Two recent incidents have shaken the conscience of the
nation, and of course rightly. Nothing can be ghastlier than the kidnapping,
sedating, raping, murdering and then throwing the corpse of an eight-year-old
girl in the forest.
What makes the whole thing even more chilling and worthy of
a unanimous national outrage and protest is the fact that the little girl,
belonging to a nomadic Muslim clan in a legacy of confrontation with the local
majority Hindu peoples, was allegedly raped in a Kali temple in the middle of a
forest, where the little girl would graze cattle and play around with animals
and birds. Driven by the urge to take revenge on the girl’s clan for having
thrashed him earlier, Sanji Ram, a custodian of the Kali Temple, got the girl
kidnapped on 10th January 2018. The body was discovered on 17th
and the case transferred to the J&K Crime Branch on 22nd
January, as the victim’s family raised doubts about the veracity of the investigations
led by the local police. Their doubts were not wrong as it turned out that the
accused Sanji Ram had bribed the local police.
The place where the crime happened – Kathua – is in J&K
and it’s administered by a coalition of BJP and a local Kashmiri party PDP, led
by Mehbooba Mufti, who’s also the CM of the state. Despite the political clout
of the prime accused Sanji Ram, the state machinery did move on promptly,
transferring the case immediately to the Crime Branch. Led ably by Ramesh Kumar
Jalla, Senior Superintendent of Police, J&K Crime Branch, Jammu division,
the crime branch did everything in their capacity to do a fair investigation.
Accordingly, the chargesheet was prepared. Several lawyers in Kathua tried to
prevent Mr. Jalla from filing the chargesheet at the chief metropolitan magistrate’s
court on April 9, gheraoing the team for more than five hours. Earlier on March
4, two BJP ministers, Lal Singh and Prakash Chander, had participated in a
rally demanding the probe be transferred to CBI, as the prime accused Sanji and
his folks alleged the J&K police would frame them up wrongly. Needless to
say, the prime accused and his folks enjoy a good rapport with the BJP
ministers, to the point that they could get the ministers to rally for him. But
despite that, Mr. Jalla has been quoted in a
news
article as saying that he faced no pressure while preparing the chargesheet.
And despite the gherao, the chargesheet was indeed submitted on time.
So, till this point, the local BJP-PDP government can’t be
accused of inaction, unlike another case where a minor girl has accused the sitting
BJP MLA from Unnao in UP, Kuldeep Singh, of raping her last year. Not only didn’t
the UP BJP government take any action against the MLA till recently, but the
MLA and his accomplices have been also threatening the girl’s family
constantly. Eventually they got the girl’s father framed in a false charge and
arrested. Later he died suspiciously in police custody. Needless to say, he was
tortured to death, with the MLA colluding with the local police.
This particular case is a brazen instance of states’
inaction and attempt to shield a rapist.
It’s a coincidence that the death of the girl’s father in
Unnao happened around the same time as the two BJP ministers in the J&K
government coming out publicly to defend the prime accused of the Kathua rape
and murder case and several lawyers preventing Mr Jalla, the investigating
officer of the of the Kathua case, to submit the chargesheet in Jammu. The
timing was perfect and catalyzed the entire nation into a spontaneous
outpouring of outrage and angst, and of course rightly. Rape is always one of
the most loathsome and condemnable crimes which could be committed against
humanity. It’s the worst form of violence against women. The Kathua case
crossed all standards of crime in all aspects, from the goriness and
grotesqueness to the total erosion of conscience and morality in the society.
Its unthinkable that the human beings could stoop down to such level that could
shame even a beast. The case is subjudice, but still, there’s enough reason to
feel frustrated why the accused were not being arrested. The public outrage is
understandable and it’s really good that the nation did come out of slumber,
finally.
Now, around the same time few other equally horrific
incidents happened at the other part of the country – in Assam and Bihar.
One of the reputed national dailies reported that a minor
died in Assam’s Nagaon district after she was gang-raped by three – two of them
juveniles – and set on fire. This was the second case of gang rape in Nagaon
district in eight days, the daily said. It added, the police said the accused –
Jakir Hussain, 21, and the two juveniles belonging to the same village of the
victim – raped the girl when she was alone at home, doused her with kerosene
and set her on fire.
Another reputed daily reported, a six-year-old girl was
struggling for her life after being raped by a middle-aged man at a village in
Rohtas, around 165km southwest of Patna. It added, police said the accused
identified as Mohammad Meraz, 40, was the neighbour of the girl. He had taken
the victim to an agriculture field when she was playing outside her residence on
Tuesday evening and raped her.
In my opinion, all the four rape cases in Kathua, Unnao, Nagaon
and Rohtas are equally horrific and can’t be categorized or compartmentalized
into different grades of severity. Strangely the national media never picked up
the later two cases and neither the national conscience aroused for them. Unnao
and Kathua were in people’s minds, words, social media, candle light vigils and
everywhere. But the other two were totally ignored.
I often wonder what we protest against, and why we do so. A
girl gets raped in a horrific incident, and many are being killed almost every
day. Statistics say that many of them don’t even get justice. So, why’s that,
that the media and public cry only for a few? They say they are fighting for
justice but then what about many thousand such cases where too the victims may
not get justice, not just because of political collusion, but for many other
reasons. Why are we not bothered about the stupendous amount of such incidence
of rampant injustice? Why do we take to candle light vigils and protests only
in selective cases? Isn’t it utter hypocrisy? What are we trying to achieve
here? Getting justice to victims of rape or fighting against only those which
are outcome of BJP’s collusion with fundamentalist or Hindu nationalist forces?
Do we even know the breakup of such selective crimes against the thousands of
other equally horrific crimes which are happening otherwise? Would taming BJP
or kicking them out of power solve all such problems in India? Do we even know
what all problems we are facing? Unless we are non-hypocritical about the
problems, is there anything going to change?
I sought to ask my friends and acquaintances about this. And
what I heard was equally interesting.
It’s not about actions taken in the other two cases, I was
told. It’s more about the environment of polarization and hatred which got
created. A mob, or those capable of bringing together a mob, have started
thinking anything could be justified under the garb of fake nationalism if they
were part of the so called nationalist party, was the main grudge. This
nationalist party is of course BJP. In the same line, Washington Post wrote, “Hindu
‘nationalists’ defend accused rapists and shame India,” referring to lawyers
preventing the investigating officer Mr. Jalla from submitting the chargesheet
of the Kathua rape and murder case in Jammu and two BJP ministers rallying with
the demand for transferring the investigation to the CBI, of course at the
behest of the prime accused.
I wonder if the term “Hindu Nationalist” was at all needed.
Doubtless, the Kathua rape case had a strong communal overtone, which, how much
ever we might abhor, is also a reality. So is the tension between the Hindus
and the Muslims, mainly Bangladeshi illegal immigrants, infiltrating into India
through Assam and Bengal. The incident in Assam, the localites would know, does
have a communal undercurrent, which is again a grim and sad reality. But then,
would it ever be reported as “Hindu girl gang raped and set on fire by
Islamists”?
Media in general, I understand, is often choosy and biased
while selecting their priorities. They indulge in political partisanism instead
of neutrality. They intend to control power at the behest of their political patrons.
But then, how could the countrymen, whose conscience arouses from time to time,
be selective and partisan?
Someone agrees to the media partisanism, but then it’s
stressed that we should appreciate the nonviolence protest and pressurize the
government to make more strict laws. Somewhere we must speak up and let this – the
recent cases at Kathua and Unnao – be that moment.
But still I don’t understand why someone would be
selectively vocal and selectively silent about similarly heinous crimes.
Doesn’t it mean bias?
I’m then asked if I’m implying that one should not protest
for incident A if he is not for incident B. There could be lot of reason for
that, I’m told. One is awareness – media and even the politics. Terming it bias
would be shameful.
In reality though, I meant exactly the opposite. If one is
protesting for A then I would expect him or her to protest for B also. If morality
and principles are selective of based on politics, then isn’t it a very
dangerous situation?
But then, I’m warned, I shouldn’t assume that people are
aware of each incident. But I’ve a feeling even if people knew about the other
cases, still the reaction might not have been as much. Rape is inhuman. Neither
that should be politicized nor the protest. That’s totally understandable. But
when I raise the questions about the stoic silence on the other cases, the
response is that someone’s morality couldn’t be questioned in this context. The
argument is turned towards the poison and polarization we are living with, with
so much pain, where even a protest for rape is being questioned for morality.
It’s agreed that people should be angry on any rape case, I
hear. But in the other two cases [in Assam and Bihar], the attempt to cover up
by the ruling party is a problem. BJP is promoting communal rape, I’m reminded
again and again. Rape cases are increasing. What is the government doing?
Nothing. The bureaucrats are raping. What's the solution? We need a government
that will stop this.
So, now the layers of onion have started to peel off. So,
the protests are more against BJP for promoting “communal rape”.
One question came to my mind. Have we checked the data about
rapes and crimes against women and children in India over the past 10 years? And,
what is a communal rape? Rape is a rape, isn’t it? Are we saying a communal
rape is more commendable than other types of rapes? If the protests are against
the sudden increase in the rapes and crimes against women and children, then of
course there’s a real problem at hand. So, I checked the National Crime Records
Bureau (NCRB) site for the data and here is what I found.
The
Crime
Statistics 2016 is the most recent publication from the NCRB. Comparing the
latest 2016 data with that of the previous
years
since 2008, it can be seen that there’s a drastic reduction in the rate of
increase in the crimes against women and children, since 2014, since the recent
NDA has come to power. Having said that, that’s nothing to be happy about. The
spike in the crimes reported around 2013 might be due to more awareness, post
Nirbhaya rape case, and media and public scrutiny. Since 2014, the reporting would
have stabilized, and there has been a steady increase in the crimes since then.
But doubtless, it can’t be said that the crimes have increased at significantly
higher rates since 2014, compared to those in the past 10 years. It could be
surely said of the current government that it has failed to reduce the crimes.
But that’s an altogether different point.
The above two charts show the actual incidence of crimes in
a few categories, like: Rape of girls below six years of age, Murder of girls
below six years of age, Political and Communal murders, and finally Rape and
Murder – the data for the last one is available only since 2014, again most
likely an impact of the Nirbhaya Rape and Murder Case, which was perhaps the
last such case to have shaken the country.
If we take the NCRB data as sacrosanct, there’s no way we
could say that the current BJP government have done something which has
suddenly increased the crimes against women, and child or for that matter of
fact, the communal and political murders.
Talking about Politico-Communal Murders, there’s something
more interesting when we see the states which has the maximum incidence of
this.
Of the 6 top contributors for political and communal murders
in 2016 only two – Rajasthan and Jharkhand – are administered by BJP. So, it
can’t be asserted either that BJP has unleashed an epoch of political and
communal murders, despite the many serious “communal” incidents by cow
vigilantes across many states in the North India. Doesn’t it imply that just by
going after BJP and accusing them of all the evils actually won’t solve most of
the problems?
You don't need to compile any data, I was told. NCRB annual
report, which is published by the government, it was pointed out sternly to me,
clearly shows a sharp rise of 95% in violence against women and children over
the years. Yes, that’s true. In fact, the reality is much grimmer than this.
The reported incidence of crime against women has increased by 83% in ten
years. That of crime against children has increased by more than four times
during the same period. But, the data presented above doesn’t imply that the
BJP’s communalism and the rise in fundamental and Hindu nationalist forces can
be directly linked with that. As they say, the nonexistence of proof of anything
is not the proof of its nonexistence. Going by that logic, yes, it can be
always argued that there’s a lacuna of the right data and should that be
available it could be proved that BJP is indeed responsible for the rise in
crimes against women and children. But then, does that logic make sense?
Since I keep questioning the hue and cry raised by the civil
society, I’m asked, what do I think should be done? How could I be a part of
the solution?
It’s not that I’m not making any hue and cry. I make the
maximum hue and cry in such cases and I've been doing it without any bias and
prejudice. The problem is when the cries are selective. That's why the problem
never gets solved. Government after governments comes and goes. But these
problems remain because we never make a uniform hue and cry – we choose and
select as per our convenience.
The problem is that people raise hue and cry in online and
offline public fora individually. There is no mass movement, it’s argued, which
could go after the dysfunctional system legally and politically, challenging
the rise in violence. Rallies and campaigns, it’s asserted, are born when there
is a total absence of legal and large scale political action. So indirectly,
it’s being hinted that all the problem is due to political inaction of the
power at the center. It’s as though, the two other cases of rapes in Assam and
Bihar wouldn’t have happened, or for that matter, all the other heinous incidence
of crimes against women and children would stop if and only if the BJP is
tamed, or even better, replaced at the center by any one from the rest which,
very surreptitiously, would be absolved of all their crimes in the past and would
appear cleansed in milk.
Coming to the topic of past crimes of political parties,
let’s see where everyone stands, in this context. It has been said that BJP has
the maximum number of tinted MPs and MLAs accused of crimes against women and
children. Is that’s true – they have 14 out of their total 1700+ MPs and MLAs
in the center and states, which is 0.8%. Congress is marginally better – they
have 0.6% tainted MPs and MLAs. Let’s see the top few tainted parties.
Seeing this, it’s good that TDP with the highest percentage
of tainted elected leaders have deserted BJP. Interestingly, the second most
tainted party seems to be BJD. So here too, it can’t be claimed that if not BJP
then the “crime” scene would improve.
Finally, it’s pointed out that, in the context of the Kathua
and Unnao incidents, there is suddenly a lot of postings, from the “right wing”
in particular, about the other rapes, and the tenor is the same, that these
things also happen, but Unnao and Kathua are being highlighted, as though it’s
is a conspiracy. Next, as if to justify why the other rape cases don’t call for
the similar outrage and angst, the following questions are raised about them:
1.
Did the confinement and rape happen in a place
of worship?
2.
Was the victim kept in custody for 10 days in
horrendous conditions?
3.
Do the accused include an MLA or a police
officer or a retired revenue official?
4.
Was the family of the victim arrested? Was the
father of the victim beaten to death in police custody – allegedly by the
brother of the victim?
5.
Did the family of the victim leave their home
because of threats from the perpetrators?
6.
Did the MLA, ministers, leaders come out on the
streets supporting the alleged rapists?
7.
Did people called bandhs, and physically prevent
the chargesheets to be filed in the court?
8.
Did the High Court haul up the state government
for the complete butchery of the criminal justice system?
9.
Did the members of the ruling party trash its
own police force and ask the intervention of central government as it feels it
will be sympathetic to the criminals?
Did the state have to wait for the CBI to come
and arrest the accused?
And lastly, did rats come out in the social
media overtly and covertly supporting the actions – by sharing incorrect,
manipulated or fake data?
I have a very simple view that any rape of a child and
murder is as pathetic and heinous and horrendous as any other and it's sadistic
to even compare or highlight the differences between them. That itself smacks
of being partisan. Each is horrific. Period. And each needs attention and
outrage and hue and cry to ensure that justice is meted out. Does it matter
whether it's politically motivated or communally? I loathe both and have
serious concern in categorizing and trying to say one is better or worse than
the other. Any crime like this is a decay of the societal norms and principle
and the basic cultural fabric of the people or country. Nirbhaya's case was
neither political nor communal, but still as bad as what happened in Jammu and
UP, and as bad as what happened in Assam and Bihar. Why should I even go into
analyzing what happened after the rape? Just because the minor girl in Assam was
not confined in a temple and raped, does it make that lesser heinous? What are
we protesting? The crime, isn't it? Then, all are same, isn't it? Or are we
saying we would decide on the severity of the crime based on the criminals?
That's beyond my comprehension. And it's more concerning how people are trying
to justify their silence in condemning the other rapes.
Now coming to the eleven questions raised, each could be
answered. But then, what’s the point? What would we achieve out of that? Still,
I would like to say in 2010, a minor girl named Sheelu was raped by Purushottam
Dwivedi, the sitting MLA of Naraini constituency, belonging to then UP’s ruling
Bahujan Samaj Party. Given that there are so many tainted elected members from
so many parties, you would get many more cases.
Next, it’s also alleged that the “Hindu nationalists” and
the “right wing fundamentalists” and “bhakts” are bombarding the social media
with fake and manipulated data about rapes and murders, as though to dilute the
gravity of the Kathua and Unnao incidents. I must say that both the incidents
in Assam and Bihar appeared in reputed dailies and before the outburst and hue
and cry about Kathua and Unnao. So, it’s not possible technically to have faked
them with ulterior motives of exploiting them in the future.
The remaining points could be argued too. But then, what’s
the point? Why should we even stoop down to that levels so as to alienate one
crime against the other?
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