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Hindustan Times shutting down editions – it’s dangerously lazy to blame demonetisation

Rahul Roushan
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Hindustan Times shutting down editions – it’s dangerously lazy to blame demonetisation

A couple of days back, some people on Twitter posted about speculations over Hindustan Times closing down several of its city editions. On the same day, reports claimed that Hindustan Times had decided to shut down its business bureau. Now it appears that both the speculations about the paper shutting down some of its city editions and its business bureau are correct, as the media company has not issued any denial so far.

As per a ‘leaked’ letter being circulated, the newspaper has decided to close down its Kolkata, Bhopal, Indore, and Ranchi editions. It’s not yet clear what happens to the journalists employed for these editions i.e. whether they would be absorbed into the main business or would be laid off. If chatter among the media community is to be believed, most probably they are going to lose their jobs.

The letter says that this decision of discontinuing the aforementioned city editions has been taken to meet the changing consumption trends and to focus on the digital business.

The blame for this potential job loss and a feared slowdown in the print media industry has been put on – and no prizes for guessing – Narendra Modi. Yes, most of the commentary around the development blames ‘demonetisation’ for it. And when there is an opportunity to blame Modi, how can Arvind Kejriwal miss it? So he too joined the debate.

Blaming Modi is a good intellectual exercise, but efforts should be made that it doesn’t become too lazy. No data, such as a drop in sales volumes of newspapers or advertising revenues going down post demonetisation, has been cited by anyone, but somehow it has been concluded that demonetisation is to be blamed.

Vineet Jain, Managing Director of Times Group – the competitor of Hindustan Times that never misses an opportunity to show how the Times of India is taking away all the market share and business (and perhaps ‘forcing’ it to cut costs by laying off employees?) – tweeted “supporting” Hindustan Times and blaming demonetisation. Not just that, he even demanded tax breaks from the government for the print industry. Again, no logic or proof offered over how demonetisation was killing print or the newspapers.

Without data, even I won’t say that demonetisation is NOT to be blamed. But one thing I can say with 100% certainty, is that demonetisation is not the ONLY thing to be blamed. The crisis in the newspaper industry, and by extension in the journalism business, goes beyond demonetisation, or for that matter, beyond the Indian economy.

In last year August, US based comedian and media critic John Oliver had aired an episode on his weekly show Last Week Tonight that focussed on journalism. In the show, he showed how various newspapers in the USA were shutting down and argued that the trend threatened to damage the way entire journalism industry functioned. He painted a gloomy picture, although in a funny way, of the future of journalism.

His show re-triggered a debate that already had been raging for many years – why are people not paying to get news? Is the print dying? And if so, can journalism survive entirely in electronic and digital forms?

Had Obama or any other head of a western country announced any demonetisation that led to newspapers being shut down in the west?

The way media consumption habits are changing rapidly, it was given that the print industry was staring at an uncertain future. Between 2008-2010, 166 newspapers had to shut down in the US. The decline has continued and it’s the same story in most the western countries, because digital adoption was faster than one thought. As per Pew Research Center, just 5% of Americans in the age group 18-29 got their news from print in 2016:

Younger generation and print
Newspapers are dying, because there is no future.

One thought that in a country like India, newspapers and the print industry were relatively safer as the internet penetration and consumption habits were presumably different from those observed in the US. But one thing was clear, this technological impact on print will be felt in India too, though with a time lag.

And now that the impact is being felt, people are copping out by blaming demonetisation and Modi. More dangerous is that they are now looking for state support e.g. MD of Times Group asking for tax cuts. He is virtually asking for a bailout.

This is not the time to blame Modi but a time to address some fundamental questions that almost everyone in the media industry is struggling with.

It is clear that print (the physical platform made of paper) can’t survive in the digital world. The youngsters don’t like holding and reading newspapers, but they are interested in news and they consume it online, mostly on their mobile phones. As a result, everyone has been saying that digital is the future, but can digital bring the kind of revenues print could bring?

It fact, the moot question is – is the ‘business’ of journalism viable in the modern times?

Let’s remember that news gathering and dissemination – the ‘business’ of journalism – was a ‘monopoly’ on the print platform. Virtually nothing else but ‘news’ could be printed in a daily broadsheet format. A business house would know the cost (of news gathering, printing, and distributing) and could plan for a revenue strategy (ad rate per square inch and some subscription) that will cover its cost and contribute to its margins.

Only the news media houses will get into this competition to define this ad rate and subscription rates, for only news could be published and distributed in daily printed-on-paper format. But same is not the case on TV or digital. Both the technologies are fit for a variety on content on their platforms that compete with news.

Which is why ‘journalism’ faced its first major challenge when 24-hours news channels – that were frowned upon by puritans – were launched. Critics claimed that journalism was dumbed-down. Yes it was, because it had to compete with saas-bahu, live cricket matches, reality shows, etc. The ‘business’ of journalism on TV is surviving because TV is still relevant as a technological platform, and because journalism adapted to saas-bahu (all trashy political fights), live cricket matches (live telecast of political rallies), reality shows (the prime time debates) and so on. Furthermore, television as a platform is regulated, it’s not easy to launch a TV channel, definitely not a TV news channel, that can undercut revenues. So the business of journalism is surviving on TV, though in a debatable form.

Now the digital challenge is even more complex. The content and experience available here – for free – is much more varied, and the technology is changing fast. The entry barriers for new players are virtually non-existent.

So what happens to the ‘business’ of journalism now? Will people pay for news like they pay for Netflix or for so many mobile apps and games? And if they do, will that be enough to cover costs?

But instead of debating such points, the media honchos and critics are busy blaming demonetisation. In such a scenario, not only newspapers will die, journalism itself won’t survive.

Nonetheless, OpIndia.com will prefer to debate the aforementioned issues instead of getting into a blame game over demonetisation. We will publish articles analysing some of the points raised in this article about business of journalism. If you have a view on them and would want to write on the same, please reach out to us.

Let’s get some op-eds before we write the obituary for the print.

Kejriwal’s minister accused of laundering money via Hawala operations

Hemant Bijapurkar
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Kejriwal’s minister accused of laundering money via Hawala operations

Delhi’s Health Minister ‘Satinder‘ Jain’s political health seems to have received another blow after he received another IT notice in a Hawala case. The notice was issued to him on 26th December by an Additional Commissioner based in Delhi.

He was previously issued summons in September after the companies in which he held substantial equities, were found to have link with Kolkata firms under investigation for Black Money.

According to Dainik Jagaran, companies named Paryas Infosolutions, Indo Metallmpex, Akinchan Developers, Ideal Estate, and Manglayatan were involved in buying 200 acres of land during the 2010-14 period using hawala money. These plots were located around North-West Delhi near unauthorized dwellings, and were purchased in the hope that the price would increase whenever the colonies get regularized.

In one of our earlier articles, we had established the fact that Satyendra Jain held substantial shares in companies named Prayas, Indo, and Akinchan. However, all his shares were transferred to his wife in 2015 after he became Minister in the Kejriwal government.

As reported here, these companies used to send cash to their Kolkata counterparts and these Kolkata based companies would later, under the pretext of buying shares, would route back the amount using legal financial means. In total the companies related to Satyendra reportedly laundered money to the tune of  16.39 crores from 2010 to 2014.

Apart from the Hawala fiasco, the possibility of conflict of interest arises against Satyendra Jain due to the fact that his shares in the companies are still in the family and the colonies haven’t been regularized yet, as revealed by the Company Representative of  Indo Metallmpex to the IT Officials in 2015.

Incidentally the Kejriwal government is in favour of regularizing colonies and had announced its intention to regularize 495 colonies in 2015.

Journalists not public officers, so will they escape punishment for corruption in chopper scam?

OpIndia Staff
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Journalists not public officers, so will they escape punishment for corruption in chopper scam?

In April last year, reports had emerged that the Italy based helicopter manufacturing company AgustaWestland and its parent company Finmeccanica had paid around 50 crore rupees to Indian journalists as ‘bribes’ to secure the contract for supplying helicopters to the Government of India. This is (in)famously known as the “chopper scam”.

The contract worth around 3500 crores rupees was awarded to the AgustaWestland in 2010. However, the contract was frozen three years later when the CEO of Finmeccanica was arrested in Italy and the information about bribes became public. It was alleged that a total of 360 crore rupees were paid as bribes to various persons and entities in India. The then UPA government ordered an inquiry into the scam and the contract was cancelled in January 2014.

Various rumours and speculations regarding the names of journalists who would have received money from AgustaWestland has been doing the rounds of internet in the last couple of years. Rajdeep Sardesai had sent abuses to many Twitter users last year when his name was dragged into the controversy. These is no official word or list on who these “corrupt” journalists could be.

But things could change this year. Earlier this week, Supreme Court agreed to hear a petition that argued that journalists should also be probed in the scam, and today LiveMint reported that CBI was all set to interrogate the journalists suspected of taking bribes from AgustaWestland.

This leads us to the question whether the investigation agencies can only interrogate the journalists or even frame charges against them for corruption?

Now the issue here is – a journalist is an employee with a private firm, not a public officer, while the anti-corruption laws are applicable only to public officers in India.

If a journalist takes money from AgustaWestland and shows it as his or her “income from other sources” and even pays tax on it, does that make him or her safe? Legally, a ‘bribe’ is a crime only when a public officer takes it.

Recall the IPL match fixing case? No corruption charges could be framed against cricketers because cricketers are not government employees. They were safe even after taking ‘bribe’ to underperform in cricket matches. In fact, the police could not find any relevant law under which the cricketers could be tried.

So can journalists too escape punishment due to such loophole?

Fortunately, the answer is no.

Supreme Court lawyer Ishkaran Bhandari told OpIndia.com that once a public officer is involved in the whole chain of bribe giving and taking, the journalists could be deemed a part of the entire conspiracy and thus charges could be framed under the Section 120(B) of IPC (criminal conspiracy) and punishment under the Prevention of Corruption act could be awarded to them as well.

“Not just that, since foreign money is involved here, relevant sections of the anti money laundering act could also come into picture,” Bhandari explained, “So if any journalist is thinking that being a private citizen or a private employee can save them, they are mistaken.”

So it appears that this won’t be another Radia tapes kind of controversy, where journalists will go scot free as unethical behaviour doesn’t hurt the professional careers of Indian journalists. This time, it is illegal.

A bad day for Indian media: You wont believe these epic fails

OpIndia Staff
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A bad day for Indian media: You wont believe these epic fails

Indian media’s reporting standards are by and large dubious to say the least. Virtually every day some or the other media house has some or the other “erroneous” report. We have been tracking most such reports here. But rarely do multiple media houses go wrong on the same day. And today, 5th January 2017 was that day. Multiple media house’s put out stories which ranged from the banal to the bizarre and social media had a field day:

1. No Business Standard, Sundar Pichai did not mean “Air India” when he said “AI”:


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2. No, The Hindustan Times, a biopic doesn’t improve the performance of a sportsperson!!!


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3. Does this really qualify to be a “news alert” NDTV?


4. And India Today also joined the gang, with their Twitter handle dedicated to reporting news related to “technology”, tweeting this:


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The next time some media person talks about the high standards of Indian journalism, they ought to be shown the above!

Why a higher proportion of cash returning to banks may actually be a sign of success of demonetisation

Gaurav
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Why a higher proportion of cash returning to banks may actually be a sign of success of demonetisation

The window given for regular deposits of old currency notes under demonetisation expired on 30th December 2016. There have been numerous attempts by various commentators to declare the entire demonetisation exercise a failure, but somehow none of these op-eds (which have mostly been short on facts), have cut any ice with the public. Now as the window has ended, a new parameter is being raised to declare that the demonetisation scheme failed.

As reported by Swarajyamag.com, in the last couple of days, some media outlets have run speculative reports claiming that most of the demonetised currency has come back into the banking system. A Bloomberg report said yesterday that Indians have deposited 97 per cent of the demonetised notes till 30 December. Business Standard report claimed that the figure was 94 per cent.

The Indian Express based its post on the Bloomberg’s data and asked whether: “Demonetisation complete failure?” since 97% of the notes came back. No other argument was put forth. Leftist site thewire.in also made similar arguments, albeit with slightly different figures. Firstpost’s Sandipan Sharma too toed a similar line:

But, on current evidence, it seems most of the money may actually end up getting legally tendered in banks, entering the system as white money. Whither kala dhan?

So why do they say that demonetisation has failed since most of the cash has come back into the system? This claim could partly be based on this theory, which was first started by the media itself:

Currency Notes issued by the RBI are RBI’s liabilities to the bearer of the notes. Since due to demonetisation, after 30 December certain notes stop being legal tender, they will no be RBI’s liabilities any more, and a waiver of liabilities would result in an accounting profit for the RBI, which could then be passed on as dividend to the Government of India.

This theory was floated by the likes of the Indian Express, the Economic Times (twice) and also The Hindu Businessline. Many other sites promoted this theory too, but just a sample is being presented.

In early December itself, the RBI had itself stated that it had absolutely no plans to pass on as dividend to the government, the amount of money that does not come back into the system once the deadline of the demonetisation exercise expires on December 30, 2016. This one statement by RBI should have ideally shut up all those who claimed that a higher percentage of notes returning to the system would mean a bigger failure for demonetisation. But then, that would need them to be honest.

The other argument made to show that a higher percentage of money returning to banks is a failure of the scheme is the one placed by the likes of Sharma in Firstpost: “Whither kala dhan”, meaning, if all the money came back into the banks, it means there was no “black money”. The argument is based on the stupid notion that any money deposited into the banks is by default “white”.

The fact though is, “black” money can turn “white” only once you pay taxes on it. As such, all the money deposited in banks will have to be explained by the depositors by showing the source of income (on which tax has already been paid) or, the depositors will have to now pay tax on these deposits. And there in lies the key: contrary to what is being argued, a higher amount of money coming back can actually be good:

1. As explained above, every penny deposited will have to be explained and the appropriate tax on it will have to be paid. The tax can vary from 30% (regular income) to 50% (under the Pradhan Mantri Gareeb Kalyan Yojana) to even upwards of 80% (in case the depositor is caught cheating the tax department)

2. The above is just the one-time gain. There is also a recurring gain. Once a person deposits his cash into the bank, he indirectly alerts the tax department that he is capable of earning that much money over a few years. Take for example a trader who was never filing taxes previously. He now deposits say Rs 25 lakhs in cash into his accounts. Assuming he has accumulated such cash over 5 years, his annual net savings would be Rs 5 lakhs odd, and his annual income could be more than that. Till now, the tax department had no clue that this trader could earn such income. Now they know. And the tax department doesn’t forget. Not only will the trader have to pay tax on Rs 25 lakhs, henceforth, he will be on the radar of the tax department. Assuming that he goes back to his old ways and doesn’t file taxes in the future, now the tax department at least knows about him and knows how to catch him. There can never be any estimate of this recurring incremental tax being earned by the Government.

There are other arguments too, which would debunk this claim by media that a higher amount of cash returned is a sign that demonetisation has failed, for example lower interest rates etc, but these two key factors will have to be kept in mind. End of the day, the cabal which wants to declare demonetisation as a failure will have to work harder in the face of hard facts.

‘Anti-Pakistan’ event at Kolkata cancelled to preserve ‘communal harmony’

OpIndia Staff
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‘Anti-Pakistan’ event at Kolkata cancelled to preserve ‘communal harmony’

An event in Kolkata that was planned to discuss atrocities by Pakistan in the Balochistan region and its crimes in Kashmir was cancelled by the proposed venue (a club) citing “unavoidable circumstances” to ensure “cordial atmosphere”.

The event titled “The saga of Balochistan and Kashmir – what the world needs to know” was to have Pakistan born Canadian commentator Tarek Fatah, retired Major General GD Bakshi, Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain, Baloch activist Brahamdagh Bugti, Kashmiri activist Sushil Pandit and others as participants and speakers.

According to a report published by India Today, the organisers of the event feel that the club authorities were pressurised by the Kolkata Police to deny permission for the event as it involves speakers who are known for their “anti-Pakistan” rhetoric.

The report says that the club authorities forced the organisers to drop the word “Kashmir” from the event poster as it could lead to unrest in the state. And finally, the club cancelled the event itself.

Organisers say that the club was told by police that the event could hurt the sentiments of a particular community and could result in a law and order situation.

It is not yet clear how discussing crimes of Pakistan could have disturbed law and order or communal harmony in Kolkata, but some believe that the presence of Tarek Fatah, who is known to be bluntly anti-Pakistan and anti-Islamism, could have triggered the cancellation of the event.

Tarek Fatah took to Twitter to protest this cancellation, which he termed as a decision taken under pressure from Muslim fundamentalists:



It is not for the first time when Kolkata has seen a cancellation of event under pressure of Muslim groups.

Earlier in 2012, Kolkata Book Fair had cancelled the release of Taslima Nasreen’s book while in the following year, author Salman Rushdie was asked not to come to the city to attend an event. In December 2013, a TV channel had to cancel airing of a TV serial that was based on Taslima’s book after Muslim groups staged violent protests in the streets of Kolkata.

‘Branded Hindu terrorists, killed in police custody, body disposed of as 26/11 victims’

OpIndia Staff
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‘Branded Hindu terrorists, killed in police custody, body disposed of as 26/11 victims’

In what could hint at a ghastly and criminal conspiracy to prove “Hindu terrorism” by the UPA government, a police officer who was part of Maharashtra’s Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) team probing the Malegaon blasts, has claimed that two suspects had been killed and their bodies disposed of in 2008 itself while all these years they were shown as absconding in police records.

The suspects – Sandeep Dange and Ramji Kalsangra – were accused to have planted bombs in Malegaon in September 2008. This is the same case for which Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur is currently lodged in jail on charges of conspiracy.

However, if the affidavit of the police inspector Mehboob Mujawar is to be believed, there appears a conspiracy in the other direction. Mehboob, currently suspended from his job, claims that apart from Pragya Thakur, Sandeep Dange and Ramji Kalsangra were taken into custody on the same day. The duo were later taken to Nashik and then to Mumbai, where they were killed in police custody.

Kalsangra is accused of possessing Pragya Thakur’s motorcycle that was allegedly used to carry out the blasts, while Dange is accused of being a conspirator. Both have been considered to be running away from police. Last year, some reports citing police sources suggested that they were spotted in Nepal doing earthquake relief work. But Mehboob claims they were killed in 2008 itself in police custody.

Speaking to Mumbai Mirror, Mehboob further claimed that another terror suspect whom he had caught in connection with Malegaon blasts was allowed to go scot free while Pragya Thakur and the aforementioned suspects were arrested. He didn’t name the terror suspect who was allegedly allowed to flee.

The claim about Sandeep Dange and Ramji Kalsangra being killed in custody has been made by Mehboob in an affidavit he submitted to a Solapur court. The most shocking part is the claim that bodies of both of them were passed off as “unidentified victims” of Mumbai terror attacks that took place a couple of months after the alleged custody of Sandeep and Ramji.

“When we checked the pictures of those bodies, there were a lot of similarities with the absconding accused,” Neeraj Gunde, a social activist who advised Mehboob to file the affidavit, told Mumbai Mirror.

Malegaon blasts accused
The families of Ramji Kalsangra and Sandeep Dange (inset) called a press conference earlier this week to demand justice

After this sensational disclosure, the families of Sandeep Dange and Ramji Kalsangra are now demanding to know the truth about what happened to their family members. All these years they were told that both the men were on run and the police were clueless about their whereabouts.

50-years-old Laxmibai, wife of Ramji Kalsangra, demanded that at least the mortal remains of her husband should be handed over to her. 80-years-old VK Dange, father of Sandeep Dange, too demanded an impartial inquiry into the entire incident and wanted to know the truth about his son’s disappearance. Both families are residents of Madhya Pradesh.

Now that there is a BJP government in Maharashtra, the families hope that the truth will come out as the earlier government was accused of coining “Hindu terrorism” for political gains. Wife of Ramji Kalsangra is reported to be planning to submit a memorandum to Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in this regard.

Violence against women – it is time we looked within

soulinexile
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Violence against women – it is time we looked within

There is something rotten around us… horribly rotten.

From Nirbhaya, to children getting molested in schools, rapes in hospitals or parks, molestation in trains, and now – mass molestation on high streets of Bangalore – the news of violence against women, girls and even small boys, has become near routine.

Each time a big one hits headlines, we revert to our ‘head in sand’ attitude. TV debates pick on some brain-dead comment by a politician, women rights messiahs demand someone’s resignation, social media and debate panelists flog the governments, pin blame on police and demand more laws. A few, who want to sound different, find fault with cinema. And of course, the most popular whipping boy – western culture.

One place, we never look is — within.

By pinning all the blame on the government and police, we continue being the blindest ostriches possible.

Unless there is evidence that all those guilty in the Bangalore incident were known sexual offenders, I presume that they were otherwise regular common revellers. So Why did scores of male revellers on a busy street suddenly turn psychopaths?

Yes, police needs to do more, enforce law, catch the culprits and punish them. Even in this case, 1500 cops were on duty; they resorted to brute force/lathi-charge too, to chase away the molesting crowds. Whether that was a smart policing or not is a different debate altogether. But at best, policing is a post-event act.

Be it Nirbhaya or any other rape or molestation news in the country – many of these involve first time offenders turning criminals. A watchman, an uncle, a teacher, gym coach, a friend, even cops. They come from different social backgrounds, different ethnic groups, different educational class –  and we tend to focus on one of these on one occasion but forget that one thing is common – they are all amongst us. They are all Indians.

It is a sad state for our society. If we expect only the state or police to act, have we resigned to the fate that if men decide to not-rape a woman, it will be only because of potential penalties? Police can not enter the minds of otherwise commoners and reprogram them to ‘not molest’.

But the society/family can reprogram them.

And society/family has failed to!

We have a very sad breakdown of social values and family values. Parents, who are worried about the daughters coming late, don’t question their sons on their activities. Simple things about what exactly the son keeps doing outside home all day, or how he behaved with the freshers girls in his college this season should concern the parents. The chalta hai attitude has come into family systems too.

Social values long ago deemed it mandatory for elders in a neighbourhood to treat kids of neighbourhood/mohalla as their own responsibility and empowered them to even freely reprimand them. Today, that would be deemed an affront by the parents of the errant ward. Today, even if the elderly neighbours notice a stalker behind your daughter, they may hesitate to intervene; because last time they complained about your son whistling at girls at the street-corner, you probably told them to mind their own business.

Not that there weren’t predator uncles earlier, but the fear of social stigma was much higher. With social individualism becoming the norm, many don’t care as much about conducting themselves to stick to social norms.  This had led to the fringe getting widened, reaching our doorsteps.

It used to be said that “it takes a village to raise a child”. Now, the village has got fragmented, family has disappeared. Child has gone rogue.

And society is hiding behind fig leaves of police, politicians and laws.

No politician can fix this. Prime Minister actually tried to trigger the debate from ramparts of Red Fort on August 15, 2014. Alas! He too failed to trigger the debate.

Let’s not abdicate our responsibility to politicians and police.

We have to fix this…

Sexual assault, immoral society, and the importance of self-defence

Guest Author
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Sexual assault, immoral society, and the importance of self-defence

(The mass-molestation incident in Bangalore has once again sparked the conscience of men and women across India. While on some levels the argument has been about victim-shaming and male-bashing, the need of the hour is to rise up above such petty issues. This article was originally written by Sandhya Ramesh on her blog, in response to this incident in 2012, in which she chronicles her experiences with sexual predators, and society as a whole. Most importantly, she describes how women can get over the beasts in our towns and cities. The article at no point blames women for the atrocities on them, but makes the point that till the society and law and order systems do not improve, women will have to learn how to defend themselves.)

The first time I was touched, I was all of six years old. My then-best friend used to go back home in an auto rickshaw, and I, in a van. We used to play outside school while we waited with the other kids to go home.

One day, my friend told me that her auto driver wants to see me. I, thinking it was some sort of an adventure, accompanied her. He sat in the auto and made us sit on either side of him. Then, he kissed us – no jammed his tongue down our throats – in turn and asked us to go away. I was confused. I knew something felt wrong, but I couldn’t understand it.

I knew men liked touching women, I had seen it on TV. But those women had breasts and thankfully I still didn’t. My mouth stank of cigarettes. My friend offered me water from her water bottle and taught me how to clean my mouth the way she did every time he had his fun with her. I went home and told my mom about what had happened. From the very next day, my friend was coming home in the same van as me. I don’t really know what happened to that man.

The second time, I had breasts. And my uncle’s car driver knew it, because that’s what he was touching. I was wearing a full salwar kameez, complete with dupatta. It didn’t take him super human effort to brush aside the dupatta. This time, I knew exactly why it was wrong, he was fired within the next hour.

Then, when I used to travel an hour by train to college everyday, I’ve had men in the crowded station grab my ass, pull my arms, try to trip me by putting out their leg, fall on top of me with their lips somehow accidentally ending up on my mouth; men who bump into me in the general compartment of the train with such force that I end up falling into the lap of other men who were sitting, and once, a very muscular boy who was five years younger to me, grabbing me by the waist and hoisting me up in the air. I’m sure my tiny pummeling fists had no effect on him, but the bus conductor’s punch on his nose did.

My mom used to tell me to carry a safety pin in my hand to scratch any man that tried to touch me, because a girl always knows when she is being touched without her consent – even if it is on her arm.

I have countless number of female friends who have gone through very similar experiences. I once had a neighbor whose daughter, back when they lived in Delhi, was “kidnapped” by two construction workers and taken to their huts two blocks away so that a third could profess his love for her. That, at the end of the day, was harmless and did no damage. But I know of a girl who was raped repeatedly by her father’s boss’s son from the time she was ten. I’m not giving away prizes for guessing which city that was in. This girl came from a very conservative family and I do not believe she owns a pair of jeans to this day. I also know of one other girl who was so brutally raped 10 years ago while she was walking back home at 5.30 pm from her coaching classes by a bunch of drunk college men, she didn’t speak for a month and has been so scarred, that to this day, has never been in a relationship and intends to remain unmarried and adopt a daughter.

Majority of women, all over the country, have been victims of groping and fondling at one point or the other. I realize ‘majority’ is a strong word. But when I confided my stories to female friends for the first time, I got to hear more stories, and many that were more horrifying than mine. The point I want to make here is, men who rape don’t look at clothes or age or what time of the day it is. They don’t care much for sobriety either – theirs or the woman’s.

Today, I can deliver a fully powerful round house kick to the toughest of my friends, but not all women are capable of even building up the psychological strength to resist. Do you know why? It’s because women aren’t taught how to attack men who attempt to rape them; we are taught how to avoid getting raped by covering ourselves up.

The first time I was groped, I was wearing a pinafore with socks pulled up to my knees and I stood barely taller than the guy’s hips. The second time, the only part of me that wasn’t covered was my face – I had full sleeves on. The multiple other times men have hooted, whistled, grabbed and pulled what they could hold, I’ve worn a salwar, a saree, and mostly jeans. I’ve constantly been teased for being too fair by Indian standards, so I’ve always been conscious of putting my legs on display, so I almost never wore skirts or capri pants or shorts.

Indian society today has such confused idealisms and opinions about sex that it is becoming increasingly difficult for teenagers and uneducated citizens to understand just what and how much is acceptable. On the one hand, we outrage against rape, and on the other hand, we glorify different kinds of sexual acts in our music videos, words and imagery that leads young men to believe women enjoy being treated nastily. This is where the educated adults of the society step in and teach their children and spread awareness about what is right and wrong. Women dressing how they want drinking alcohol and dancing with men they like of their own volition is not something to be judged, but men harassing women who have no interest in them by singing and dancing and chasing them against their will is. There’s no two ways about it — it is blind and wrong to encourage men chasing after unwilling women in movies, it is foolish to tell women to cover up to be safe, and it is highly irresponsible to not teach daughters how to be safe and sons how women are not safe.

There are two issues that need to be addressed here. Firstly, rape is WRONG. As someone who understands the distinction between consensual sex and rape, it is our responsibility to stop rape if it occurs. It is also our duty to push for the government to understand that what women wear and which part of the sky the sun is at are not factors that govern a rapist’s mind. It is also important for individual women to accept that very fact, which brings me to my next point, what women should be taught if you really want to teach them to prevent getting themselves raped.

Women need to learn how to defend themselves, irrespective of what they are wearing. It is our responsibility, man or woman, to encourage women around us to learn some self defense and carry a pepper spray. Look for self-defense classes in your area. You can get a mace or pepper spray at Amazon or eBay.

I never carried that safety pin because I was afraid I might get in trouble for hurting someone. But I’m not seventeen anymore and I am not afraid. Public brawls in India are perfectly legal, if you go by what you see around you, and hence a woman hitting out at a man in self defense is NOT wrong. Techniques like the ones in this short video are very powerful and easy to learn:

There are isolated cases where the man comes back with more thickheaded trolls, but that is (as far as I know, please feel free to tell me if I am wrong) an exception, and it always gives you time to be better prepared.

I am writing solely for the women in cities who have the capability to read this off their computers or phone screens; and not for women in villages who run the risk of becoming an acid-attack victim if they defend themselves. I have not lived in a small village, and what I write does not apply to girls who’ve been working as laborers since they were fourteen, or women who are stalked by spurned lovers and ex boyfriends.

Educated Indian women are constantly asked to build themselves up to be dainty princesses who will one day be whisked away by their NRI prince. If women’s equality applies to working rights, it equally applies to the capability to protect oneself from getting raped, no matter how they are dressed. Women in cities have many self defense classes and products at their disposal, they just need to be searched for and bestowed attention upon.

And Delhi and Gurgaon are definitely cities – cities where men are still not afraid of raping. If rape was prevalent in cities only after 8 pm and only women who wore short skirts, went to bars and drank alcohol were victims, I’m sure women would have learned years ago and there would be virtually no rapes today.

Women need to help prepare themselves and men who rape need to be stopped. The point is not open for debate.

Preventing women from going out would be counterproductive, if one goes by the police’s argument. If rapes occur after 8 and you ask women to try not to be outside after 8, the few women who still are outside are at a higher risk of getting raped. The reasoning, while in good intention, defies all logic. The police could increase their own employment rate by increasing women’s security after 8 pm.

And to the Delhi and Gurgaon police who still refuse to see reason, I ask, “Aap ki maa behen nahi hai kya?”

Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari needs to be taught a lesson in ‘true nationalism’

Editorial Desk
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Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari needs to be taught a lesson in ‘true nationalism’

After Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced demonetisation of the old 500 and 1000 rupee notes, everyone knew that this will cause inconvenience to the common man. In fact, Prime Minister himself said that he was aware that the step will cause inconvenience, but pleaded with the citizens of the country to cooperate for around 50 days.

In the next 50 days, we saw some real inconvenience. Long queues outside banks and ATMs, distressed senior citizens, businesses feeling the pinch of cash crunch, and other developments that impacted almost every single citizen of India.

Add to that the absurd claims by likes of Arvind Kejriwal and Mamata Banerjee that the whole demonetisation step was a scam, and then by Rahul Gandhi that cashless economy was to benefit a few big businessmen. Mamata Banerjee and then Mayawati even claimed that there would be violence and riots in the country due to demonetisation. Some miscreants on Twitter even publicly wished for riots.

With the opposition working overtime to push an agenda against demonetisation, and with almost everyone negatively impacted by the move, it indeed was a delicate situation where violence or at least mass protests against the central government could have been easily triggered. Even a small protest could have been amplified by the media that was ready to exaggerate every negative news about demonetisations, such as the alleged deaths due to it.

Yet, we didn’t see any mass protests or any riots as wished and warned by many. Why?

Because the common man of India trusted the words of their Prime Minister.

No amount of propaganda or fear mongering broke this trust. This is something even critics of Modi agree upon. The overwhelming sentiment was that the step was taken in the larger interest of the nation and thus the inconvenient of 50 days was worth suffering.

There was no data or formula that guaranteed that demonetisation will bring achchhe din. It was words of Narendra Modi, and they took those words on face value.

“If soldiers can stand at border, I can stand in the queue” became a general sentiment. Standing in the queue became a cause for nationalism – something that caused huge heartburns among the so-called liberal crowd, who tried to turn “soldiers are dying” into a joke.

The Prime Minister realises it. He had taken a big risk. His step would have inconvenienced those who are believed to be among his core supporters – the urban middle class and the traders. It could have backfired massively. He knows that it was the patience of those who stood in the queues that saved his face.

In such a scenario, if any BJP leader appears to be mocking this patience of people, he has committed a crime. If a BJP leader thinks that standing in queue was not a cause for nationalism, he better declares himself an Adarsh Liberal than presenting to be a nationalist.

And this is what Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari appeared to be doing in a video that was aired on a TV channel and shared on the social media by many:


In the video, Manoj Tiwari is recalling how he told a group of people – through his singing – that they were trying to change the nation by standing in the queue. And that people immediately agreed that they will keep standing in queues for the sake of nation. This story by Tiwari is greeted with laughter by everyone.

Did they find this sense of nationalism funny? Isn’t it a mockery of people who earnestly believed the words of the Prime Minister?

Not just Manoj Tiwari, even the national spokesperson of the party Sudhanshu Trivedi is seen sitting next to Tiwari and enjoying this mockery of people’s sentiments by the Delhi BJP chief.

Apart from being insensitive, they also come across as being senseless as they appear fully aware that the whole thing was being recorded by someone on camera.

Manoj Tiwari and others seen in the video were panned and criticised heavily by many BJP supporters last night, but both the leaders have not issued any clarification or apology for this behaviour. Perhaps they think that the issue will die down if they ignore.

And yes, the issue may even die down. But this can’t be treated as minor transgression or private conversation taken out of context. This is an insult to the common man who steadfastly stood by the Prime Minister. This is an insult to the nationalist feelings of a common man. And this is an insult to the Prime Minister too.

A tight rap on the knuckles is required. For the sake of common man, for sake of nationalism.

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