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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.

Sexual assaults – it’s not the dress stupid, it’s your attitude

Upendra
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Sexual assaults – it’s not the dress stupid, it’s your attitude

What happened in Bangalore on the new year’s eve happens every day in the streets of India, may be not at such a large scale, but sexual harassment of women, molestation and rape is an epidemic that has spread to every nook and corner of our country. We may not like to admit it, but trust me; it’s sexual assault against woman are nothing less than an epidemic.

The problem however, is not with the sexual assault alone, but with the silly excuses often by those who consider themselves to be the upholders of our liberalism and feminism that are used to justify such assaults, including this bizarre ‘science of sex’ argument and more often than not, our people indulge in widespread victim shaming, instead of questioning the perpetrators.

The moment a woman dares open her mouth against sexual assault, the very first question people tend to ask is ‘when did it happen?’ God forbid if the incident happened after sun down, majority of the people invariably end up questioning the woman – ‘why did she have to go out at night?’ ‘What was she doing out so late?’ ‘Oh! She was alone at 8 PM? It’s her fault… she should have known better’… and on and on people question the ‘character’ of the woman, instead of questioning the assaulter.

If she was assaulted during the day, the obvious question that is asked is, ‘what was she wearing?’ ‘Oh! she was wearing a skirt… who told her to show her body? she should have know better’

If she was wearing ‘proper clothes – read kurta, saree, burka’ the very next question is, ‘was she drinking booze? Who told her to drink booze, she had it coming.’

If she is not guilty of any of the aforementioned ‘crime’, then the next question is ‘what was she doing there? She must have asked for it…’ We have seen how some morons even blamed food – chowmein, and mobile phones for the sexual assault, but not the men who perpetrated those heinous crimes.

It’s this relentless, never ending questioning of women, which promotes and provides room for such perverts to walk away free every time someone sexually assaults a woman.

Tragically almost 90% of such crimes go unreported. The victims, generally women, are afraid to speak out, for they are aware how our society will find a way to blame her for the assault.

The moment such a crime gets highlighted ‘Morality ke Thekedaar’ like Samajwadi Party leader Abu Azmi who will claim, “women roam around naked, a blot on Indian culture…” implying the women deserve what was happened. We also get the likes of Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara who said “such incident do happen on New Year day and Christmas.” It is this institutionalization of sexual harassment, molestation and rape which is at the crux of the problem women in our country have to live with.

But it need not be so.

I come from Darjeeling, and even though we are politically a part of West Bengal, socially, culturally, geographically and linguistically we are very different than the rest of Bengal. We have more in common with the rest of North East India, than the mainland Indian culture which is prevalent in Bengal. Let me explain what I mean by ‘mainland Indian culture’ vs ‘rest of north east’.

Unlike the rest of India, the dowry system is almost unheard of in Darjeeling, Sikkim and rest of North East, which roughly translates to the fact that our daughters are not seen as a BURDEN. Rather, they are regarded as the most important members of our families. What this very basic, yet fundamental difference in perception of our daughters does is it provides a room for our daughters to grow up into becoming the person they want to become.

For every son who is a doctor we have daughters who are engineers, for every son who is a trekker we have daughters who have climbed Mt. Everest, for every son who are teachers we have daughters who are Professors, if our sons are musicians our daughters are rock stars. Not all of them, granted, but they have that freedom and choice to do and be what the desire and aspire to become. This is the basis of our NE society – women are treated as equals, and even though there will definitely be some families that may not treat their daughters as equal, but in general the daughters are often more cherished than the sons.

In Darjeeling, Sikkim and rest of north east this freedom of choice begins right from our childhood, when boys and girls go to the same school. They grow up together, mingle with each other and end up learning to respect the opposite sex as our equal. For every son we bring up as Krishna, we have a daughter who is brought up as Durga, so mutual respect comes naturally as it is imbibed fundamentally in our communities.

In my community – the Gorkhas the sons are never taught that they have to protect our daughters; rather we have a festival Bhai Tika where the daughters vow to protect their brothers. This sense of women empowerment is not imposed, rather it comes from our fundamental belief that daughters are equal to sons in each and every respect. Yes, there will be instances and families who may not necessarily treat their daughters equal, but in general the daughters are not seen as a burden on their families, and this basic fact changes everything.

Our daughters are allowed to choose their life partners, much like our sons. Arranged marriages are a rarity in Darjeeling, Sikkim and rest of north east India, and actually often frowned upon. The general feeling is that ‘if one cannot choose his/her wife or husband then what will you do when it comes to making other important decisions in your life?’ Inter-caste, inter-religion, inter-community marriages which are so rare in rest of India are a common phenomenon in North East. This not only helps in making our community more diverse, it also helps in promoting religious, social and cultural harmony too.

This respect towards female is not just confined to our own, but is extended to every women who happen to come in our society. Darjeeling is a hill town and one of the most popular tourist destinations in India, we take pride in the fact that Darjeeling is one of the SAFEST cities for single female travelers in the WORLD.

Don’t take my word for it, rather take this testament from Jon Snow of Channel 4 News UK, when his daughters were stranded at 2 AM by a highway, this is how a truck driver and his helper from Darjeeling reacted. He writes:

“At 2.00 am in the morning on a remote stretch of winding road one of the tyres gives way. The driver changes it in the middle of the road. Fifteen minutes later a second tyre gives up the ghost. No more spares.

To my horror, these two blondes stand, at 2.30am, on the dark roadside and start hitching. A five ton truck laden with sand hails into view. It stops, they scramble in. The driver and his mate prove to be the sweetest most caring individuals.

By 4.00 am they have stopped at a tea stall and are buying the girls, tea and delicious pastries.

At 5.00 am the sand truck draws up at the very doors of the hostel in which the travellers are to stay.”

This is perhaps the fundamental difference between the North East and rest of India, or we don’t see a single woman as an opportunity, rather we see her as a collective responsibility.

I am no Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore, but if I was him, I would probably pen:

“Where the women are without fear
and their heads held high,
where society doesn’t impose their norms on them
instead allows them to become who they want to be,
where the dresses they wear, the time of the day they hang out
and food and drink they enjoy is not judged,
much like the North East India
Into that heaven of freedom, my Mother, let my country awake.”

[Upendra M Pradhan writes the column Voice of Darjeeling for www.darjeelingtimes.com and is editor at large at The Darjeeling Chronicle.]

Goan Padre asks devotees at Christmas mass to vote for specific candidates, will SC ruling apply?

OpIndia Staff
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Goan Padre asks devotees at Christmas mass to vote for specific candidates, will SC ruling apply?

Last week, Archbishop Filipe Neri Ferrao had said that the Roman Catholic Church will guide its followers to vote for genuine candidates in Goa, for the upcoming state elections:

We do issue guidelines to our faithful on how to exercise their franchise and thus fulfil one of their sacred civic duties. These guidelines are read out in our churches, but they never mention the name of any candidate or any political party. The people are sovereign, they decide.

While the Archbishop said that neither candidates nor parties would be named, it appears that his subordinates haven’t got the message. Local Goan media reported just a few days back that Father Conceicao from the Taleigao church urged devotees to vote for husband-wife duo Babush and Jennifer Monserrate, both sitting MLAs and also aspirants for the upcoming elections. He was caught on camera appealing to the people who had come for the annual Christmas mass:

In the video, Father Conceicao made no bones while stating that the duo have helped the church and Padre-folk at large, and hence the faithful must vote for them. He asked the people who had come for the Christmas mass, to vote for, whom he called “our people”, and give them a Christmas present in February, when the elections are expected to be held. He named them explicitly, in complete contrast to the Archbishop’s statement, and asked for a “thumping majority” for them. He later tried to retract, but the video is clear.

While the church may claim to guide voters in the “right” direction, it is important to note the antecedents of the candidates endorsed by the Padre. Babush Monseratte is a goon-turned-politician, known for real estate related corruption, with very grave offences registered against him such as causing hurt by dangerous weapons, rioting with deadly weapons, and most recently, being accused of rape by a minor girl. His son too had been earlier booked for statutory rape of a minor. His wife, while less notorious is a non-performing MLA. Babush was expelled by the Congress in 2015, while his wife is still with the Congress. When a priest openly endorses such candidates, it brings into question the morals and ethics of the priest himself.

The recent Supreme Court judgement on religion and elections makes matters worse for the Padre. The Supreme Court ruled that seeking votes in the name of religion, caste, race, community or language by a candidate, his agent or anyone with his consent would be a corrupt electoral practice which would render the person open to disqualification.

Further, it also stated that the above would apply even if an appeal is made by any religious leader to his community to vote for a candidate, if it is established that such an appeal was made with the consent of the candidate. The above case squarely falls under this clause. It could be difficult to prove that the appeal was made with the consent of the candidate, but given the circumstances, it doesn’t take a Sherlock Holmes to guess what must have really transpired.

It remains to be seen how the law will be enforced, if at all someone takes the Padre to task, since the sermon came before the Supreme Court’s judgement. It is an open secret in Goa that the Church backs and advocates voting for candidates of their choice, but this might be the first time when a priest was caught on camera, explicitly issuing an appeal. As the days to the election in Goa near, one can expect more such incidents to spring up.

Kalburgi’s murder investigation will have a quieter death

Ullas
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Kalburgi’s murder investigation will have a quieter death

As we step into 2017, it seems eons ago that the Modi government was inundated with the “intolerance” campaign by the mainstream media and the left intellectual brigade. Deaths of Dabholkar, Pansare and Kalburgi were all painted with a political hue and PM Modi was blamed, irrespective of the fact that State governments have the responsibility of law and order.

In August 2015, Prof. M.M.Kalburgi was killed by assailants when he answered his door. Not once did the intellectual brigade take Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah to task. This even when you consider that there has been spate of suicides in police department before and after Kalburgi’s death.

Notwithstanding the hypocrisy, it has now been reported in the vernacular media that the professor was killed due to a property dispute. Here is the chronology of developments in this matter:

After Kalburgi’s death, opposition parties asked for the matter to be handed over to CBI. However, due to the pressure from the left intellectuals, the matter was referred to CID (as it is under the control of the state government). Police has, during its investigation, arrested two people from Vijayapura (old Bijapur) – from where Kalburgi hailed. However, another media house reported that no arrests have been made. Upon interrogation, these two have said “We are not aware of Kalburgi’s ideas, books or writings. However, we had issues related to properties.” (translated from Kannada). This claim has not been refuted by the police. Popular Kannada daily Udayawani also reported that police has not yet given the report to the state government.

The mainstream media, which made such noise at the peak of its “intolerance” campaign is unsurprisingly quiet on the recent revelations. If the findings were different, then we could have expected uproar as that would fit very well prior to the UP elections. Now, all we can expect is to see the story die a less tragic death than Professor Kalburgi.

Bangalore – the happy new year that wasn’t

Divya
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Bangalore – the happy new year that wasn’t

Everyone loves new beginnings. For they come with the promise of something new, something better. Something to look forward to. A new year holds a promise for most folks. Where one mentally wraps up the unpleasant past and tucks it away in one corner. New possibilities, new endeavours, new boundaries to be scaled. Basically it is an annual acknowledgement of hope.

Ironically it was the new year that brought to fore the sheer hopelessness for half our population. It showed us a mirror to how far back in time we are stuck. Probably even worse, because we seem to be actually regressing as far as safety for women is concerned.

This New Year heralded anything but hope for thousands of women. Instead it stared them in the face and reminded them of their gradually shrinking space.

A group of women were mass molested while they were out celebrating New Year’s Eve on MG Road in Bangalore. When questioned about the incident, the Karnataka Home Minister responded in a predictable fashion by saying that these are regular incidents and also implying that the women should not have been out there in the first place.

The discussion then moved to Social Media and what followed was a horrific mix of absolving the enforcement agencies of any obligation, and basically blaming the women for bringing it on themselves.

Arguments ranged from the very practical “MG Road is notorious for hooliganism, what were women doing there?” to the bizarre “These women should have been praying at home to bring in the New Year rather than drinking on the roads.” Some people also went on to blame the “Western culture of celebrating New Year’s Eve”! Some likened it to an open door which would obviously lead to goods being stolen. (Speechless!)

Saner arguments like “You are responsible for your own safety” and “Parents are duty bound to advise their children” were also made. Which on paper make a lot of sense but pretty much absolve everyone other than women of any obligation.

Which brings us to two key points:

  1. What is the duty of the State towards the safety of its citizens?
  2. How far will we go in reducing the safe boundaries for women?

If indeed it was a well-known fact and MG road has been witnessing these incidents for the last 15-20 years, what have law enforcement agencies been doing all along? After all, our taxes are being spent on maintaining them and common sense and self-preservation instincts in women cannot be an alternative to visible law and order.

The worst part is that there were reportedly 1500 policemen in Bangalore on the roads that night. Which brings us to the perception that common people hold about our law enforcing agencies. Is it a good sign that our police force is considered impotent and inept?

It has wider implications than just women’s safety. It reflects sadly on our internal security apparatus and its readiness to deal with any kind of hostile situations. That a group of drunk rowdy men can reduce our armed police force to mere bystanders is scary to say the least.

While on the subject of law and order, why were no FIRs filed by any of the victims? Is it because of the sheer hopelessness they feel with regards to law enforcement in our country? No one with a semblance of common sense would see it worthwhile to go through the rigours of an official complaint and come out empty handed at best and hounded and victimised in the worst case scenario. So in effect we are tacitly admitting that we live in a country where the law is an ass and it is for the common people to fend for themselves, basis their common sense, parental advice and societal advisories.

Coming to the second point. How far do we go in reducing the safe boundaries for women?

This was not a case of a woman or two molested on a deserted highway in the middle of nowhere. This was hordes of women being groped and assaulted in the midst of hundreds of others in the presence of policemen.

Women are regularly thrown into this situation in local trains, on the roads, in queues, in hospitals, in theatres. Do they stop stepping out due to potentially ‘molestable’ situations? Or is the advice valid only for situations where they seem to be having a “good time”?

Or worse still, do we move to a world where we progressively keep women away from being seen in public for their personal safety? Because, longer is the rope that we provide to law enforcers, shorter is going to be the safety radius we provide our women.

In an increasingly violence ridden world, fraught with lack of role models and empathy, it is the women who will pay a heavy price for this short sightedness.

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