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Fatal choices Need to prevent suicidal deaths In a country that already has one of the world's highest suicide rates, the report of National Health Profile 2013, a government-sponsored health study, indicating an upward trend in suicides, is indeed startling. Known to be the biggest killer of Indian women aged between 15 and 49, it also underlies that men are more vulnerable. Worse still, youngsters aged between 15 and 29 are most likely to call it quits. Equally ironic is the fact that states like Punjab and Haryana, traditionally known for valour, are reporting a higher percentage of male suicide deaths than the national average.
Being
enamoured of authority
Policemen
with a conscience
Breaking
the cycle of silence & shame
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Fatal choices In
a country that already has one of the world's highest suicide rates, the report of National Health Profile 2013, a government-sponsored health study, indicating an upward trend in suicides, is indeed startling. Known to be the biggest killer of Indian women aged between 15 and 49, it also underlies that men are more vulnerable. Worse still, youngsters aged between 15 and 29 are most likely to call it quits. Equally ironic is the fact that states like Punjab and
Haryana, traditionally known for valour, are reporting a higher percentage of male suicide deaths than the national average. Indeed, these figures do not reflect why more and more people are compelled to embrace death. There is actually no single cause for suicides. The fact that many have fallen to suicide pacts indicates that it is not just lonely people who end their lives. Economic compulsions, failed relationships and untreated depression-- suicide could be triggered by several factors. Suicidal tendencies can be pathological as well as psychological. Often youngsters use it as a blackmail tactic. Whatever the provocation, the
bottom-line is that suicide deaths can't be ignored. It might be tempting to dismiss suicides as individual acts of desperation but the problem not only has roots in the sociological matrix but also has social ramifications. The fact that a majority of persons who choose death over life are below 44 underlines the economic, social and emotional burden on society. There is an urgent need to study suicidal behaviour and devise strategies to prevent the loss of precious lives. Psychological
counselling, one of the most neglected realms in India, has to become a priority. As stress and depression are creeping in our lives ever so insidiously communication holds the key. Apart from parents, teachers and peers, helplines helmed by experts can play a crucial part in dissuading those on the brink. In a caring society calling it a day shouldn't be an option for anybody.
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I like long walks, especially when they are taken by people who annoy me. — Noel Coward, English playwright
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Cultivation of cotton and other economic crops RAI Bahadur Ganga Ram, C.I.E., M.V.O., argues plausibly enough that it is "a sad suicidal policy to try to grow foodstuffs everywhere regardless of soil perhaps more suited for growing crops like cotton or more suited for pasture for breeding cattle and sheep." The time will come when our agriculturists will grow crops for which the soil is suited. When that time comes they will perhaps be also able to bring about changes in the properties of the soil suitable for the cultivation of particular crops in rotation. They have now no gold mine in cotton and other crops. It would be "suicidal" for them to artificially stimulate cotton cultivation on the strength of artificially inflated prices in foreign markets. The average Indian producer has to learn the buyers' methods of manipulating prices to regulate production to the demand.
Counterfeit nickel coins AT the Bombay criminal sessions Mr. Justice Hayward had before him two bad cases relating to counterfeit coins. In the first one Syed Ebrahim was charged with uttering a counterfeit anna piece to one Ambabai, a fruit seller, and with being in possession of 47 one-anna pieces knowing them to be counterfeit and with possessing implements for making base coins. The accused bought from the woman plantains worth one pice and oranges worth one pice gave her a nickel piece and got two pice in exchange. A police constable who had been shadowing him arrested him and searched him in the presence of a panch when the remaining pieces were found. All 47 pieces were declared counterfeit by the Mint Assistant Engineer who found them to be brighter and having the appearance more of tin and lead than of nickel, and their specific gravity lighter than that of nickel coins.
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Being enamoured of authority Imagine renowned poet Rabindra Nath Tagore seeking admission to the Culcutta Club, a preserve of the British, and getting rejected. Faiz Ahmad Faiz, the legendary Urdu poet, receiving a similar treatment at Lahore's Punjab Club in Pakistan and Nazar-ul Islam at the Dhaka Club. In all these cases, public outrage would have been difficult to assuage. The white rulers saw to it that the leading clubs in a country where they ruled remained an exclusive place for them and their elitist friends. Refusal to the non-whites’ clubs was part of apartheid. Posh clubs would have a billboard at the entrance saying: Dogs and Indians are not allowed. Shocking it may sound, but the white rulers enjoyed humiliating dark Indians, apart from heaping on them other indignities. The upper stratum of society, which rubbed shoulders with the white and lived more or less in the Western style, was given entry straightway. Therefore, it was not surprising to find the same members of the society replacing the white and making clubs exclusively for their use. The club management prescribed a dress code, the Western style, and banned the local dress within the premises. Members and their guests are expected to be well-dressed, which for men is usually interpreted as the Western attire. “The way of tying the dhoti in Tamil Nadu style may leave it to a number of aspects of exposure. Many clubs cite this as a reason for not allowing guests in dhotis," a member of the Madras Club said. However, in a state where most politicians prefer a dhoti and a white shirt to the Western attire, charges of indecent exposure have backfired. R. Gandhi (77), a senior advocate who was turned away along with Justice Hariparanthaman, said it was an “arbitrary reaction” by the club’s staff against respectable men “in their natural dress”. People in South East Asia, however democratic in their temperament, are enamoured of authority. Clubs may be the relics of British rule but they represent power. That is the reason why clubs of the past are kept as they were, although they do not fit into India's reality of austere living. An authoritarian police is another relic which has been retained, with more powers to silence the opponents. It was an investiture ceremony where top police officers were being honoured for the outstanding service they had rendered to trace and punish those who had committed excesses during the Emergency. In the midst of the ceremony, the then Prime Minister, Mrs Indira Gandhi, got up and ended the ceremony. Another example is the disdain with which the Police Reforms Commission report was treated. It confirms fears that the Shah Commission proceedings may have been destroyed. In fact, even a copy of the report is not available either in market or in government offices. Does the Congress believe that the Emergency would disappear from history itself? At least, the Police Reforms Commission report exists, although its recommendations have not been implemented because most state chief ministers are no less authoritative than Mrs Gandhi was. The BJP feels that it can afford to give the impression of being liberal at a time when soft Hindutva has gripped even the leftist parties. The Congress has been seen steadily losing its secular credentials in the past few years despite the fact that Muslims, by and large, voted in favour of the Congress. But the biggest dilemma facing the Muslim community today is who among all parties is liberal. The radicalisation of the community is not the answer, as it is happening. This would be used as evidence to stigmatise the community. Muslim terrorism has no chance against Hindu terrorism simply because of the numbers. I realise that some Muslims out of desperation have taken to violence. But this is the path Hindu militant organisations like the Bajrag Dal, Ram Sene and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad want the community to take. The guilt of these organisations has been proved from the bomb blasts at Malegaon, Ajmer and Hyderabad. Initially, the suspicion was on Muslims-as is the police practice-and Muslim youths were picked up. At Hyderabad, they were beaten by the police. But a detailed investigation revealed a Hindu hand. Had there been accountability, such chauvinist deeds by the police would not have taken place. Young men have been arrested when law courts have found that there is no evidence against them. Who made the mistake? Who is responsible for illegal arrests? He should be punished if the impression that Muslim youths are picked up without any rhyme or reason is to be removed. A commission was appointed under the chairmanship of Justice J.S. Verma to suggest changes in the rape laws and the quantum of punishment. The students have asked for death penalty or chemical castration. Yet it is strange that the government acted only under pressure. The authorities pressed the panic button because for many days all roads leading to India Gate were closed and even water cannons were used to push back the agitating students behind the barricades the police had erected. The lathi-charge was uncalled for and widely condemned. The biggest support to the politicians is the police which are supposed to maintain law and order. The force has to be purged of sycophants and sluggish elements. But for that to happen, the police have to be made independent so that they are free of pressure from politicians. The worst example is in Punjab and Haryana, where the police force has become a private army of chief ministers.
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Policemen with a conscience One day during the agitation the students organised a meeting in the lawn adjoining the Arts Faculty building of Kurukshetra University. A CID Assistant Sub-Inspector, whose name I do not remember, was spotted by them. He ran away when chased by students and took shelter in the post office which at that time was located in the Arts Faculty building. The students forced their entry into it and began beating him. In the meantime I also reached there to save him. In the process I was hit by a chair. This made the students to beat a hasty retreat as they did not want to hurt their teacher. In the afternoon, I received a message through the then Registrar, Dr. S.S. Gupta, that the SDM wanted to see me. I felt elated at the thought of meeting him as he happened to be the head of the administration in Thanesar sub-division as Kurukshetra district had not been carved out yet. To meet him I took a rickshaw. Hardly had I gone a distance of one kilometre when I was intercepted by a police jeep and directed by the SHO of Thanesar police station, Mr. Bakshi, to dispose of the rickshaw and board his jeep. I acted accordingly and was told that I was being framed in a false case at the instance of the political masters in Chandigarh. The SHO told me that the ASI of the CID - who was present in the jeep - was pressured to include my name in the list of the accused who had assaulted him in the post office of Kurukshetra University. But he had refused to oblige them, saying: "How can I make the person who saved my life an accused?" After this, the high-ups were planning to frame me in some other case. But the SHO and the ASI decided to save me. So they left for the university on the pretext of getting the ASI medically examined in the civil hospital of Thanesar. This is how they were able to prevent me from reaching the office of the SDM. He advised me to remain inside Kurukshetra University as they had not been granted permission to enter it by the then Vice-Chancellor, Mr A.N. Fletcher. This gave me enough time to prevent my arrest and a false case with the help of a family friend, Pandit Devi Parsan of Bapora village in Bhiwani district, who was very close to Bansi Lal. He persuaded the Chief Minister to spare me. I gratefully remember those policemen whose conscience did not permit them to frame an innocent person in a false case.
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Breaking the cycle of silence & shame Had she not considered menstruation something to hide or be ashamed of, she would have been alive. “It is the culture of silence and ignorance around the issue of menstruation that is behind unsafe menstrual hygiene practices,” says Anshu Gupta, founder of Goonj, the Delhi-based social enterprise addressing menstrual hygiene. Why do they lag behind? Women often use the dirtiest cloth in the house during their menstrual cycle. This cloth is reused many times without proper washing. Sometimes, two or three women in a household use the same piece of cloth. The cloth is rarely dried in sunlight after washing for reuse due to cultural taboos. The resultant moisture and dirt causes various diseases and infections, many times deadly. Ignorance is not bliss In fact, it was the needless death of a woman from tetanus caused by a rusty hook on the blouse she used during her periods that impacted Gupta deeply and strengthened his resolve to work on the issue of menstrual hygiene. The diseased woman's sister informed Gupta that the entire village knew the rusty hook was the cause of death but no one was willing to talk about it because of the shame in discussing menstruation openly. In many villages, it was found, women lose their uterus because the local health providers advise them to remove it to prevent cervical cancer, which could result from infection acquired during menstruation. So a woman of child-bearing age could lose her uterus, in all probability, due to lack of menstrual hygiene. In India, 350 million women and girls menstruate on any given day. Reproductive tract infections (RTI) are 70 per cent more common among women who are unable to maintain hygiene during their menstrual cycle, according to a national survey. Further, the Indian Council of Medical Research survey on risk factors associated with cervical cancer revealed that the risk associated with the use of unclean cloth was 2.5- fold higher as compared to the use of clean cloth or use of sanitary napkins. Yet, 75 per cent of rural women remain ignorant about menstrual hygiene, according to a 2011 study conducted by A C Nielson, the global information and measurement firm and NGO Plan India. Contrary to the popular adage, ignorance is not bliss. Poor menstrual hygiene can kill and yet talking about menstruation still remains taboo. The misconception that menstrual blood is impure cuts across class, caste and religion. So, women and girls are forced to hide all signs of menstruation. Sinu Joseph, creator of Mythri, an innovative animated video to spread awareness on menstrual hygiene for adolescent girls says, “Pretending it never happened, doesn't make it go away. When we don't talk about it, we miss the signs that need attention. What is perfectly normal becomes a big deal and women quietly acquire low self- esteem for what is natural.” Social outcasts In the absence of accurate information, secrecy, superstition and stigma associated with menstruation continue to shackle women and girls. Women are barred from worshipping and entering temples. They are not allowed to enter kitchens or cook at such times. It is believed that if a woman touches milk or pickle while she is menstruating, it will become contaminated. “These misconceptions are passed on from mothers to daughters, causing an inter-generational cycle of poor hygiene practices. Fear and shame, coupled with inappropriate facilities for changing, washing, drying and disposal make it worse, leading to absence from school. There are 113 million Indian adolescents menstruating on any given day,” says Dhirendra Pratap Singh, co-founder of Azadi, a Lucknow-based NGO working on demystifying menstruation. Girls between the age group of 12 and 18 miss five days of school every month during their menstrual cycle because schools don't have separate toilets, according to the 2011 Annual Status of Education Report (ASER), by Pratham, a NGO working on education. Girl-friendly schools Under the government's School Sanitation and Hygiene Education programme, each school should have one toilet and three urinals for 40 girls and one lady teacher. Design guidelines for school toilets mandate space be kept for girls to keep sanitary napkins and ensure sunlight enters the room. There is a strong need to have menstruation- friendly schools that ensure girls safety and dignity to manage their periods and stop dropping out of school. Puberty and education Only one in six of India's 700,000 rural schools have toilets deterring children, especially girls from going to school, and if enrolled, in remaining there according to UNICEF. While the percentage of usable toilets for girls increased from 32.9 per cent in 2010 to 53.3 per cent in 2013, 47 per cent schools in the country still do not have separate toilets for girls, increasing their chances of dropping out or facing regular difficulties, found Pratham (ASER 2013). In August 2013, Heeals, a non-profit organisation based in Haryana, evaluated its Water Sanitation Hygiene and Girl Education project in three schools in the state. It found that although toilets were dirty, had no locks and there was no place for the girls to dispose sanitary napkins, there was no absenteeism. Good knowledge of menstrual hygiene and the advantage of being able to go home when they needed to change helped retain girls in schools. However, Heeals found that in schools where girls are unable to go home, they are more likely to lose out on education. So, it put together these findings in a documentary film to advocate for better facilities in all schools. Productivity levels of working women drop during their periods, with 31 per cent women missing 2.2 days of work on an average, revealed the AC Neilsen survey. Improved knowledge could reduce the economic and social impact of poor menstrual hygiene. Azadi saw the need to create a collective platform to push for a greater synergy to give women and girls safe spaces to learn about and manage menstruation. Thus was born Bejhijhak (no hesitation), a national initiative on menstruation to break the silence on this issue. Initiated by NGOs Azadi, WASH United, WaterAid and Path, Bejhijhak was launched on the first World Menstruation Day (May 28). It aims to initiate collective action on breaking myths, recognising the importance of menstrual education, and improving menstrual management and hygiene. Bejhijhak will identify experience, gaps and needs, and present a strong unified voice to break the wall of silence around menstruation. Getting Ashwini Ponnappa, the national badminton star, as their ambassador, has given the Bejhijhak campaign a big boost. As a role model, the Commonwealth Gold Medal winner in doubles understands her efforts could go a long way in reducing the stigma around menstruation. “I identified with the cause since I, too, was shy of talking about the issue. Even while practising, I never asked for any quarter on those days because I was embarrassed to speak to my male coaches about it. But now I hope to reach out to all shy girls like me,” she says. Delayed response The government took its time in realising the importance of menstrual hygiene management. It began distribution of sanitary napkins through ASHAs under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) in 2010. According to Dr Sushma Dureja, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, by the end of 2012, a pack of six sanitary pads known as “Freedays” was sold for Rs 6 to 1.5 crore girls between the age group 10-19 in 115 districts across 17 states, including Himachal Pradesh, and Punjab. Although ASHAs receive Rs 1 for each pack sold, many of them are also ignorant of the importance of menstrual hygiene and are not active participants. The NRHM in Karnataka found an enterprising way to motivate and educate 30,000 ASHAs in the state by screening Mythri as part of their training programme in October 2013. More recently, the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation incorporated suggestions from the Geneva-based Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council to change the guidelines in the Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan to recognise the importance of menstrual hygiene management (MHM). The new guidelines will help to increase budgets for raising MHM awareness. Awareness programmes Innovative use of information technology is making an impact in menstrual hygiene awareness, especially among the urban women. Menstrupedia, launched in 2012, is a novel online portal that focuses on busting menstruation myths and providing accurate information. Co-founder Aditi Gupta, 29, who experienced stigma related to menstruation when she was growing up, has used her personal experiences to script a comic book to guide girls about their changing bodies and menstruation. "We want the learning to be fun. We also have a gynaecologist on board to ensure content accuracy. Now in English, it will be translated into Hindi and other regional languages,” says Gupta. With mobile phones in every home, Maya's 7 Day Challenge, a mobile game to promote good menstrual hygiene could be a game changer. Creators Decode Global, a Canadian mobile game for social change company and the Delhi-based Boond, are hoping Maya, the game's young protagonist, will get players involved in understanding the need for girls continuing school even after they start menstruating. Social media is proving another popular platform for information sharing. Facebook, YouTube and Twitter have been abuzz with campaigns like #MENSTRAVEGANZA by WASH United and documentaries like The Beauty of Red by Menstrupedia. In a country where many women and girls are forced to use old rags, husks, dried leaves, grass, ash, sand or newspapers every month, it remains to be seen whether menstruation continues to be seen as “the curse” or whether girls and women are able to 'touch the pickle' without fear or shame. The writer is an independent journalist who writes on development and gender
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A Madras
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I identified with the cause since I, too, was shy of talking about the
issue.