In Tunisia it began with the insult to a street trader. Is India witnessing an ‘Arab Spring’ in its political and social life? The anger and protest which have engulfed the cities are an expression of a new generation which sees politics very differently from their elders who are hidebound in their perceptions. Like the student movements of US, UK and France which swept a lot of old politics aside in the sixties, this is the first expression of the ‘baby boom’—a ‘demographic dividend’ if you wish. Indian politics had begun to shift towards a younger generation during Rajiv Gandhi’s brief years. With his untimely death, it had a geriatric setback. Now, this is the new dawn.
Unlike Anna Hazare’s pastiche of Gandhian politics, this movement is expressing sentiments which have never had a political expression in modern India in ways which are unique. It is not that rape is unusual, sadly not. The majority of rapes are by a man known to the victim; patriarchy is not just a concept in India, it is a daily reality. Yet this particular episode has exposed all the myriad structural faults in Indian public life.
A gang rape is horrible enough but along with it the woman and her companion were physically beaten to within an inch of their lives. They were not in a night club or bar; no standard excuses were available to shift the blame on to the woman. They were in a bus. Women in Delhi and across India take the casual grope, touch or lewd remark in their stride. But in this bus which pretended to be ferrying passengers to their destination they were subjected to inhuman degradation. Every woman could imagine herself in the place of the brave woman who was nearly destroyed. But not the political classes.
India’s political classes showed their incomprehension in their stock responses. Of course they do not know what it is to be unsafe in public transport.They swan about in their tax payer financed cars with lalbattis; they consume an inordinate amount of security resources for their protection. Not one politician has as yet renounced either their lalbattis or their security cover. And yet they are afraid to meet the crowd in person. Barack Obama can visit the school where the kids were killed; David Cameron can meet crowds in Trafalgar Square but not our netas. They invite a few to meet them in the safety of their homes and even that after some days. No single political leader has addressed the crowds in person. (Even Kejriwal took several days before climbing on the bandwagon.) The PM’s TV appearance was brief and botched by clumsy editing. The Minister of State at Home Ministry asked for safety assurance for Rahul Gandhi from the demonstrators!
India may be a vibrant democracy but its leaders are crippled with a fear of their people. They fear assassination; not just the top ones but even the least important ones cower behind Black Cats. The youth on the march cannot trust anyone in a position of power and no wonder when the leaders are so fearful that they will not confront them in person.
The incident has exposed the rottenness at the heart of India’s political system.There are judicial delays amounting to denial of justice; police hostility or mere absence when women need them; there are laws galore but they are never implemented. Far from protecting women, politicians, in many dozens, are implicated in rape cases, though rest assured they will all escape justice. In Punjab, Rajasthan and Haryana, in the last few months, women have been murdered or have committed suicide or lost their fathers defending their honour—in which the counterparty has been a Minister.
The political system is adept at fighting its internal battle as was shown in the farce about the Quota Bill. If there is a special parliamentary session, it will be wasted in not allowing any time for discussion lest the Women’s Representation Bill gets passed.
The people are there to serve the politicians by voting for them every five years. How dare they demand the right to be safe? That is the politicians’ privilege.
[courtesy : "The Sunday Express", Dec 30 2012]
