The writer is an independent journalist based in New Delhi and writes for several Indian newspapers
Narendra Modi and Nawaz Sharif have given enough fodder for so-called strategic analysts on both sides to endlessly discuss what happened, and what didn’t, in the meeting between them on May 27, whether one man read the riot act to another (or not) and if, perchance, this means that their relationship has started off on an unequal footing (or hasn’t).
With so much rhetorical dissembling on the cards, what chance did the gang rape and murder by hanging of two Dalit girls in Badayun district in the heart of Uttar Pradesh have? Or the stoning to death of a pregnant woman by her own father in Lahore?
The celebratory mood in South Asia, brought on in part by the informal gathering of South Asia’s leaders to attend Modi’s oath taking ceremony has been considerably dulled by the reality on the ground. We lull ourselves into thinking we’re creating a brave, new world. But the 15th century is never far away. The truth is that South Asian men still believe that they have a right over their women’s minds and bodies.
Yes, we are all still chattel. Just because some of us acquire an education, do we really have the courage to defy the ‘khap panchayat’, which in Haryana determines who you can talk to, how far you can study and whether the boy you want to marry is part of your complicated caste structure or not? The girls who were gang raped in Badayun had only gone to the fields to relieve themselves, as women do all over the region.
I wonder if any of my friends across India or Pakistan, on both sides of the broad brush-stroke that is the international boundary created one fine morning by a sub-intelligent man called Cyril Radcliffe or even the highly surcharged Line of Control, have ever relieved themselves in the dark of night because it is simply much too shaming to do so in the day? Meanwhile, Delhi, India’s gorgeous and ancient capital, has no dearth of men pulling down their zippers just as soon as they have the urge. And I will challenge anyone to show me one woman who does the same thing.
In the name of Kashmir and terrorism — or vice-versa, give it whatever order you will — and Siachen and Sir Creek and a hundred other problems, our leaders have together betrayed us. They have failed us, not only by failing to live up to their promises but by giving us hope in the first place. Again and again, we believe in the new dawn, just like Faiz did that morning in August 1947 and again and again you can rip apart that veil and reveal the darkness of Badayun.
This Indo-Gangetic civilisation condemns us. Caste and community and faith, you can bet your last rupee that women in our part of the world will fall short of one or another category. The Badayun girls were Dalit; the simple fact is that their attackers were of the backward Yadav caste and believed that the rape and murder of the Dalit girls was an avenging of sorts. The fact that Farzana’s father believed she had no right to marry the man of her choice provided him with a compelling argument for murder.
This is war, make no mistake. Rape and killing are weapons of choice of those who believe they are all powerful and will brook no dissent. This is what rampaging armies do to each other’s populations when they invade the other country — and we accept it as the ravages of war. Just because this is caste war makes it no less heinous.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has sacked two top officers but he hasn’t visited the parents of the murdered sisters yet. Their father tells journalists he is afraid of the lives of his remaining family once media attention subsides.
Can Narendra Modi do things differently? Can he invoke the rule of law and bring justice to the girls from Badayun? Can Nawaz Sharif, who has described Farzana’s death by stoning as ‘totally unacceptable’ follow up on her case as a priority item on the national agenda?
India and Pakistan wait for their prime ministers to show the way.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 4th, 2014.
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COMMENTS (11)
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@Vakil well said...
For ONCE (probably for the first time in fact!) dear lady I agree with you... certainly on the main "subject" part. One complaint I nonetheless have is your characterization of Cyril Radcliffe as "sub-intelligent" ... on what basis is that may I ask? Just like your "challenge" you have thrown to whoever on the subject of "women relieving..." etc etc in broad daylight, a lot of people will do likewise for you to prove your "intelligence" and come up with something "better" than Radcliffe, particularly given the constraints he had to operate under. Remember the old saying: When you point one finger at somebody, 10 fingers immediately will point at you!
That was so down to earth and interesting.......great read.
@Sam:
Now now, Sam, how can one write self-righteous article without ignoring facts and assuming the lack of intelligence on the part of the audience?!
Author: " ... Can he invoke the rule of law and bring justice to the girls from Badayun? ... "
Jyoti, perhaps he can. But if he tries, pseudo secularists, "intellectuals", such as yourself, will waste no time in bemoaning the loss of some human right or the other.
Taking of law and justice, Uttar Pradesh must be broken down into at least two manageable states and we must see that the Mulayam Singh dynasty meets the same end as the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty.
@your concern for women's safety is legitimate. I am just disappointed that you chose never to speak about this earlier. Anyway, as you are aware the people concerned have been arrested, the 2 police in question have been suspended and the home secretary of UP has also been suspended. Just as rapists in Delhi gangrape and Shakthi mills case have been convicted, so will these people. This is quite different from Pakistan where people take 'notice' but one never hears of any convictions. In this case, I am sure you are aware that Pakistani laws will allow a free pass to the honor killers. As per deeyat laws, the killer can pay blood money to the victim's family and go scot free. Here the victim's family is the one that sanctioned the murder so the brother who killed the sister will just pay loos money to the father (who also condones the crime) and the person will go scot free. The report of the crime already denies that any policemen witnessed the crime and were guilty of inaction. So no action against law and order agencies will be taken. In other worss, we already know no one will be punished just as the icim's husband escaped punishment after killing his former wife using he same deeyat laws.
So your attempt to estalish equialence between the reaction by civil society, media, law and order agencies in India and Pakistan is simply flawed.
@Gilgit wala.: First of all your post was completely unrelated to the OpEd. Secondly, after 10 years of trying to pin something on Modi and his right hand man, Amit Shah- Congress who was in power in the center and used/abused CBI to its fullest has not even been able to indict Amit Shah. Most of the cases were dismissed by the court while Congress was still i power because there simply was no evidence of wrongdoin, There are some inquiries about counter insurgency operations in Gujarat. The facts related to that are as follows: a wave of terror incidents swept over India starting with Parliament attacks in 2001 and Indian government issued a counter-terrorism policy under which 1500 terrorists were killed based on inputs from the intelligence bureau. Of these the smallest number of encounters happened in Gujarat - a total of 17. Amit Shah as the home minister of Gujarat was responsible for implementing the counterterrorism policy in Gujarat. It is not as though he was involved with any particular indiidual's target killing or gave order ps against any individual. Congress has decided to investigate exactly 18 of the 1500 killings to see if there was wrong doing and coincidentally (or not) all 17 killings in Gujarat made it to the sample of 18.
Indians are not fooled by what is obviously an abuse of power by Congress. But just as the courts dismissed many of the cases as not even having enough material to indict WHILE Congress was in power, the same fate will be met as far as these politically motivated cases is concerned.
I am shocked that the author has brought up the issue about the raped girls. Mulayam Singh and Akhilesh Singh are after all "secular" and hence they can do no wrong! Obviously this is a plot by the communal forces such as the RSS, VHP, Mossad etc. etc. to tear apart the secular fabric of the nation.
Modi has to get his right hand man, Amit Shah, off the hook for murder. Which is easy and doable. But will take time. After all, Modi sarkar is now in charge.
No doubt, women are treated very badly in India in spite of the fact that we had woman Prime minister and many woman chief ministers. On the one hand we have Female deities and on the other hand women get worst type of treatment at the hands of their male counterparts. Problem is deep rooted in our society and its origin can be traced to the feelings in the family when a girl child is born. Blaming government alone can not be justified. Mother-In-Law in the family is the first culprit who differentiate between a male and female child. We are sexually starved and perverted people. There are two many contradictions in the society. On one hand no religious ceremony can be complete without wife being part of, on the other hand we have all these social evils. There is no easy solution unless each one of us do our duty and respect and protect the woman. Role of the government is to implement the law with full might. Now coming to your following observation; "Just because some of us acquire an education, do we really have the courage to defy the ‘khap panchayat’, which in Haryana determines who you can talk to, how far you can study and whether the boy you want to marry is part of your complicated caste structure or not?" Lately this has become a fashion to blame "Khap Panchayats" for all the ills. I am a Jat and know much better than you or any other journalist about these social bodies. Who told you that Khap Panchayats decide about girls education and their dress codes? I can challenge that our girls are as liberal and educated as anyone. Problem is not with Khaps but with the overall male mentality in our country. We are hypocrites. We have no respect for others' daughters but want our own daughters respected. In village we were taught that every village girl is like our own sister. It was extremely rare in our village to have rapes. In extremely rare cases where someone went beyond his limits and misbehaved with a girl, response was swift. Genesis of recent Muzaffar Nagar violence was all about the honor of a Jat girl. Community had to act when administration did nothing.