Grieving for My Sister, the Delhi Braveheart

Delhi Gang Rape Case, a Reason to be Ashamed on Being a Man

It took more than one week for this writer to come out of the shock and the mental distress that he went through after knowing about the gang rape of a 23 year old girl in a bus in Delhi, for it was only recently that one of his younger sisters had explained to him the various harassments that she faces in her everyday bus journey through the city roads of Thiruvananthapuram. He had no courage to write about it hitherto as he was appalled and completely taken aback at what happened, for in his mind the Delhi gang rape survivor (she should not be called a victim, but a brave survivor, for she is showing tremendous bravery and courage in the hospital) suddenly become his own sister; her pain, his own sister’s pain and the agony of her parents and brothers, his own agony.

Whole of the country has joined with the protesters in Delhi streets to ask for justice for the girl. While the most important thing now is doing everything to save the life of the girl, making sure that the culprits get maximum punishment for the horrendous crime they committed is one of utmost importance as well. Though this writer, along with Amnesty International, for which he is a Voice Ambassador, has always taken a principled stand against capital punishment, he wonders what other punishment could be given to the culprits of this gang rape, who behaved worse than the beasts. The maximum punishment for those convicted for rape in our country is a life imprisonment of 10 years, which by any standards is grossly inadequate. Life time imprisonment for 10 years, together with permanent castration seems to be an adequate punishment for rape, which is a crime that must be considered a much graver crime than murder, as murder would end the life of a victim, but rape would put the victim under terrible lifelong trauma and social stigma. Though it is true that rape is not only about sex, but is about power, violence, intimidation and humiliation, it seems logical that the threat of castration as a punishment to rape will act as a deterrent.

The conviction rate of rapists in our country is abysmally low (studies show it to be as low as 20%) and most of the rapists go scot free, which gives a sense of impunity to them. Therefore for the rapists, it is not the enormity of punishment like capital punishment, but certainty of punishment that could act as a deterrent. The legislature should not only make strong laws to give model punishment to the rapists, but the police machinery should be made capable of providing incriminating evidence to nail the culprits in a court of law. A lot of onus also rests on the judiciary and there is an urgent need to create an environment in the courts where the victims are not further tortured while they are examined in the courts. The judicial system in India also needs to debate why the conviction rate in rape cases is less.

The impressive protests at Delhi show how the lay people feel about the whole issue – they are outraged, angry and livid. They call for justice, not only for the gang rape survivor, but for all women in the country. The protests see participation from all sections of the society; men and women, students and professionals, young and the old, people from various political parties and the apolitical. Women’s right to life is being threatened and they are protesting to save their freedom and to save their lives. The men folk are protesting because in such an environment of insecurity and danger no man can rest assured when his sisters, daughters and mothers are out travelling in public buses, trains and on the public roads of the country. The situation must change and the protestors are asking for action and not mere words of assurances uttered by the government machinery. 

The central government has some answering to do as the law and order situation in the capital city is directly handled by the central government. There is an urgent need of better policing in the country, particularly in the capital city of Delhi.  The government and the parliament must work together and bring about a stricter rape law. Fast track courts must be established to try rape cases and model punishments must be handed down. As Kiran Bedi has suggested there is a need of social audit to keep track of the how the police is functioning and to give valuable suggestions to improve the functioning of the police department.

The most important change that needs to come is not in the legal functions of the judiciary or the executive tasks of the police department, but in the social mindset of the country. In the patriarchal social order in India, women are still considered as second rate citizens, with unequal status when compared to men. Girl children are unwanted to many and female foetuses are destroyed in the womb itself; women are subjected to harassment at the workplaces and at homes; most husbands think the rights of their wives are to be trampled upon; wives, daughters and sisters are not allowed to make their own choices and many wives and even girlfriends don’t live their own lives but live lives that their husbands and boyfriends want them to live. It is high time we work to change this social mindset. Boys and men need to be trained from a very young age on why it is important to respect women. Teach them the importance of respecting their mothers, teach them that their sisters have the same rights as they have, teach them their wives and girl friends are free to have their individual choices, teach them that their daughters should be given exactly the same opportunities as their sons, teach them that a woman is not a sexual object but a human being that deserves respect and dignity, teach them that touching a woman’s body without her consent won’t make him a man, but a coward. 

When this writer’s younger sister told him indignantly that ‘all’ men are harassers, he got ashamed but took umbrage on that comment as he honestly believed he had never been a harasser of women and so told her to change her opinion and asked her to add the caveat ‘many’ men instead of a more generalised ‘all’ men. It is a matter of dreadful ignominy and pathetic shame that our sisters and daughters have started to think that all men are harassers. The men folk have no one else to blame but themselves, and as long as news about rapes, harassments and eve teasing come from any part of the world, men all around the world would be faced with occasions such as the one this writer faced, where he would be ashamed on being a man. 

Why Sachin Tendulkar Should Not Retire Now

Amidst the cacophony of diverse voices baying for the blood of Sachin Tendulkar, this writer, a self-confessed emotional fan of the great man, would point out some facts by which he would like to tell why this is the not the right time for Sachin to announce his retirement. When the instinctive Tendulkar-bashers and the so called pundits of the game are burning the midnight oil to come up with logical points to prove why Tendulkar should retire now, this writer would try to counter them with his own style of reasoning, which is an assortment of logic as well as emotion - without some emotional discourse, what is an Indian? 

First things first. One of the main arguments that the pundits put forward to say that it is high time for Tendulkar be asked to retire by the selectors is the fundamental philosophy that no one is bigger than the game. Now, let us face it, let us face the truth – Sachin Tendulkar is bigger than the game, period. The popularity of the game soared to magnificent proportions in India during the 90s only because of the great man Sachin Tendulkar. People flocked to the cricket stadium not to watch the game, but to the see the young prodigy at work; they left the stadium en masse the moment he got out. For a generation of Indians, including this writer, he has been a role model, a symbol of courage, dignity, hard work, perseverance, righteousness and an embodiment of a never-say-die attitude. For them he has been the living model of an emerging India after the opening up of the economy to global competition, confident and brave, competing in the global stage to make a name of itself. When he scored runs, the whole country rejoiced, when he got out cheaply, the whole country despaired. Millions of poor people in the country found a little redemption from their sufferings when the Little Master scored hundreds. When he scored runs against the English, people felt centuries of British domination of India is getting avenged, when he scored runs against Pakistan, Indians felt he is fighting a brave battle against the arch rivals for all of us. When his father passed away during the 1999 World Cup, the whole country mourned and when he got back to the team and hit a century few days after his bereavement all his countrymen praised the strength of human spirit that he showed. It is not a matter of ignominy, but a matter of human triumph that a mere mortal became bigger than the world that made him. And it is not the first time in the history of mankind that someone became bigger than his/her field of activity. Indian politics did not define Mahatma Gandhi, he defined Indian politics; pop music did not define Michael Jackson, the ‘King of Pope’ defined pop music; English drama did not define William Shakespeare, the great playwright defined English drama. 

The Indian team is going through a transition phase after the retirement of the greats Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman. This is the time that the youngsters in the team need someone who can groom them and this makes it extremely important that Tendulkar remain in the team. If the detractors of the man come with an argument that he is not scoring runs and in such a circumstance how sensible it would be to retain him in the team, it must be noted that no one in the current Indian team is scoring consistent runs. Sehwag, Gambhir, Kohli, Yuvraj, Dhoni have all scored cheaply in the current series. 

It is again not that lot of great talents in the domestic circuit are knocking the doors of the Indian team to get in and take the place of Tendulkar. Names of Ajinkya Rahane, Subramaniam Badrinath, Mohd. Kaif, Manoj Tiwary, and Suresh Raina are going the rounds as the probables for replacing Tendulkar. All these players have got chances to play international cricket, but none has shown strong batting technique while playing against international bowlers, not to talk about about foreign match conditions. So it is not that there is a long queue of prodigious talents waiting for their entry in to the Indian team prevented only by the presence of Tendulkar in the team. 

Sachin Tendulkar still puts more efforts in constantly improving his batting skills and in rectifying technical glitches than any other of his teammates. It shows the commitment of the man and his determination. Even the great Sunil Gavaskar didn’t put a lot of effort in practice sessions during the fag end of his career. If about age being a factor, 37 test centuries in total have been made by 17 batsmen after they passed the age of 40. Englishman Jack Hobbs made 8 of them after he passed the age of 40 and he is also the oldest to make a test century at the age of 46 years and 82 days. So there are batsmen in the world who have defied age and hit test hundreds, notwithstanding the talks about reflexes getting poorer as you get older.

The retirement of the great Ricky Ponting, a contemporary of Sachin Tendulkar, has come as a shot in the arm for all those who call for the retirement of the great man. But one must note that the condition of the present Australian team is completely different from the condition of the present Indian team. Though the Aussies lost their recent test series against the Proteas, they are still a strong batting side. Michael Clarke is at his topmost form and is making lot of runs at will (this calendar year Clarke scored four double hundreds, a first time in the history of the game, even Sir Don had hit only three double hundreds in a calendar year), Michael Hussey, as always, is rock solid in that middle order, David Warner and Ed Cowan are good opening batsmen, Shane Watson is a brilliant all-rounder, already being compared to the great Jacques Kallis and the new comer in the team, keeper-batsman Mathew Wade has already shown he is not any bad with the bat. So the retirement of Ponting is not a serious setback for the Australians, but only a matter of natural transition. Therefore a comparison of Ponting retirement with Tendulkar’s is not correct in any way. 

At a time when the Indian cricket ship is sinking at a fast pace it is not 'Tendulkar-like' to jump off it, escape and look to save only his life. Many times the great man has single-handedly carried the whole weight of the team, like Atlas carried the earth on his broad shoulders, and rescued the team from many an ominous situation. The great Sachin Tendulkar has been a fighter, many times a lone fighter for his country, and one can hardly find him retiring now with this team in big trouble, unless of course he is forced to make such a decision by the team selectors who might humbly ask him to do it after convincing him that it is good for the team. And he always did what is good for the team, didn’t he?

Courtesy: Mohandas Menon for the statistics, the busy statistician found time to reply to this writer’s request in Twitter

Image Courtesy: PTI

Sponsor a Child’s Education through ActionAid

Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world. ― Nelson Mandela

For many children in India, the dream of going to school and get education remains only that, a dream. Abject poverty prevents them from going to school and they are made to work to help their families make both ends meet. Now you could lend a helping hand to these children and help them get school education through ‘Sponsor a Child’ programme of ActionAid.

ActionAid is an international organisation with 40 years of experience of working with the poor and the marginalised in India (find more information from www.actionaid.org/india). Through the ‘Sponsor a Child’ programme of ActionAid, you can sponsor a child’s education by contributing Rs.6000 a year. You can either contribute this amount as a one-time payment, or in three instalments – Rs.2000 in each quarter. You can use your bank cheque, your credit card or your debit card (in case of debit card you can make only the one-time payment of Rs. 6000 at ActionAid offices) to make the contribution. 

You can find more information about ‘Sponsor a Child’ programme from the following url.

www.actionaidindia.org/sponsor/

Will you join with me in brightening a child’s future?

Be the change you want to see in the world.- Mahatma Gandhi

Disclaimer: This writer is not professionally involved with ActionAid and this post is only a general appeal.