Women's Right of Entry to Places of Worship - An Interjection

I have familiarity with Hindu Temples so I will be able articulate my views using them as a basis. However, the debate is also about restrictions placed on women at some Dargahs and Mosques too.

I write this article in the background of a lady in Maharashtra, Ms. Trupti Desai starting a high profile campaign for temples to permit entry of women into the Sanctum Santorum, particularly of the Shani Shingnapur Temple near Ahmednagar. Once she raised this issue, similar voices were heard protesting the barring of the entry of all women from age 10 to 50 at Sabarimala in Kerala and the restrictions placed on woman entering the Haji Ali Dargah at Mumbai. Please see link below: 

http://indianexpress.com/article/blogs/shani-shingnapur-sabarimala-temple-entry-protest-rights/

In my experience, it is only in Maharashtra that one has seen this practice of all devotees getting access to the Sanctum Santorum and making offerings to the presiding deity, and hence the demand is quite an explosive one elsewhere. In most other temples, definitely in the Southern States, nobody except the designated priests are permitted to enter as they have to maintain a certain decorum (much like Surgeons preparing to enter the OT, like bathing, wearing fresh sun-dried dothies, observing certain religious practices at home, etc.) and nobody else is allowed to enter. 

As everywhere, some rules are broken in some temples for VIP visitors which is an abhorrent practice and must be stopped. 

Thus, if all temples bar the entry into the Sanctum Santorum for ALL people other than the presiding priests and have no restriction at all on anybody else entering the public spaces of the temple to pray, it should be seen as an enabling and egalitarian solution to the problem. 

Some temples bar women, some bar men, some bar non-Hindus etc. which should be viewed as being anti Constitutional and such restrictions must be banned by law, to the extent that everyone regardless of caste, creed, race or religion shall have free access to the 'public' spaces in a temple.

When it comes to women, it must be said that they are the most mature ones in any society and are the true keepers of tradition and faith. Thus, if they feel uncomfortable entering a place of worship on certain days, (I see this in my family) they will not enter. Others may feel that they have a right to enter regardless - and it is our duty to protect that right, but to ensure that religious sensibilities are not unnecessarily trampled upon, restrict that right to the 'public' spaces of temples.

Thus, to sum up: Open the doors, but restrict entry to the OT to only the Doctors and leave the choice of entry (or not) to the public spaces of a temple to the devotees.

Additional reading:

http://www.firstpost.com/india/why-women-are-barred-from-sabarimala-its-not-because-they-are-unclean-2583694.html

http://indianexpress.com/article/cities/mumbai/ban-on-womens-entry-to-haji-ali-shrine-grievous-sin-for-women-to-be-near-male-muslim-saints-grave/

Lift the ban on India's Daughters. On the documentary too, of course.

"India's Daughter". A Documentary made by a sensitive and concerned film maker, who herself is a survivor of violence against women, Ms. Leslee Udwin, produced by the BBC and promoted in India by NDTV. The background of the documentary is the horrific gang rape of a bright and promising medical student in a moving bus, at an 'earthly' hour of 8 pm. Her male friend was also thrashed and immobilized while four animals and a juvenile took turns to rape her, while 'punishing' her for resisting. Apparently the punishment included biting, beating and violating her with an iron rod, which resulted in catastrophic injuries including the separation of a portion of her intestines, which a juvenile perpetrator pulled out and threw away. Chilling.

The documentary attempts to study the incident and understand as to what kind of criminality and social conditioning could create such despicable monsters in India, and the resulting status of women, and their safety in society. The film maker conducted a series of interviews with the accused and their lawyers, experts in criminal mentality and women's groups to present a balanced report on the macabre truth about the status of women in some regions of India. Instead of applauding the efforts of the film maker, the Government in an ill-considered move, decided to ban the documentary!

I'm really amazed how any sensible Government can ban a documentary as important as this one? I sincerely believe that the documentary is actually performing a great service to our nation, by exposing the disgusting underbelly of gender issues in India.

Well researched and immaculately presented, '‪#‎IndiasDaughter‬' must in fact, be made compulsory for every Indian to watch and introspect about. The status of women in the minds of the 'poor and marginalized' males is apparently not even worth feeling any guilt or remorse, after brutally gang raping her, physically assaulting and disfiguring her, and throwing her out of the bus naked on the street. The most poignantly shocking being the patriarchal and misogynistic views of the so-called educated Lawyers. It is simply shameful, and shatters the image I had about my country and it's people who are descended from a 5000 year old civilization. "So, where is this civilization that everyone speaks of? I wonder."

In any event, why is the Government making such a concerted and yet ham-handed attempt at preventing me from seeing this documentary? I cannot think of any conceivable reason for them to do so. In the form of an apt analogy, I am reminded of a story in which an incredibly stupid person refuses to get treated for a dog bite on his butt because he was embarrassed to show it to the doctor. Mr. Home Minister, the country will fall victim to this 'rabies' if we do not choose to wake up and start doing something by way of changing mindsets. Please stop this silly retrograde action and permit Ms. Leslee Udwin to hold a mirror to us, and show to us Indians our warts, as it were. We need to see them, and hang our heads in shame. Hopefully, it will help change the mindsets of millions of people who treat their daughters as less than equal, and do not have the basic parenting skills to teach their sons the difference between wright and wrong.

India always touts the fact that we have the youngest and most productive population in the world, and this Human Capital is verily treated as primary equity that will help take this nation to the top of the comity of nations. I shudder to think that untold millions of this 'human capital' would be possessing such a warped and retrograde outlook of life. Forget taking us ahead, they will condemn us to the medieval age if we do not root this virus out. 

I strongly urge everyone to see the documentary from wherever they can access it. We need to be shocked when faced with the truth. We need to introspect and change. If we do not, we have no hope of becoming a modern and developed country and an egalitarian society. As the Government has gone to the Courts seeking a ban, I still see a glimmer of hope, that the enlightened in the Judiciary will throw out the undemocratic ban, and set a positive precedent.

My heartfelt gratitude and appreciation to Ms. Udwin, @BBC and @NDTV for the documentary. @ArnabGoswami I really am a Big Fan, but you were horribly wrong on this one. If you ever read this, I hope you will be able to tell us "what the hell were you thinking, when you launched so silly a tirade against the making and telecast of this important study"...

Rape the girl and hang her by the neck?

In the background of the news of several rapes taking place in Uttar Pradesh, recently, a lady friend of mine shared a picture on Whatsapp, which showed that crimes like rape are handled with alarming deftness and shocking brutality is some Middle Eastern countries, where a rape accused is variously beheaded, stoned to death, shot by firing squad or finished off using other such methods, within a time-frame varying from a day to a week. My friend was asking the question that every woman is asking today – what needs to be done in India to ensure that women feel safe in this country? Why not take a leaf out of these Middle Eastern examples was something that was begging to be asked too.

Considering the fact that current DNA Mapping methods impose a typical two-week window before they can be used as evidence, the summary executions apparently practiced by our Middle Eastern friends will thus be based only on circumstantial evidence, something I believe that the Indian legal system would normally not permit. Further, I'm also not sure if the research on that Whatsapp picture was really credible, and even if it is credible, should we as one of the finest model democracies; make the mistake of benchmarking ourselves against medieval autocracies like the countries mentioned?

However, I do agree that the situation in India is alarming, with a daily update on news of rapes, rape & stripping and parading the victims, rape & acid attack to deface the victims and the most gruesome of all, rape & hanging in public of the victims. Watching the news has become simply depressing. What kind of male psyche is it that not only sexually violates random women and young girls, but also makes them want to mutilate and kill their victims? The killings are not even hidden or masked in any manner, but are instead, displayed in full public glare like as though they were trophies on a hunter’s wall? That is a level of mental illness and depravity that I have never seen before.

It is quite sad to say that one gets an impression that some of these rapists have no doubt, been emboldened by the unknowing support some politicians seem to be giving them, by questioning the victims’ antecedents, dressing and intent (what was she doing walking on the street at 8pm?). Now that the perpetrators know that retribution is weak, and that a whole gaggle of paternalistic politicians would be happy to wink at their crimes with a 'boys will be boys' homily. The politics of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar should not define our approach to this problem, and India needs a very harsh and fresh look at the Law that should aim to prevent such crimes by changing the mindset of the male population. Of course, in this context, genuine social change will take generations to come about, hence the only viable near-term alternative is to instill fear. We have to make this crime inconceivable to each and every male. Period.

Name-Shame-Defang. There is little doubt that we need to speed up the legal process by quick and conclusive investigation using scientifically proven methods. The Perpetrators have to be named and tried in public, while the victims must be kept totally anonymous and under protection of the state. The current practice of calling the victims to the witness stand, where then an attempt is made to tear her credibility to shreds and also call to question her personal life must be done away with. Rape investigation that is proven by scientific methods should require no cross examination by a sleazy lawer, and any woman, regardless of the fact that she may even be a prostitute, possesses an inalienable right to safety and security and not be raped! Social ostracization of the perpetrator needs to be ensured, not of the victim.

Finally, as the act of rape is considered as measure of one’s manhood in some society’s in India, all such men must be made to understand that it is just not acceptable behavior, and if they do indulge in such a criminal act, the State, in addition to the normal imprisonment and fines, will ensure that they can never do it again, with the introduction of new punishments like medical castration for proven rapists. Deterrent harsh punishment - Democratic process. That is the key. Especially, if the so-called masculinity of the rapist, something greatly treasured and protected in feudal India, is taken away from him and he is neutered and shamed in front of his society, I dare say that younger wannabe rapists wouldn't ever dare try it.

The Death Penalty, of course has already been provided by the new law for rape-murder cases (post the Delhi gang rape & murder case), but it should not apply to the ‘rarest of rare’ cases, but should be applied to each and every case of rape-murder. The choice of punishment and sentencing should not be left to the social construct of a Judge, but predetermined by law. Case proved? – Apply this punishment:

• Molestation or Eve Teasing if proven in a first offense – Imprisonment for the maximum term and maximum fine. Repeat offenders will need to be prosecuted for rape, or the next more serious offense.
• When rape is proven in a first offense – Castration, Life imprisonment and maximum fine. Repeat offenders will need to be prosecuted for rape-murder, or the next more serious offense.
• When rape-murder is proven, on the very first offense – Castration, and Death Penalty. We need to ensure that there is no chance of Repeat offenders.

A new department tasked with the Protection of Women’s Rights and Safety similar to the National Human Rights Commission, with suo-moto powers to initiate investigation and manage the prosecution needs to be set up and they need to automatically take up the investigation and prosecution of all women's protection cases. The investigation needs to be predetermined in terms of the steps to be followed and the precautions to be exercised, so that the evidence can be collected flawlessly and scientifically. The local police will then not be able to demonstrate incompetence (willfully or otherwise) or gloss over the case and protect the perpetrators. I would love to see Ms. Kiran Bedi head such a department.

Here are some of the distressing stories that made the news recently (story courtesy NDTV):

The tiny village of Karta in Badaun, Uttar Pradesh, woke up on Wednesday morning to the chilling sight of two teen girls hanging from a tree in an orchard. The girls, cousins aged 14 and 15, had gone missing from home the night before.

http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/two-teen-sisters-allegedly-gang-raped-hanged-from-tree-in-up-532605

The horrific crimes against women just refuse to cease. On Tuesday, a tribal woman was allegedly gang-raped by 10 men, including her husband, in Madhya Pradesh's Bhilai Borkhedi village. She was also allegedly made to drink urine and paraded semi-naked in the village.

http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/woman-allegedly-gang-raped-by-10-men-including-husband-made-to-drink-urine-541646

32-Year-Old Woman Allegedly Gang-Raped in Badaun

http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/32-year-old-woman-allegedly-gang-raped-in-badaun-541726

And so on the story goes. Even as I write this, there is another story about a women raped and hung in Uttar Pradesh. Do we have the will and weapons to end it?

Are Indians oversensitive to satire? The Assam Rape Festival

Recently on Facebook, a very good lady friend of mine from Malaysia shared an article posted in the National Report, titled “The Assam Rape Festival in India begins this week” http://nationalreport.net/assam-rape-festival-india-begins-week/ which spoke of a festival that dates back to the year 43 BC, wherein all the men in a village in Assam chase down and rape every girl in the village to exorcise their demons! 

To be honest, to begin with I too read the article with a lot of concern and decided that I need to learn more about this barbaric festival, when I started noticing some cultural inconsistencies and realized that this was a hoax. Unfortunately, many of the other readers were readily fooled by the mock seriousness of the article and had posted comments that were very critical of India and its customs. The indignation of some of the commenter’s was quite funny to me as I was ‘in on the secret’, but I felt that it was necessary for me to write to the site and put things in perspective. My comment to the site is reproduced below: 

 This article is a work of satire. It is as true as the next article in the series “The Great American Mass Shooting Festival Begins Next Week (Response from India) - See more at : http://nationalreport.net/great-american-mass-shooting-festival-begins-next-week-response-india/, which should be billed as The Great American Mass Killing Jamboree”, perhaps a more 'American' term. Even the section in which it is posted - 'Entertainment' is a dead giveaway. Poorly researched – the names used of the so called protagonists are not even culturally accurate. Not particularly funny too, one must add, but surely we need to thank this author, as all Indians really need to wake up to the problem of violence against women. Rapes do happen in India and happen too often for us to be complacent anymore. One can argue that out of a population of 1.2 billion, there will always be a few bad eggs, but that is a specious argument that we should not hide behind any longer. Many political parties and the media are constantly lobbying for stricter laws and the sensitization of the police and society at large, to make rape an unacceptable criminal act, which will be dealt with an iron fist, and each and every Indian must support such forces. 

The lady friend of mine from Malaysia, who I spoke about earlier, wrote to me and asked me if this festival news was true. My response: “Not a chance. Rape is punishable with life imprisonment. We do hear a lot of rapes taking place but they are on account of individual depravity and not some institutional or cultural sanction. India has a 5000 year old history of civilization and one of the safest places on earth.” 

What really surprises, are the indignant and sometimes vituperative reactions from some gullible readers who were fooled into thinking this article to be true. One is shocked to see how many people are ready to believe the worst of a country like India, which has been a beacon of non-violence, philosophy and ethics since thousands of years and was the cradle that gave birth to people like Gautam Buddha, Mahaveera, Mahatma Gandhi and millions of lesser known personages of the human endeavor story. 

I also read in the news today, that this article has stirred up a major controversy with the story sparking widespread protests among the people in Assam, who say it has tarnished the image of the state. I’m also shocked to learn from Yahoo News that “The Assam Criminal Investigation Department has registered a suo-motu case against the website for posting the "defamatory" article. CID Additional Superintendent of Police Nirmal Baishya said that investigations have revealed that the article was sourced from Uganda and the website is hosted in Houston in the US”. Surely a gross overreaction, I would think. 

The best response to this article was from the internet troll, Frappy the Anti-Masturbation Dolphin - "There better not be any masturbation at the festival." That is the level of seriousness that it deserves!

Justice and Social Integration - The Suryanelli rape victim

One prided oneself on the fact that one was fortunate to be born into the worlds’ largest and arguably the freest democracy, where all citizens were assured of equality and justice. This pride has suddenly been punctured recently, as it became increasingly clear that equality and justice was available to only about half the population – the male half, that is. With depressing regularity one reads about how little girls, students and aged women are tortured, assaulted, brutally raped and even publicly humiliated to ‘punish’ their families, communities or caste. We see on TV how medieval minded Khap Panchayats ban women from wearing jeans, owning cellphones or are even ordered to forcefully marry their rapists. Disgusting. Perhaps this has been the situation all along, and we – educated India, have chosen to be blissfully unaware of it. Thanks to the concerted efforts of the Media, this sad state of affairs is now increasingly in the public domain.

A few weeks ago, I was saddened to read the article 'Trial and Error' published in the Week Magazine, in which the horrific experiences of a 16 year old victim of abduction, illegal detention and repeated rape read virtually like a sick X-Rated novel. The Magazine had started a campaign to lobby for justice to the Suryanelli rape victim - something I readily support. In fact, a lot more than just getting her the justice she deserves is necessary, and other critical actions that ensure her re-integration into a society that has chosen to shun her will be required.

It is quite tragic that except for her parents and her lawyer, virtually everyone seems to have deserted her. One learns that she had been given a Government job on compassionate grounds, and recently faced suspension on account of corruption charges – which she denies. One wonders if this corruption charge is some sort of retribution for daring to appeal to the Supreme Court? The timing of the corruption charge certainly seems to be a little too convenient, to say the least. Thus, it looks like every stone is being overturned and every trick in the book is being used to subvert due process. It is absolutely shocking to learn that such concerted attempts at denying justice in this manner is even possible in this day and age, which is also denying a victim the right she has of receiving the support of society.

It seemed quite apparent to me that a 'Grade A' cover up process has been achieved, and the entire Justice System - right from the Social Worker, the Police and the Judiciary seems to have failed the victim, leaving her to battle this horrendous experience virtually on her own. What a brave little 16-year old she must have been to take on the system that cared nothing for her. From day one, the Police investigation and the judicial process seemed to have focused only on protecting the political bigwigs allegedly involved. One can understand the spineless approach of the Police, but a lot is expected from the Judiciary, as they are entrusted with the responsibility of ensuring every citizen's fundamental rights. While the lower Courts may be less independent, one assumes nothing but the best support from the High Court. Despite that high expectation, it really shocked me observe the inexplicable Kerala High Court ruling that stated the victim had 'consensual' sex with her 42 rapists, and acquitted all but one of the accused! This strange ruling was given when the law is very clear on the Age of Consent being 18 years. One is no legal expert, but it seems plain as day that the judgment was faulty. As, even if the 16 year old had consented (a preposterous argument in itself) to having sex with each of those 42 men, every one of them, as adults, would have committed Statutory Rape, and should have faced the full might of the law. Instead of recognizing this, no less an institution than the High Court of Kerala has chosen to pass such a verdict. We need to hang our heads in collective shame for this. Each and every one of us – right from our founding fathers down.

This verdict has to also be seen in the context of a recent incident, the Delhi Bus Rape and Murder of a Paramedical Student. What a strange Juvenile Justice system we have in this country, that rules that a mere 16 year old child has attained the age of consent for sexual contact and ‘chose’ to be ravished and exploited by no less than 42 men, and was hence undeserving of justice, while at the same time, we have a 17-and-a-half year old Delhi rapist and brutal murder accused - an adult by any yardstick, being fed the 'milk of Judicial kindness' as it were, where he has been sent to a nice safe remand home, and is being provided every protection by law, including anonymity, and faces a maximum jail term of only 3 years if convicted. We live in a sick society if something like this can happen in our watch, and we do nothing to remedy the situation.

Our Juvenile Justice System has to be recast to ensure that never again will anyone who is accused of a heinous crime receive the safety net of society. It surprised me no end to learn that India has one of the most liberal Juvenile Justice Acts (JJA) in the world, where any person who is even a couple of days shy of the age of 18 years, enjoys the full benefit of being a minor. Both in the US and UK, on whom much of our Justice System is modeled on, have rules that exempt minors accused of heinous crimes from seeking refuge in the JJA. Children accused of Rape or Murder in these two countries face the same charges and could receive the same punishment as an adult would. Why we in India, in our JJA, choose to be so protective and nurturing of underage criminals? Of what use is our JJA that protects a sadist rapist-murderer, while failing to ensure justice to a 16-year old victim of another rape and sexual exploitation case?

Our Criminal Justice System and the Juvenile Justice System are both worthless if they cannot ensure that justice is meted out in the Suyranelli case. I sincerely hope that each and everyone accused of raping the minor victim will be soon finally brought to book and face the maximum terms of punishment. As thinking individuals, we need to also lobby for the identification of all the people involved in the alleged cover up, regardless of their position. Whether it be the policemen, the lawyers, the prosecutors, the judges or the politicians - anyone involved in a cover-up (if one can be proved) are given exemplary punishment that will deter anyone in future from contemplating such horrible a miscarriage of justice.

Finally, a concerted attempt needs to be made to reintegrate the victim into the mainstream society, and every person who chose to shun her is made to see the folly of their ways. Firstly, the victim must be suitably compensated financially both from the Government and from exemplary fines collected from each of the convicted persons. She should also be afforded an opportunity to face society with her head held high. This can be achieved by conferring on her a Bravery Award for the steely resolve she has exhibited in seeking justice - not only for herself, but for all women. She is richly deserving of that singular honor.