha, Chittagong, Rangpur, Sylhet, Chapainawabganj, Ghazipur and elsewhere in the country. The magnitude of violence has forced the High Court in Bangladesh to direct the government to protect the minority communities and its places of worships, allegedly attacked by activists of the Jamaat and the BNP. The international community has also expressed its concern over this violence. The Jamaat and the BNP cadres want to create a law and order problem in the country by unleashing unprecedented violence which could threaten the pluralistic character of the Bangladeshi society. It is high time the government in Bangladesh came down heavily on these extremist elements. The most important objective behind the prosecution and punishment of war criminals is to restore a secular, progressive and pluralistic Bangladesh which is a model for other Muslim majority nations. But if this process leads to ethnic cleansing or persecution of minorities then it will defeat the very purpose of the whole exercise. The government of Bangladesh must take suitable steps to restore the confidence of the minorities while taking the war crime trials to their logical conclusion.n The writer is Associate Fellow, Institute for Defence Studies & Analyses,
New Delhi
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Country-bound I
am not a city-slicker but country-bound, despite my spending just a couple of months in a year in my village, that too till the age of 20, beginning when I was just four plus. Thereafter, it’s all earning and spending and less of saving — in terms of retention for posterity. My children call me an old man, as old as their great grandfather. Yes, I am one, for I also carry with me and tell my children my immediate forebears’ stories of their life and times. The bulk of memories that I still can recall with nostalgia relate to all times, moments and occasions spent in my village Anta, whose hordes of people are alive in me till date. The fumes emanating out of the Bhadbhooja’s fire place when she roasted gram and maize; the cool sensation felt on the cheeks when I lay on the bunches of damp green fodder carried in carts; the thrill of watching women run after men with their whipping ‘kodas’ on Holi; ploughmen being surrounded by white birds thanking them enough for their feast of the insects are all fresh in my memory. There were decorated wenches carrying pitchers to fetch water from the well; bevy of women singing lore while transplanting paddy nursery; boys in bouts of wrestling courts; girls on the Teej swings; Jogis on their Saarangi singing while asking for alms; men making jaggery at the Kohlu with boiling sugar crush spreading a heady aroma that catered to the nostrils and palate alike; women singing Sanjhee chorus; groups preparing to head to the nearby town for watching Rawan’s fall on Dussehra; harvesting of the golden wheat crop and the barn; a bite into a raw mango watering the mouth with excessive release of saliva. I also remember basking in sun during winters and looking deep into the cool nights when the entire galaxy pronounced to us each entity’s placement and shine. A Registered Medical Practitioner who retired as a Compounder from the Army did roaring business. Another quack treated men and cattle with the same needle. Then there were the ‘Singi-walas’ who drained out ‘bad blood’ clots from the heels claiming to heal the pain. Some ‘Syanas (faith healers)’ could cure employing an innocuous way of ‘jhara’. A couple of tribal women sold tweezers and other women-related stuff including snuff. Three Pandits from Haridwar were regular visitors to collect their crops’ share given in charity. The village Naai and the Brahman worked in tandem since they were both responsible for many a matrimonial alliance and weddings. The hawkers took grain in barter for their stuff. The cloth vendour quoted a price ten times more for he knew the village women would settle at half. The Patwari and the Sipahi always remained dreaded visitors. Shepherds took cattlehead to grazing grounds and were mostly away from home the whole day — they seldom married. ‘Bhole ka mela’ on Shivratri was the biggest event followed by Vrat on Janam-Ashthmi. Rakhee or Salooman, Navratre, Kartik-bath, Fagun-frolicking, Sawan-swings, Holi-hullabaloo, Diwali-diyas, though were the known traditional festivities celebrated with gusto but Seeli-Saatam, Ram-Naumi, Mata-Dhokna, Baal-Chadhana were other rituals followed, besides a regular obeisance to the village deity called Dada Khera—a symbol of the ancestors’ blessings for their progeny in the entire village. Other social platforms were dowry articles’ display brought by the bride, or gifts, if any, sent for the sisters in the house. Men mostly had their hookah sessions. The canal flowing through my village had groups of boys and girls go on either bank singing, bursting in boisterous laugh and frolicking. Of the season? Well every dawn had a new
sunrise.
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Hope for gender-sensitive policing? The regularity with which images of police brutality towards women assault our senses is, indeed, worrisome. Sensitivity in the context of the police is an oxymoron. Rewind to almost a decade back. It was a shocker when armed with a host of ideas on gender-sensitive policing, one was interacting with a section of the policemen (attending a training course) at the Institute of Correctional Administration, Chandigarh. When they were asked as to what their response would be to a woman who came to them to lodge a complaint, one of them declared, without so much as a blink, "Madamji, main toh sochta hun jo aurat thane chalke aa gayi, woh aurat hi kharaab hai! (Madamji, I think, if a woman dares to come to a police station, she must be an ill-reputed one!)"
Ten years on, very little seems to have changed. If anything, the police has now shed even the fig leaf of socially acceptable behaviour and displays arrogance and brute force while dealing with protesting citizens, more so with women. The gender bias, inherent in Indian society gets magnified many times over, when it comes to the functioning of the police force. Cycle of violence Is this a new phenomenon? Has this not always been the case? More incidents are being reported now and the media is documenting these episodes more carefully. Also, new devices such as having CCTV cameras in prominent places have helped in the increased reporting and documenting of incidents of violence. Paromita Chakravarti, a senior academic, maintains that there is nothing new about the custodial rapes, women's crimes not being registered by the police or torture of women prisoners in jail. The Mathura rape case, the trigger for the crucial reforms in rape laws in India, started with a custodial rape. If gender-sensitive laws have to be implemented, women should, at least, be able to register a FIR. Where a mother of a minor girl who has been allegedly raped is beaten up by the police when she goes to register a FIR, what is the use of a law? Need for gender sensitisation The Haryana ADGP, Prisons, KP Singh, an ardent advocate for gender sensitisation of the force says: "Gender bias is writ large on the face of Indian community, the law and order machinery is no exception. It is visible in its worst form when the men and women in khaki are seen exhibiting insensitivity in their dealings with women and women-related issues." The Indian police is insensitive to the common man, more so to women because of the socio-economic profile from where the large pool of the force is drawn from. To expect gender sensitive behaviour is unrealistic. Retired Director-General Police, Punjab, A.A. Siddiqui, whose doctoral thesis was on the subculture of police, is of the view that "the background of the police personnel moulds their behaviour." Prof S.L. Sharma, an eminent sociologist, adds that most of the police personnel come from the lower middle class and, therefore, lack socialisation skills. Add to this the training or the lack of it, because much of it is still in the colonial, authoritarian, patriarchal mould. Colonial practices It is a fact that in post-Independence India, there has virtually been no change from the way in which the adversarial role and function of the police was understood. In the colonial times, the police force represented might of the brutal State, which was meant to be exercised against the 'subjects'- the only way the people were either perceived or treated. Even after becoming citizens, the people continue to be treated as the subjects. Mr K.P. Singh is right in his assessment when he says that police has been the strong arm of the state, a readily available tool of governance. It would remain so for few more decades until such times as we become a mature democracy. That is the reason the police is persisting with the colonial mindset. Politicians rule The police is not accountable to the citizens or society, but only to their political masters. They consider politicians as their overlords. The political class uses the police to assert power, settle scores and score brownie points over or undermine their political rivals. Siddiqui's thesis dealt with the changes in a policeman's attitude and behaviour when he becomes a part of the force. He maintains that the force is being used for all sorts of extraneous things, except maintaining security and looking after society, which is its primary function. There is a deep divide between the non-gazetted and gazetted officers and the rude behaviour experienced by the juniors is passed on to people. Paradigm shift The mindset of the agents of the criminal justice system needs an overhaul. A paradigm shift in our penal laws and procedures is also required. K.P. Singh maintains that policemen should be trained to deal with women who visit the police station as complainant, accused and witness. Their behaviour with them should always be courteous and dignified. It seems a far cry indeed, given that the present state where it is the victim who is labelled the culprit. It is not a seven-day training session, but a continuous process of sensitisation and attitudinal/behavioural change that is required. Recruitment of more women in the police, especially at the higher level, will go a long way in sensitising the force. The representation of women police officers in the entire police force of the country is less than 4 per cent. Adherence to the Supreme Court directive in Prakash Singh’s case, will help to make the police accountable. The measures include setting up of a police complaints authority, a Security Commission and separation of law and order and investigative functions of the police. No will to reform There is no will in the political class to bring in the police reforms. It suits politicians to have a police force they can use, and sometimes abuse for their own purposes. This is a force whose self respect has been undermined by politicians (we often read about the policemen being slapped and insulted). The police are not even sure of their role vis-a-vis those they are really responsible to - the citizens of India. As the police force is used as a tool of oppression, it passes on this oppression to the common man/woman, who obviously cannot hit back. The masses can only hit out when they become a mob, and it is in the face of this mob that the police often uses force because it knows no other way of dealing with an upsurge of protest. Does it mean that there is no hope for gender-sensitive policing? Well, such a hope may stem largely from our readiness to give up the colonial practices, feudal mind-sets and patriarchal modes of governance. If we succeed in creating a truly democratic and equitable society, backed by much-needed police reforms that treat people as citizens and not as subjects, police too, may have no choice but to change for the better.
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In the last decade and a half, the State has systematically been using the police to beat up citizens democratically protesting against factories being set up on agricultural lands, coasts being ravaged by development projects, their livelihoods being destroyed without provisions of rehabilitation. In many of these movements, women and children have been kept in the frontline, to resist police brutalities and forceful eviction. The argument has been that the police would not be able to use the same kind of force against women as they would use against men. Repeatedly this assumption has been proved wrong. Women have been dragged by the hair, raped and hit mercilessly by the police in many of these movements. The State has only encouraged the police to play this role against its own citizens. This has further given legitimacy to a new kind of police violence.
Moving from fear-based policing to trust-based policing requires a whole lot of changes in the organisational culture. Police must generate trust and respect in a free democratic society. There is a need to move from the crime statistics assessment of policing to one that is more responsive. Key performance indicators of police working need to be put in place. Pubblic feedback should be a part of performance assessment. Gender-sensitive policing requires constant training and public evaluation. The greater need for power makes it seem that being sensitive is perceived as being less macho and, consequently, less powerful. All wings of the criminal justice system reflect gender bias and insensitivity. Greater access to shelters, counselling and legal aid, improved presentation of evidence at trial, will help women. Measures to protect victims and witnesses will go a long way in providing justice to them.