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Shaken, how stirred?
The corrupt ones in sport |
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Rise of the common man
Many shades of a boss
The tech-wave of feminism
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Shaken, how stirred? Gujarat
Chief Minister Narendra Modi has expressed remorse at the large-scale anti-Muslim violence that took place under his watch. He used his blog to express himself more extensively than he has ever done about the event that has cast a long shadow over his governance and political future. It may well be argued that Modi has opened up for the first time. In his blog, he says that the killings had “shaken and shattered” him “to the core”. The BJP’s prime-ministerial candidate expressed himself directly when he said that words like grief, sadness, misery, pain, anguish and agony “could not capture the absolute emptiness one felt on witnessing such inhumanity”. However, some might wonder at the timing of the statement and question if what is said is too little, too late. The statement on the blog came after an Ahmedabad metropolitan court dismissed a protest petition filed by Zakia Jafri against a closure report filed by the SIT probing Modi and 62 others accused of complicity in the 2002 riots. He sought comfort from the judgment when he said that he felt “liberated and at peace”. Narendra Modi would like dearly to express his contrition and shift the focus to development and his other achievements as the thrice-elected Chief Minister of Gujarat. He has expressed his regret, not any apology, for the 2002 riots. It remains to be seen if he can go past it. The issue of responsibility for the violence that claimed so many lives continues to bedevil Modi and his party, in spite of the best efforts of the BJP’s and Modi’s spin doctors. His statement is likely to satisfy many who are already inclined towards the man. It may not be enough to cut ice with others, something that he himself acknowledges in the blog. In spite of the balm that he has applied on the wound, the issue is likely to crop up again and cause him more discomfort in the coming
days.
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The corrupt ones in sport It’s
never too late to do the right thing. As the year ends, the Indian sports administrator would do well to reflect on this thought and resolve to do the right thing in 2014. The year 2013 was one of the worst years in Indian sport off the field. It was marred by spot-fixing, arrest of players and team administrators in cricket. It was blighted by the refusal of the administrators to change the rules so that individuals against whom charges had been framed could not fight elections for sports associations. The Indian Olympic Association officials resisted for one full year before the International Olympic Committee and the Sports Ministry managed to arm-twist them into amending the IOA constitution to keep tainted officials out. But there’s no one who can arm-twist the Indian cricket board
(BCCI) officials. Despite a man from corporate India (N Srinivasan of India Cements) heading it, the BCCI has managed to remain completely free of good corporate governance. This lack of ethical practices flows from the top — it bears repeating that Srinivasan is the BCCI president, an IPL team owner and the father-in-law of his team official Gurunath
Meiyappan, who was arrested for of betting, conspiracy and cheating. Srinivasan’s actions as a possibly able administrator, efficient team owner and a doting father-in-law are, thus, blurred. It took the courts to ensure an impartial probe into the IPL spot-fixing scandal after an internal BCCI probe committee said it found “no evidence of any wrongdoing” against India Cements, the owner of Chennai Super Kings (CSK), and Raj
Kundra, co-owner of Rajasthan Royals. Late in the year, the Supreme Court made some damning observations about the politicians and businessmen who administrator Indian sports. A Supreme Court bench noted early this month: “Sports are run by private individual persons. Private individuals are controlling the games in India. Can the game be held hostage by private interest?” Yes, sports are held hostage by private interest. In an ideal world, Srinivasan and his ilk would see the light and exit sport
honourably. Sadly, the politicians and businessmen the Supreme Court refers to are a tenacious lot — they resist eviction. The sports fans are left with forlorn hopes.
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Your worst enemy cannot harm you as much as your own unguarded thoughts. — Buddha
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Temperance Deputation to the Viceroy
HIS Excellency the Viceroy has given an important though disappointing reply to the address presented by the All-India Temperance Deputation that waited upon him at Calcutta on Friday last. The reply is disappointing because His Excellency does not look at the question from the Indian point of view and ignores the fact that before the British advent into India, the evil of drunkenness was very much less than at present. To many of the reforms suggested, His Excellency has given the usual departmental formulas which are not based on facts but on probabilities. The one objection which is raised by the department has repeated is that if the reforms were adopted there would be illicit manufacture of spirit. We ask, where is the proof? It is only a probability, the reality or unreality of which can be established if honest experiments are made in particular localities. Even if secret drinking were to some extent be encouraged, it would be better than open sales, and the chances of detection and the influence of social condemnation can be depended on to miminise it. Mr. Wacha’s retirement
MR. D. E. Wacha and Mr Dajiabaji Khare have both resigned the General Secretaryship of the Indian National Congress. Their simultaneous retirement from active work will be diplored all over the country. Mr. Wacha has worked for the Congress as General Secretary almost from the commencement. Excepting the Grand Old Man, there is perhaps none in the country who has worked more strenuously for this holy land of ours than the venerable Mr. Wacha. He has piloted the ship of the Congress through many storms and enjoyed the unstinted confidence of Indians and Europeans alike for soundness, judgment and discrimination no less than for courage independence and high moral worth. His services to the Congress and to the country are too many indeed to be enumerated in a brief paragraph, and it is with a heavy heart that the Congress should agree to do without his trusted leadership.
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Rise of the common man
THE rise of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and its assumption of office in Delhi marks an epoch-making event in the political life of India. It is not coincidental that it should have happened after the historic defeat of the Congress in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Delhi. The setback for the Congress in Delhi was also shared by the BJP, which also failed to emerge with a majority of seats. The Congress has been in power at the Centre almost continuously from 1947. It assumed many forms and in the last phase, it was UPA-I and UPA-II, whose term is coming to an end early next year, whether it can again emerge with a working majority appears doubtful. The UPA government was charged with many acts of omission and commission. Corruption and non-governance were the universal accusations against Congress-led government in the past 10 years. Political events in the recent years have been undergoing important changes. The arrival of Anna Hazare on the political scene was the beginning of an earth tremor in Indian politics. In his Intelligence Bureau Endowment Lecture on December 19, President Pranab Mukherjee said citizens’ movements spearheaded by social activists and NGOs had added a new dimension to the democratic structure by exerting pressure on the government to pass key legislations that are in public interest. The President’s address came only a day after both Houses of the Parliament approved the Lokpal Bill, in recognition of Anna Hazare’s principal demand. The Lokpal Bill, which had been hanging fire for 46 years, has now become an act of law. Whether it would usher in greater accountability in the administration and effective control of corruption remain to be seen. The Aam Aadmi Party of Arvind Kejriwal is the bye-product of Anna Hazare’s movement. The Aam Aadmi Party could impress the educated and the middle class of Delhi’s urban population and they opted for the Aam Aadmi Party as the instrument of managing power in Delhi. It was no doubt due to their belief that the new political outfit would bring about a welcome change from the routine politics marked by corruption and misgovernance. The Aam Aadmi Party decided to form the government after ascertaining the views of the people of Delhi through a referendum. Having resorted to referendum method, even at the basic step of forming the government, the Aam Aadmi Party is expected to follow similar methods in running the administration. The Congress acted with considerable perception in pledging full support to Aam Aadmi Party for running the government. Thereby, it not only pre-empted the BJP from forming the government in Delhi but also delivered an extended message to Narendra Modi that in swaying the public opinion, he has competition in the form of Aam Aadmi Party. The Aam Aadmi Party has already announced that it would contest the elections in the states in the coming months. In Delhi, the Aam Aadmi Party also announced an 18-point programme for catching the imagination of the people. These are giving 700 litres of water free for the every household, reducing the electricity bill by 50 per cent, reducing fee structure of the private schools, regularisation of unauthorised colonies, etc. Kejriwal also said his ministers will stay in ordinary accommodation like flats, shunning the sprawling bungalows. Also, there will be no red lights on the cars of the ministers. Arvind Kejriwal announced that the oath-taking ceremony would take place in the Ramlila Maidan. While forming the government, Kejriwal said forming the government and delivering on its promises would ultimately be beneficial for the Aam Aadmi Party in the next General Election. It is now clear that Aam Aadmi Party will be the major contender in the Lok Sabha elections in the first quarter of 2014 and would give all other veteran parties like the Congress and the BJP a real challenge. It is significant that Kejriwal defeated CM, Sheila Dikshit in her New Delhi constituency and eventually displaced her as the Chief Minister of Delhi. A veteran of 15 years over Delhi political affairs and administration, Sheila Dikshit failed to read the several indicators, which would have warned her of the drift in Delhi political affairs and mood. When Arvind Kejriwal drove to meet the Lt Governor of Delhi, along with his colleagues, to inform him regarding their preparedness to form the government with support of the Congress, they received enthusiastic applause from the people all along the streets. The Congress has now announced that its support to the Aam Aadmi Party was not unconditional. All the same, the UPA Government should be cautious in not giving the impression to the people that having unwillingly allowed the Aam Aadmi Party government for Delhi, they were waiting for an opportunity to pull them down with some excuse or the other. If the Aam Aadmi Party could acquit themselves with credibility and demonstrates their ability to give good administration, there is no doubt that it will be able to secure the support of the people in their contest in the Haryana Assembly Election and later in 2014 for the
parliamentary elections. A former Cabinet Secretary K.M. Chandrasekhar has suggested that Arvind Kejriwal should ask for Delhi being full-fledged state government with control over the police and land. A former Cabinet Secretary should know that it is unlikely that the Union Government would agree to such devolution of power. It may lead to a needless clash between the Centre and Delhi. Arvind Kejriwal should, therefore, concentrate on deliverables in administration and other allied matters. It is not clear if the leadership of the Congress considered all aspects before promising support to the Aam Aadmi Party in forming the government in Delhi. It could, on the other hand, prove to be an intelligent step to have been taken. The Congress party, in any case, was not in the reckoning in forming the government in Delhi. On the other hand, in supporting the Aam Aadmi Party, it could successfully prevent the BJP in forming the government in Delhi. It could even prove to be a step in preventing the march of Narendra Modi towards Delhi.
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Many shades of a boss In office the next day, I asked for some information, which I didn’t get from my staff. I ignored this. Later, I assigned a task to my team, which remained incomplete. Upon inquiring, my subordinate said, “Sir, I was busy with some work, which Ajit Sir gave. Ajit Sir was angry and wanted his work to be done ASAP.” I was stumped. Ajit came over for gourmet dinner (the adjective is inevitable when the dinner is prepared by a wife). Ajit asked, “Did your staff complete the task you gave them today?” the question was followed by a big magnanimous smile. I got the point he was trying to make. An extra-friendly boss is often taken for a ride, as his friendly demeanour is taken for granted. His orders get least importance and priority. A strict boss is always hated but is also taken seriously. The next day, I decided to show a bossy attitude, though I was uncomfortable internally. The moment I entered my office chamber, I yelled, “Why are these papers on my table, who has kept them here?” The peon cleaned the mess in seconds as if he was a phantom. The next in my firing line was my control office, the heart of Railway operations. “What the hell is going on here? You all are a bunch of jokers, good for nothing and I want today’s task to be completed in two hours,” I shouted deliberately. The task was completed in an hour, and my future orders for the day were carried out swiftly, unlike before. I was happy, satisfied and my bossy ego got a boost. But, to be frank, I was unsettled. My belief that a friendly boss is more effective than an unreasonable one was shaken. While sipping my cup of extra-strong coffee in the evening, I inferred that the culture of firing over the years has made my staff reactive and they have lost all their ability to be proactive. A boss feels nice while firing his staff (it’s human nature, I guess). People at the receiving end get more involved in their work, as they fear public firing by the boss. The group becomes more attentive as punishment to one member of the group changes the way others like him think and the hard workers continue to work sincerely. So, a boss who fires his staff for meeting organisational goals can also be a good boss. The boss is good if he is bad with the words but not so with the pen. He is a success if he is a demonstrative leader, an exemplar. I have decided to be a boss who is loved but, unlike before, who is also feared by sycophants and non-workers.
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The tech-wave of feminism In India, the personal tragedy of Nirbhaya, the 23-year-old girl, who put up a brave battle for life after she was gang-raped and fatally assaulted in a Delhi bus and succumbed to multi- organ failure on Dec 29, 2012, triggered a chain of reactions with far reaching consequences. The laws on sexual assault were changed after nationwide protests expressed outrage over the existing laws that treated crimes against women with triviality. Something more happened. A new wave of feminism rose as a subsidiary to these protests, turning personal into political. More than anything else, technology came to the aid of this social movement to take it beyond its immediate objective of demanding better laws and protection for women. It woke up women from their capitalism induced somnambulance of branded clothes and borrowed hair colour of the blonde. Under the facade of a modern society, where women break male bastions almost on a daily basis, even the suggestion of sexism would label women as 'uptight', 'prudish', or 'militant feminist'. Because women were given space in 'male' workplaces, they could not complain of being 'wronged' howsoever serious may be the provocation. They could not have their cake and eat it too.
Everyday sexism Somewhere down the line, women got used to just the way things are - the sexist way - may it be in a class room, workplace, board room, or a court room. With everyday small acts and gestures of sexism women became so used, they almost just accepted it as the norm. The situation was akin to a woman being in an abusive marriage when she begins to count the small mercies for the cost of her pride. If a woman's body was not violated so brutally, perhaps a collective submission to their bodies being groped, lusted or felt would not have exploded the way it did on the streets last December! Women would not have demanded the right over their own bodies! This unprecedented assertion of their basic right was viewed as a violation of the privileges of patriarchy, giving birth to a parallel wave of more aggressive misogyny, which wants to punish women for their dare. A growing graph of crimes against women bears the testimony. That they are speaking out is inviting sneer, in hushed tones or brazenly, among the educated and not so educated alike. Major historical movements are triggered by a single event, but a lot goes behind the making of that event. And a lot follows thereafter. Nirbhaya's gang-rape and her subsequent death worked as a catalyst for what had been simmering for long, under the pretensions of a just social order- based on gender equality! If society is based on gender equality, why are women missing from the board rooms, why do they end up somewhere in the middle of the pyramid? Women have a poor 11 per cent representation in the Lok Sabha and 10.6 per cent in the Rajya Sabha, the global average of women in parliaments for 2013 stood at 21.3 per cent, according to a survey conducted by the IPU(Inter-Parliamentary Union).
Global sisterhood If Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal joined the protests induced by Nirbhaya case, by a strange co-incidence, even developed countries witnessed a surge of demand for better laws and equality by women's groups. Technology came to assist this global solidarity of sisterhood. The Southall Black Sisters marched hand- in- hand with the protesters in Delhi last December, while the ripple effect of Everyday Sexism project was felt in Mumbai. India is among 15 new countries joining this project in 2014 including Japan, Mexico and Serbia. The consciousness-raising exercise about the magnitude of sexism that encourages women to see how inequality affects them at multiple levels proves, these problems are not individual but collective - global, to be precise. Therefore, they might have political solution. For example, about 6,000 stories of harassment or assault posted on Everyday Sexism, which were never reported to authorities for obvious reasons, were used to train 2,000 police officers in London, and for creating a public awareness campaign. Everyday Sexism currently has more than 1,08,000 followers on Twitter, that does not make it a political party, but to put things in perspective, 1,97,086 people had asked the AAp party to form a government through an SMS poll in Delhi and in UK, Tory membership is at 1,34,000.
Tech tools Post Nirbhaya, in Mumbai a new web-based platform, HarassMap Mumbai was introduced that offers ratings to different locations of the city on the basis of their sexual harassment index. This was done to help women know about locations where chances of their assault/ stalking/eve-teasing were high as also to report instances of harassment and assault or post pictures of such cases they witnessed on the locals and elsewhere. The site also offers Vishakha guidelines translated into different languages of India, to educate and empower women. The initiative came from people, inspired from an app that was introduced in Cairo, during the anti-Mubarak uprising when people used to map unsafe areas in the city. These tools are simple to use, reporting is an SMS number and help is just a call away. Many volunteers work to help it work, offering a substitute for the police and law. Mumbai Police have agreed to address issues of non-safety in different areas based on the trends that might emerge from the mapping of Harass MapMumbai. Because of the sheer number of users of these sites, that ensures anonymity if desired, the personal becomes collective - a force to reckon with. Safecity is another website for victims of sexual violence who can anonymously report when and where they were abused, the site has one case that took place way back to 1991. The founders of the site hope, this could be the first step to address the cultural stigma of reporting assault. This apart, many volunteer agencies are trying to equip women with safety tools, all Delhi Metro stations have a counter that sells chilly sprays. Apart from the web-based platforms, several mobile applications with women's safety tools have been introduced in the last one year. One of the widely promoted among these is the Vith U app for Android and iOS phones, created by Channel V. Once downloaded, a woman who perceives danger can press the power button of her phone so that four pre-designated people are alerted about her location. The app had 5,50,000 downloads within a month. The All India Democratic Women's Association, which has actively fought sexism from the local to national levels for over thirty years too has millions of members, activists demanding a just system for women. These endeavours have empowered women beyond the gamut of law and law enforcing machinery.
By the law Technological tools worked without much brouhaha to create new platforms for women. For a rigidly patriarchal society that India is, Justice J. S. Verma committee came up with progressive laws that would liberate women from colonial hangover of gender discrimination and ensure fairness in the justice system. Sensing the political significance of nationwide protests put up by men and women, important bills were cleared this year. The Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013 brought changes in Section 375(rape) and 376 (punishment for rape), incorporating changes in the definition of rape, loopholes in the law were addressed, stalking and acid attacks were criminalised. Punishment for rape was enhanced, though death penalty was not introduced (except for gang-rape or rape of the minor/ pregnant woman) despite clamour for the same with populist motives of some political parties. Though criminalisation of marital rape did not happen, and Parliament witnessed trivialisation of the issue, colonial expressions like "outraging the modesty" still remain instead of "sexual assault" as was suggested by Verma Committee. Also, Sexual Harassment of Women in Workplace( Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) empowered women against any kind of sexual exploitation at workplace. The effectiveness of the new laws became evident when the very powerful - from godman to editor-in-chief of Tehelka had to go behind bars for their alleged sexual misconduct at workplace.
Risk and morality Despite all the empowering tools of law and technology, the fact remains, post Nirbhaya, women have become more apprehensive about their outdoor movements. The lurking fear of assault does not leave the collective psyche after a year of major developments that supported women's cause. Wider reporting on crimes against women has also proven to be counter-productive - women are going back to seeking more protection rather than braving for challenges, at least when it involves odd hours in the outdoors. A variety of concerns have begun to stalk them, including clothing and fashion, where should one draw a line to avoid inviting trouble! The anonymity and security provided by the web-space to turn personal into political is gradually making inroads in the real world. No political party can afford to ignore the issue of women's security, despite a male-dominated political system. Within a year more stories have come where one feels justice was delivered to a victim of sexual assault or misconduct rather than denied, this emboldens more and more women to come forward and speak out.
The fourth wave First wave of feminism came for suffrage, which reached its zenith 100 years ago; the second wave of women's liberation movement blazed through the 1970s and 80s; and the third wave declared by Rebecca Walker, and others, came in the
early 1990s. The shift from second to third wave of feminism took many important forms, but often was broadly generational, with women defining their work as distinct from their mothers'. What's happening now is something new again—it has spread across generational and professional boundaries. The fourth wave of
feminism is defined by technology: tools that are allowing women to build a strong, popular, reactive movement online. The popularity is slightly startling. Girlguiding UK introduced a campaign and activism badge, of the recipients of which 59 per cent consider themselves feminists.
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I
always dreamt of having and being a friendly boss. Since July, I am “the boss” of around 300 people, working above and with them for the Indian Railways. I was happy being a soft-spoken and an accommodating boss, until I was warned by my colleague, Ajit, to be strict. “A boss should fire his staff once a while; he should be illogical sometimes and must come across as a hard-task master”, he said. But I always believed that unnecessary firing leads to fissures in human relations, making the bosses “the most detested species on earth”. 
WHEN 27-year-old Laura Bates coined a phrase "personal is political" for her Everyday Sexism project in UK, she wasn't aware of its global significance. Before the first anniversary of the site, launched in April 2012, Everyday Sexism was joined by 149 grassroots groups, rolled out to 17 countries and had over 50,000 women posting their daily experiences of sexual harassment.