New Delhi, 7 December 2019 — The Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) today called on the Telangana Police and state government to ensure exhaustive, impartial, and independent investigations into the police shooting of the four suspects in the Hyderabad gangrape and murder case. The state government and Telangana Police are accountable for the deaths caused, CHRI said.

The four suspects were shot dead by police personnel in the early hours of 6th December in the midst of a recreation of the crime scene of the gangrape, allegedly because they were attempting to escape. The Police Commissioner of Cyberabad, while addressing a press conference, said that the police acted in self-defence after the suspects snatched their weapons and opened fire at them. The police version, CHRI said, failed to explain the major operational breach of four unarmed suspects being able to overpower 10 armed police personnel.

“There must be prompt and independent investigations particularly to examine the use of force by the Telangana Police. These must be initiated immediately so as not to lose valuable evidence, and conducted in a thorough manner that meets the ends of substantive justice”, said SanjoyHazarika, Director of CHRI. The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) took suomoto notice and dispatched an inquiry team to Telangana on 6th December itself. Notably, the High Court of Telangana has issued directions to preserve the bodies of the victims until 9th December, videograph the post-mortem, and submit the video to the Mahbubnagar district judge.

The onus is on the state government and police to facilitate an enabling environment that assures these multiple accountability processes can proceed freely with no hindrances or interference.

CHRI urges the Telangana police and government to demonstrate accountability and ensure immediate registration of a First Information Report (FIR) against the police personnel involved. Telengana authorities must further ensure that the investigation is conducted by police outside the district (preferably by a special investigation team); that section 176(1-A) Code of Criminal Procedure inquiry is held at the earliest; that the crime scene, forensic evidence and the victims’ bodies are preserved.

In addition, CHRI says that
• the names and duty records of all police officers part of the police party must be secured as well as all relevant registers
• all the weapons/guns used and related evidence should be seized
• all wireless, vehicle log book records, and call detail records of all police personnel involved (in both planning and the events of 6th
December) are collated and examined
• the post-mortems are conducted and videographed as per NHRC guidelines
• that none of the implicated police personnel are promoted, given gallantry awards, or posted to some other locations.

Furthermore, guidelines of the Supreme Court given in PUCL vs. State of Maharashtra require any killing in an encounter to be independently investigated. Additionally, the NHRC guidelines require any death resulting from police action to be reported to it within 48 hours, followed by supplementary reports including the post-mortem, inquest, magisterial inquiry and forensic reports. The state government and police must strictly comply with both the Supreme Court and NHRC guidelines.

Lastly, CHRI demands that the implicated police personnel be immediately suspended pending investigation, and arrested as soon as prima facie grounds are made out.

“It is of serious concern that policymakers and others are championing the killings and there is no mention of the strict accountability required for the causing of death. This denies institutional responsibility, and bodes ill for the rule of law”, said Devika Prasad, Programme Head, Police Reforms, CHRI.

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I grieve with the families of the veterinarian, as I grieve, deeply with the family of TekuGopu whose wife was gang-raped and murdered in Asifabad three days before the veterinarian.TekuGopu’s wife was three years older than the vet, and belonged to a nomadic community that eked out a living by petty vending and wage labour.  These are two in a long line of girls and women across the country who have been killed and maimed in the most brutal fashion while we have had a stringent, amended rape law in place and fast track judicial processes.  

Two women politicians, Ms Jaya Bachchan and BehenjiMayawati went on record asking for suspects to be publicly lynched and celebrated the deaths by encounter, respectively.  This ironically, while we have a rape accused anointed as Chief Minister of the largest state in the country (he is an accused, like these others who are now dead, is he not?), and another who has been allowed to flee the country and set up his own ‘nation’ – untouched by the long arm of the law, men of god, both.  And yet another politician whose case might abate because the victim has been attacked and is battling for life with 80 percent burns.

This is precisely why as citizens in this free country, we need to think apart from these voices of power and impunity that are the biggest threat to the cause of women.  I perfectly understand the emotional upheavals and the grief of the families of victims, who will, from their point of view, sometimes ask for death in return for death.  But we also need to remember that not all people do that.  We can scarcely forget that Mrs. Sonia Gandhi asked for clemency for the accused in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case.  Grief at loss speaks through different tongues, and we need to be mindful of this fact.  Violent deaths and maiming are gruesome – sexual assault, assassination, caste atrocity, shooting children with pellets and guns… But we must take note of the diverse ways in which we grieve, and the diverse ways in which we can grieve and heal. 

We asked for a more stringent law on rape.  We got a far more stringent law, as a direct result of the public outcry and the intense deliberations of the Justice Verma Committee on rape law reform in 2013.  In an important sense therefore, the struggles of the Delhi victim’s family were not in vain.  The Nirbhaya Act is testimony to the strength of her spirit and an acknowledgment of the loss – to family, and country – by the mere possibility of this level of violence. 

Trigger happy policemen with an utter disregard for the law are not the answer we seek.  The ends of justice are not served by wanton killing and retributive bloodlust.  The course of justice is not determined by the grief and grieving of victims’ families.  Justice lies in supporting them in their moment of grief and pain and insisting on due process that brings suspects and accused to trial through a robust, stringent and competent criminal investigation. 

What is the purpose served by killing four unarmed suspects who were in high security police custody and certainly under physical restraint? The loss of life is never compensated by the taking of more lives.  In its arbitrariness, its pre-meditated nature and the guarantee of impunity it enjoys, it is grossly unlawful – and in complete derogation of Article 21 of the Constitution of India – ‘No person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to procedure established by law.’ 

At the end of it, what is the account of bodies we are left with in the case of the veterinarian?

One person (a woman) was raped, killed and tortured post-mortem – a most heinous treatment of a human being possible.

In return, 4 suspects are apprehended and shot in custody within a week, without the criminal investigation having commenced in any substantive way.  They were shot purportedly when they tried to escape during an exercise of reconstruction of crime at the scene of offence – so even that very preliminary step in criminal investigation had not been completed.  So, the police personnel – unnamed, except for the Commissioner of Police – have caused the investigation of the crime of rape and murder to abate by killing the suspects.  They have still not been convicted for the crime, nor their involvement investigated fully.  However, that is not the end of the matter, because, as a direct result of this shooting, we have four more dead bodies – all victims of murder, according to the definition of murder in criminal law – that must be investigated. Unlike the suspects who confessed in custody under conditions of restraint, in the second set of murders, we have an open and public admission of commission of the act of killing by officers of the state.  The official version is that the suspects were attempting an escape when the police shot in ‘self-defense.’  Self-defense is a plea when the other party is armed and tries to kill, is it not?  Surely these four men, having been kept in custody, were unarmed.  Be that as it may, self-defense is only up for consideration during the evidentiary stage of a trial, and cannot be claimed to escape responsibility for willfully and in pre-meditated fashion causing death.  We have deliberated on this at length in the High Court of Andhra Pradesh and Justice GodaRaghuram’s judgment and Justice Bilal Nazki’s dissent that preceded it can scarcely be set aside. 

The police are officers of the state – bound by the Constitution and trained in Criminal Procedure, the law of evidence, and the Penal Code, among others.  They have been given arms to protect, and to ensure security, not to kill and maim at will.  A disciplined police force is a non-negotiable for the rule of law.  They are under oath to subserve the constitution, irrespective of what dominant public sentiment is.  Can we ever forget Dr. Ambedkar?  Public morality he warned must yield to constitutional morality, which may not be a natural sentiment, but one that we as a civilized constitutional democracy – if we call ourselves that — must school ourselves into. The need is restorative policing, not retribution.

As women, it is extremely dangerous for us to succumb to the blood lust of the police, and the arbitrariness of the state, even while we travel the torturous road to justice, freedom and dignity.  It is difficult to even think through, but we have no alternative road to a just society.

(Author is Professor & Director, Council for Social Development, Hyderabad)

The post This is Not the Justice We Seek appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The police officer from the Hyderabad police, was SP Warrangal ( Sajjanar), when three persons accused of throwing acid on two girls were shot dead in an encounter on December 12, 2008. Now at about 3 a.m. on December 6, 2019, media reports tell us that the ‘encounter of four accused’ in the rape and murder of the 27 year old veterinarian doctor in Hyderabad that had generated nationwide outrage is the third in 10 years in Telangana not involving Maoists by the same officer. The accused were reportedly taken to Chattapally, 30 km from Hyderabad, post-midnight in an attempt to recreate the crime scene when they allegedly tried to escape after attacking the police. Officials have been on record with sections of the media stating that the police fired at them in self-defence and killed all four on the spot.

2008 ‘encounter’ in acid attack case 

The first encounter dates back to December 12, 2008, when the Warangal police shot down, in cold blood, three persons allegedly accused of throwing acid on two girls. It was none other than present day Cyberabad Police Commissioner VC Sajjanar, who is handling the Hyderabad rape case, led the 2008 action as the SP of Warangal.

At that time 11 years ago too, the police had claimed that those ‘accused’ in the acid attack case were shot dead in self-defence as they had tried to attack the police and escape. According to the police, the trio was taken to a place near Muvunur where they had hidden the motorcycle used during the incident. But as soon as they neared the vehicle, the accused whipped out a revolver and knives hidden in the motorcycle and tried to attack the police.

Police had claimed that the men had asked the escort to stop to answer nature’s call and while reboarding the bus, tried to snatch weapons from the police. All five of them were killed in self-defence, police had said. The encounter took place a week after two SIMI activists shot dead four policemen while trying to escape a check post in Nalgonda district. Civil rights activists have however repeatedly claimed it was a staged encounter and that the five men were killed to avenge the death of the policemen.

The post Who killed the Hyderabad rape accused? appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Hyderabad/New Delhi: The extra judicial killing took place at 3 am on Friday, close to where the accused had allegedly burnt the woman’s body. The Cyberabad police has given this information to the media and world. According to police officials, the accused were taken to the crime scene to recreate the incident of the crime, when they reportedly tried to escape. 

 DCP Shamshabad Prakash Reddy said, “Cyberabad Police had brought the accused people to the crime spot for re-construction of the sequence of events. The accused snatched weapon and fired on police. In self defence, the police fired back, in which the accused were killed.”

The men were rushed to a nearby hospital but they succumbed to bullet injuries.  The father of the veterinarian said, “It has been 10 days to the day my daughter died. I express my gratitude towards the police and the government for this. My daughter’s soul must be at peace now.”

Speaking to media, the sister of the Hyderabad vet said, “I am happy the four accused have been killed in an encounter. This incident would set an example. I thank the police and media for their support.”

The men, identified as Mohammed (26), Jollu Shiva (20), Jollu Naveen (20) and Chintakunta Chennakeshavulu (20), were arrested on November 29 for allegedly raping and killing the woman by smothering her and later burning her body.

The police alleged that one of the four accused had gestured to the other three to flee after attacking the cops. The four tried to run towards a deserted pathway when cops opened fire in self-defence, an official told The Indian Express. He added the accused were taken for the recce in the middle of the night “to avoid confrontation with the public, who are angry.”

Also Read
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Sultanpur rape case: CJP moves NHRC citing lacunae in police investigation
Reject culture of misogyny, democratise socio-cultural spaces: #Justice4RapeVictims

The post All four accused in Hyderabad vet rape & shot dead appeared first on SabrangIndia.

In the wake of the recent case of the most brutal rape-murder of a woman veterinarian in Hyderabad, attacked and killed when returning home after work, the question of the safety of women in India has yet again generated heated debate. In 2013, the Justice Verma Committee recommended better street lighting, 24/7 public transport, more alert and gender sensitive policing, an end to victim blaming, and changes in law.

Now, six years later, is there away this outrage of citizens actually compels the government to implement Justice Verma Committee’s recommendations?

It is time one revisits the Justice Verma Committee report that was submitted after the Delhi gang rape case of 2012. Public debate, confined as it is to momentary responses on twitter and Facebook rarely go below the surface. For instance, it is not widely known that not all recommendations of the report were implemented though the criminal law was amended.

Some other key recommendations made in the report regarding improvement of safety measures to prevent such crimes from happening, would, if they had been effectively implemented, prevented the loss of life and such a brutal dual crime in Hyderabad.
 

Current Outrage

Parliament, social media and the streets, India has, just like in 2012 with the Nirbhaya case, burst forth in anger: #JusticeForRapeVictims Trending hastags and statements by parliamentarians urging authorities to come down on the criminals with an iron-fisted approach have hogged headlines. Apart from the rape-murder of the Hyderabad vet last Friday, a series of 5 deadly rape cases were reported from different corners of the country in a period of two days – all pointing to violent crimes against women and girls on the rise across India.

Tamil Nadu:A 32-year-old widow, from Neyveli in Cuddalore, Tamil Nadu, was gangraped by five men on her way home from grocery shopping, on Thursday, a day before the Hyderabad crime. One of the five accused was killed by the other rapists, after he got into a fight with them over his turn to rape the victim.

Tamil Nadu: A twenty-year-old Dalit woman, Roja, was raped and murdered in Kancheepuram. The  body of a 20-year-old was found in the bushes in Kancheepuram in Tamil Nadu by shepherds who saw her carcass on the evening of 26th November. They alerted the village administration and the police came to recover her body – but it was completely decomposed by the time any action was taken.

Punjab: An auto-rickshaw driver was arrested for kidnapping and raping an 11-year-old girl who was abandoned by her aunt at Chandigarh Railway Station, Punjab Police said on November29. Urmila Devi, Sub-Inspector of the Government Railway Police (GRP), told ANI, “A girl was allegedly abandoned by her aunt on Chandigarh Railway Station. A case has been registered under POSCO Act.

Gujarat: On the night of November 28, a 14-year-old girl who was out with her 16-year-old male friend, was raped by two men near Navlakhi Compound, Vadodara. The two rapists approached the pair of friends posing as policemen and picked a fight with them. When the victim and her friend began moving away, the rapists thrashed the boy and dragged the girl into a compound, asking her if she had any valuables such as gold ornaments or an expensive mobile phone. When she refused, they took turns to rape her. The girl’s friend informed the police immediately and they found her lying on a cricket ground located near the western end of Navlakhi Compound. The medical examination confirmed that she was sexually assaulted several times and bore injuries on her private parts. The rapist duo is still absconding.

 Jharkand: A 25-year-old law student was abducted and gang raped by 12 men at gunpoint at a brick kiln near Ranchi’s high-security zone this week. According to a report, all 12 accused have confessed to the crime. As per the FIR lodged by the victim at Kanke police station, the incident happened at around 5.30 pm on November 26 when she was with a friend in the city outskirts.

Maharashtra:A 35-year-old man was paraded naked on Sunday evening by people for trying to rape a four-year-old girl at her house in Pardi area of Nagpur in Maharashtra, the Asian Age reported. The police said that the accused, Jawahar Vaidya, a daily cash collection agent for a co-operative society bank, was thrashed, had his hands tied by a rope and paraded naked on the streets before being handed over to them.

About the Committee and the report

The Justice Verma Committee was constituted through a Government of India Notification dated December 23, 2012 to look into possible amendments of the Criminal Law to provide for quicker trial and enhanced punishment for criminals committing sexual assault of extreme nature against women. This was on the back of the nationwide outrage over the December 16, 2012 Nirbhaya gang rape in Delhi.

The Committee submitted the report within 30 days of its constitution, on January 23, 2012. The urgency of the report was that the Committee was formed in the aftermath of the brutal case of gang rape in Delhi in December 2012. The Committee was headed by Justice J.S. Verma (Retd) and had two other members, namely, Justice Leila Seth (Retd) and Mr. Gopal Subramanium.

The report started with a quote of Mahatma Gandhi which is pertinent to be noted here,

“Woman is the companion of man, gifted with equal mental capacities. She has the right to participate in the minutest details in the activities of man, and she has an equal right of freedom and liberty with him. She is entitled to a supreme place in her own sphere of activity as man is in his. This ought to be the natural condition of things and not as a result only of learning to read and write. By sheer force of a vicious custom, even the most ignorant and worthless men have been enjoying a superiority over woman which they do not deserve and ought not to have. Many of our movements stop half way because of the condition of our women”

The Verma Committee report is a comprehensive document on the issue of rape, sexual assault, trafficking of women and children, child sexual abuse and honour killings, especially in terms of definition, references made from international conventions as well as international case laws.

The report notes that, “even though a government may enjoy popular public will, unless and until its actions are informed by constitutionalism, it will be unable to discharge the obligations towards citizens which are guaranteed under the Constitution.  The way in which these rights are made visible in life, society, and on a practical and continual basis, is the obligation of the State. This cannot be more telling in the context of women, their rights and their empowerment.”
 

The Justice Verma Committee recommendations

There are some extremely crucial recommendations that were made in the report apart from definitions and prescription of punishments. The Report had also made some suggestions with respect to safety measures that will play a precautionary role, which will altogether prevent such crimes from occurring in the first place. The report held, “Apart from having an efficient and honest law and order machinery, it is necessary that certain basic measures regarding provision of civic amenities be undertaken by the State, so as to minimise opportunities for the perpetrators of the crimes.”

Some recommendations made in the report pertaining to safety measures:

1. State should undertake the task of providing well-lit roads, streets and other common spaces to the citizens.

2. At night women have to get out of their houses to use sanitation facilities and these moments are abused by anti-social element and hence issue of provision of adequate sanitation facilities in villages and urban areas has to be considered urgently.

3. Directions given by the Supreme Court in respect of use of dark film on car windows need to be implemented strictly as the use of black films upon the vehicles gives immunity to the violators in committing a crime and is used as a tool of criminality, considerably increasing criminal activities.

4. The central government had issued a memorandum dated September 4, 2009  to all state governments titled “Advisory on Crime against Women” which include some pertinent points, gender sensitization of the police personnel, adopting appropriate measures for swift and salutary punishment to public servants found guilty of custodial violence against women, minimizing delays in investigations of murder, rape and torture of women and improving its quality, setting up a ‘crime against women cell’ in districts where they do not exist, providing adequate counselling centres and shelter homes for women who have been victimized, setting up of special women courts, and improving the effectiveness of schemes developed for the welfare and rehabilitation of women who are victimized with greater emphasis on income generation to make the women more independent and self-reliant.

5. The Advisory also asked concerned state departments to take suitable steps to increase number of beat constables specially on sensitive roads, increase number of police help booth/kiosks specially in remote and lonely stretches, increase police patrolling specially during the night, increase in number of women police officers in mobile police vans, set up telephone booths for easy access to police, install people friendly street lights on all roads, ensure street lights are working.

6. All public transport, after 5.30 pm until 7.30 am must have a security person, they must be well-lit, they must have drivers who are security vetted by local road transport authority and they must have a good character certificate from two known persons in the city.

7. Make it mandatory for the bus owners (or State Road Transport Corporations) to display, in good light, the bus numbers as well as the name, age and address of the drivers along with their photographs and contact numbers.  It should be displayed within the bus and should always be visible on the outside of the bus as well.

8. All buses to have CCTV cameras in Metro cities

9. All buses to be fitted with tamper-proof GPS systems.

10. There should be downloadable mobile phone applications so that citizens can, with one click or touch, send distress signals to the police.

About well-lit roads, the report said that it is nothing but common sense that crime hides in darkness and eradication of darkness is an easy way to eradicate crime. The Committee also expressed its despair that the central and the state governments were unable to even implement most basic safety measures with any amount of efficacy.
 

Adoption of the recommendations

Whenever a Committee is formed under the instructions of the government, the Committee makes a comprehensive report with recommendations. Albeit, these recommendations are not binding on the government and it is at liberty only consider a few of the suggestions, modify the same and use the report as a guiding document. Hence, although the Justice Verma Committee report, a well-researched document, is available with the government, it is now gathering dust and the recommendations made therein which still remain relevant even after 6 years, the same have not been implemented. The price, however, is being paid by the women of this country, as the government, the administration, the executive have all failed to safeguard them despite of having a list of “things to-do”.

Maybe it’s time the government realises that having a fast track court hear the Hyderabad case is only a piece meal approach being used to pacify public furore and what it needs to do is dust off the Justice Verma Report and issue strict and time bound advisories to state governments for implementing some of the most relevant recommendations which will go a long way in ensuring women safety in India.

The Complete report may be read here.

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Five Actions You Can Take To End Gender Based Violence
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Sultanpur rape case: CJP moves NHRC citing lacunae in police investigation
Reject culture of misogyny, democratise socio-cultural spaces: #Justice4RapeVictims
Dalit woman found dead, family alleges gang-rape: Kancheepuram
WCD Ministry offers up cookie-cutter answers to queries on domestic violence

The post Revisiting the Justice Verma Committee report of 2013: #JusticeForRapeVictims appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The horrendous rape and murder of Hyderabad’s vet doctor has again brought into light the dirty realities of our life that women remain the most vulnerable in India. The incidents of brutal rapes are fact of life here where leaders never get tired of sermonizing us of our ‘glorious’ past when women were regarded as ‘goddess’ and what not.

Somehow it has become routine for media and society to ‘express’ their ‘outrage’ but the fact is these become their TRP events and nothing happen. Political parties open mouth according to their conveniences. In the Kathua case, the entire lawyer community was against the ‘death penalty’ and claimed that it was a ‘conspiracy’ against the Hindus since the girl was a Muslim or from the nomadic community, in Unnao, there was no binary as the girl who was oppressed belong to the Rajput community and the accused the BJP MLA Kuldeep Sengar too was a Rajput. For many secular too it was not a fit case to be commented upon as they were busy with Kathua which too was important but just listen to the terror of Kuldeep Singh and how politically he was protected by the power in Uttar Pradesh.

Every day there are rapes and murders happening and each passing day we find new modes of brutality. Now, girls are not merely being raped but being brutalized and burnt alive. Have you heard a single statement from those in power? Where is the PM and HM ? During the Nirbhaya’s case, when the crowd swelled in the streets of Delhi, people blamed Prime Minister Dr Man Mohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi for not responding or keeping silent. The big movement that we witnessed in the streets of Delhi was against their ‘silence’ but there is nothing happening today. All the ‘passed-out’ from ‘Nagpur’ are silent. Those who were tweeting and speaking at every moment are silent today. The only ‘crusader’ is Madhu Kishwar and other trolls of the “Parivar’ who picked up a Muslim name and start demanding ‘culprits’ must be hanged to death.

The question is how to deal with this issue. Can we handle it with merely ‘law enforcement’ and ‘new set of laws’ or hanging of the ‘culprits’. Or should we as a society need to seriously think about our ownself that as a society we have completely failed in educating our wards about equality and fraternity. We imbibe so much from the past that we are unable to reject the dirt of the past. In our narratives, festivities, stories take so much pride in the past that we ‘re-interpret’ them according to our suitability and political ideology.

The fact is, burning is not new to this country. Women are burnt for not bringing dowry. They are burnt for not able to bear a son. Some of burnt for being ‘witch’. Some are ‘burnt’ for ‘honor’ while many others for ‘alleged’ ‘relationship’. We have examples of Tadka and Holika not being burnt alone but their burning celebrated all over the country. Somehow, our society has been intoxicated to the idea of revenge and woman’s ‘sexuality’ relate to ‘purity’ mostly to maintain caste supremacy and brahmanical patriarchy. In the last ten years, this revenge and violence has been normalised. Initially, we used to blame to the popular cinema for spreading superstition and misogyny and then our stars and their gurus would counter that suggesting why the positive of the cinema are not talked about and now we have whatsapp universities spreading lies and distortions.

The worst part is how selective outrage is being carried out by the trolls who felt that people are outraged because the Kathua girl was a Muslim so they blamed the ‘secular’ for deliberately targeting the Hindus while now since one accused is a Muslim, they are blaming ‘Islam’ for all the evils. This is dangerous and deviate from the real issue of women security and our societal value system.

We have laws and after Nirbhaya, the government showed ‘extraordinary’ speed in making a law related to protection of women but nothing happened. None remember that law now and the violence against women have grown manifold how. It is not merely violence but we have crossed all the limits of barbarity as far as violence against women is concern. I don’t know how these ideas are emerging and whether we as a society have a psychological disorder which needs ‘treatment’.  Every time these horrific things are reported, some catch our attention while a huge lot don’t, but we all come out with one demand, hang the culprits. Well, I will not speak on that as my only demand would be fast track court and speedy trial and ensure that all public platform remain not merely easily accessible but also comfortable for women. We can ask this question, what is happing to the brave Unnao girl who dared to fight against the goons of the ruling party? What is happening to the law student of Shahjahanpur, who spoke against a powerful Swamy Chinmayananda ? What kind of message does it send to others that don’t open your mouth against the powerful?

Telangana Chief Minister KCR remained silent for first few days and ordered fast track court for fast conviction. He also spoke against the night shift of the women employees and like any other, there will be more argument now that women should be home before the dawn. His son has woken up just before him suggesting that this extraordinary crisis as protest emerged in Telangana and people are deeply distressed. Politicians know well that these things may spread widely and violently. Most of them have started to jump on the same bandwagon as capital punishment for the rapists. There was a fear during Nirbhaya debate that with more focus on death penalty will only convert rapists into murderers too. There is a need to make an analysis whether the violence and brutality against women in the post Nirbhaya incident has increased or not. It also needs to be seen whether the brutality and the kind of barbarism, we are seeing has increased.

Many friends are suggesting how women can keep safe. Many are asking for new laws but it look India need many things together if we have to address the issue of inequality and violence. We have a constitution and it is time for all of us to ensure that all those who join our services and have the duty to implement laws must be made absolutely committed to uphold the rule of law and constitution. If they are found violating the constitutional spirit, then the only way should be to dismiss them from services with harsher penalty.

The second important thing is to make our public places safer and involvement of women in them. Community- policing and inclusion of the diverse section of women the forces including parking spaces which are actually one of the most dangerous zones as far as women’s security is concern. It would be better for urban planner to ensure fix zones for pick up, parking or cabs and these places must have enough women safety measures.

Also important to make police emergency center for women in distress so that issues of jurisdiction of a certain police station does not become an obstacle in immediate support to the needy as happened in the case of the Hyderabad girl.

Will our children and then youngsters ever learn the lesson on gender and caste in our schools? Teaching about our ‘great’ culture like a parrot but not educating them that boys and girls have equal rights and all individuals in India of whatever caste and communities are equal citizens. Will we not educate our children about untouchability a crime and that women are no inferior.

Can our cinema take a lead and stop stereotyping people on the basis of their caste, religion, region and gender ? When will we stop glamorizing past and remain quiet on the wrongs of the past. Our present can not be happier with our silence on the wrongs of the past and therefore we must speak up.

At home, will we educate our children of equality of sexes and citizenship. Will we stop telling our children how great our ‘caste’ is and how some work is meant for boys and other for girls ? Will we tell our boys and girls not to make comment on everything and accept people what they are ?

Will our advertising companies stop marketing the ‘gorepan kee cream’ and all the rubbish they show when advertising on soap, cooking stuff and even cars. Will our actors stop doing such films which justify the wrongs of the past, stereotype people on the basis of their caste, gender and religion?  Will our media stop broadcasting sermons of the fake babas engaged in so-many sexual scandals? Will our families stop sending their children to these Babas in the name of ‘satsangs’ ?

It is also important for all of us as a society not to fall prey to right wing propaganda and celebration of ‘rapes’ and brutalization of ‘other’. We cant be selective and that is why it is important for all of us to understand that conflict, riots, ethnic, communal violence, war etc affect women the most as it is they who suffer whether at the hands of ‘enemy’ or our ‘own’. We must feel the agony of those who are not getting justice even today when political leaders call for ‘rape’ as tool to humiliate the ‘opponents’. Such degrading speeches must get total and uncompromising rejection from us otherwise it will be just a fad and confining the whole issue as a ‘law and order’ one. The women in Mujjaffarnagar, who were violated in 2013 planned riots, in Manipur, in Gujarat, in Kashmir and in Bastar or anywhere else, they are human being and citizens of our country. We must stand for them. That is why, I say, the issue of caste and gender are not merely law and order but deeply related to our social crisis which need to be addressed seriously otherwise it will destroy all of us.

Ours is a deeply dissatisfied society, which is sexually hungry and perhaps need psychological treatment now as far as its understanding and thought of gender question is concern. It need strong treatment and that is not merely death penalty and harsh punishment which are there but also changing our value system. How does a woman feel when the ‘dukandaars’ of the Janpath stare her ? What is the attitude of the cab driver when he deals with women customers? There are certain things which come naturally to us. You ask any autowallah about the stories of women and they will start narrating how women particularly young girls are bad. They will drink, they have sex, they smoke, he would say. And if you tell him that men do that, then they become sheepish. Every autowallah actually feel that it is his right to comment on woman. The other things which take for granted is commenting on the color of our skin, size of a man or woman.

In the past ten years, we have seen the online dirt spilling over with threat of rape and murder against the political opponents or those who we differ with. Twitter seems to be the worst in all this and need to be reined in. How can you have anonymous twitter handle to abuse people? Online abuse, threats to any one must be taken seriously and cases must be filed against those handles promoting this. It is also important for all of us not to become party in pushing forward buttons of our whatsapp or other social media platform when a crime video is sent to you. Most of the time, these videos are not meant to support people but to deliberately humiliate the individual. Is it not important for anyone who push such videos to write about the place and date of the incident and why he or she is sending it or forwarding it.

Yesterday, the RSS Pramukh Mohan Bhagwat said that ‘men’ have to be taught about respecting women. My question is the Sangh and all other celebrate our ‘culture’ but the fact is these kinds of attitudinal issues are emerging for those culture where woman’s independent and autonomy is considered to be a direct threat to man. The brahmanical patriarchy in India ensures that no woman should stand up and speak up for her. The same is true about those who are oppressed and ostracized because of their caste and untouchability widely prevailing even today.

And at the end, it is also essential for us to reject all forms of violence. Don’t just allow yourself to be swayed by the violent videos and children celebrating the violence. Important to democratize the spaces which are your own areas and encourage your male wards to do ‘homely’ things ‘reserved’ for girls or women. Don’t celebrate festivals which degrade women and make them dependable. It look wonderful to have Karwachauth, Bhaiduj, Rakhi, Chhath and so many others but the fact is that they somehow ensure that women must remain under the protection of men and whenever this is ‘violated’,  the woman face violence. It is important to educate our men and women both that women can’t carry the burden of this culture forever at the cost of her dignity and freedom. Once we realize the woman too have their minds and they can take a decision, they know what is good or bad or even if they don’t know, they will face it, our children will start respecting their autonomy. It is time to educate boys and men about their limitations and respecting the rights of woman. It will never happen as long as we celebrate those festivals where women are projected ‘dependent’ on men, whether it is her father, husband or son. India needs to wake up and accept that women are independent human being apart from being some body’s wife, daughter and mother and they can think for themselves.  

The education for an equal society and autonomous individuals with their duties to protect our lonely planet and public spaces, must start from homes, from our schools and public institutions. If India does not respond to growing changes, we will be among the most dangerous places for women to live in. The time has come when we will have to think beyond one particular incident of violence against woman and remember it should not become a woman’s issue alone as women’s rights are human rights too. Let us stand up for freedom, equality and fraternity  to create a society free from fear and violence. 

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