Poonam I Kaushish
What is moral? And what constitutes morality? Do one’s morals end where another’s nose begins? Sizzling questions which have stripped India of all fair-mindedness, equilibrium and tolerance to expose the Ugly Sexmanic Indian.
How else does one explain the sleazy saga of media czar and dethroned Tehelka founder-editor-in-chief Tarun Tejpal arrested for raping and outraging the modesty of a young colleague during an event in Goa a fortnight ago. The squalid tales has seen many twists and turns. First Tejpal wanted ‘atonement’ by lacerating himself, and then vilified the victim’s character along-with his ex-managing editor who tried a botched cover-up et al.
The buck does not stop there. Former Supreme Court Judge now Chairperson West Bengal Human Rights Commission Ashok Ganguly too stands accused of sexually harassing a young female lawyer last December even as the Nirbhaya case was hogging media headlines.
A three Judge Committee constituted to probe the matter submitted its report to Chief Justice Sathasivam Thursday last. A “shattered and shocked” Ganguly denied the allegation asserting, “I am a victim of situations. She was my intern, like my child….?”
Shocked? Not at all. Daily newspapers scream headlines of young 2,4,8 year old girls raped…… 89 minors in a moving train…. Recently Malayalam actress Shwetha Menon accused Congress MP Peethambara Kurup of grabbing her with sexual intention. A finding of the Association for Democratic Reforms shows that two MPs, one each from AIADMK and Trinamool have serious rape charges against them.
Worse, in UP 8 MLAs (3 SP, 1each from BJP and BSP), in Orissa and West Bengal seven MLAs each have rape cases pending in court. In all, 360 MLAs have confessed to charges of outraging a woman’s modesty. Salute our law makers or law breakers?
Turn North, South, East and West to any mohalla, city or State the story is the same: Sexual innuendoes, overtures down men salaciously salivating on porn, women’s bodies, their sizes and sexual lives to harassment, molestation and rape abounds. Sending petrified shivers down one’s spine. A yovan raj. And we call ourselves a civilised society!
The anger and indignation coursing through the streets of India is palpable. Arguably, it’s not a question of outraging a girl’s modesty, character assassination, vilification or victimization and protesters alone which worries me. What one is concerned about is how our netas have lost the plot and politicised the issue.
While the BJP accuses the Congress of “protecting its protégée Tejpal, the Party accuses the Sangh of double standards and questions its morality vis-à-vis Narender Modi’s Snoopgate topped by its Delhi top leader hooliganism at ex Editor Tehelka’s Shoma Chaudhary’s residence. None spare a moment or think of the victim’s agony.
Diffusing the seriousness of the issue with empty rhetoric, completely disregarding the fact that they have collectively miserably failed time and again in making our cities and environment safe for women. True, subsequent to the Justice Verma Committee’s recommendations post the Nirbhaya case, the new law has stringently defined rape. But has it deterred men to think thousand times before they molest a woman? Certainly not.
Perhaps it has something to do with our patriarchal lineage. Remember Delhi’s Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit assertion, “Girls should not wear jeans and exposing clothes, instead wear salwar kameezes. They have no business to be driving around at 2 am in the morning.” Or Karnataka’s tongue-in-cheek “Pink Chaddi” campaign to take on right wing Sri Ram Sene Chief Pramod Mutalik who brutally attacked women in a Mangalore pub in January 2009 ostensibly for “violating traditional Indian norms”
Raising a moot point: Why are women viewed as sex objects? A plaything of males to satisfy their libido and massage their egos? Have we decided to surrender shamelessly to horrendous criminalization? Said goodbye to the protecting rule of law?
Clearly, in a society heavily loaded in favour of men, several women who face sexual abuse at work stay quite in order to avoid further harassment and of getting unwanted attention. Or are hesitant to speak out fearing they will be dubbed ‘loose charactered’ at best or ostracized at worst. Either which way the damage is done.
Alas, as our polity brags about Mera Desh Mahan and Brand India women and young girls live in an increasingly unsafe environment wherein they are viewed as sex objects and mince-meat for male lust camouflaged as human animals. Not a few complain that to rise professionally they need a ‘godfather’ who can make or break them. Comply or reconcile to battling it out at every level.
A profession where sexual abuse is rampant is the film industry. Actresses complain of “couch” tactics where it is extremely difficult to land a film. Not only are actresses asked to show lot of skin but visit the director, producer, actor post shooting. In the advertising world colleagues’ comment that women should wear things that make them look luscious, some pinch while greeting you,
Sadly, such is the state of affairs we are immune to women being snatched off the streets and gang raped in moving cars, unless it is a high profile one. In a survey conducted by a London firm of 150 safe cities, New Delhi and Mumbai are ranked 139 and 126 at the bottom of the heap.
Presently, the only functional law for sexual harassment is the Vishaka Guidelines. It states that every institution must have a sexual harassment committee with five members, of which three members should be women, including the chairperson. Based on an oral or written complaint, the committee is supposed to question the accused after examining the witness’s accounts, if any, and/or, other evidences provided by the complainant. If the person is found guilty, depending on the degree of harassment, suitable action must be taken.
Those holding cudgels for men assert, “What we ignore is that men too are harassed. Some women to curry favour make themselves “available”. Or to avenge professional disagreements have lodged complaints of sexual harassment against virtuous men. This is equally disheartening.
Given our male-dominated society, one way forward is to insure that irrespective of the complainant’s gender, we must give everyone a fair hearing, look at the issue objectively and punish severely only after we’re sure of all the facts.
Underscoring the importance of voicing out sexual harassment issues, the time has come for women who have been sexually harassed to speak up as it will make more people aware and come out in support thereby taking action collectively. If they continue to suffer in silence, they would only encourage men to continue with their crime. Alongside, the right groundwork must be laid for women to work in a safe and secure work environment and an orientation session for men and women on what constitutes sexual harassment.
In sum, in an environ which has systematically obliterated morality and ethics where incidents of moral turpitude pervade across the country, the time has come to seriously ponder for how long will women continue to be playthings at the hands of the voyeuristic animals in the garb of men? A time to introspect: Balatkar aur apradhikaran akhir kab tak? INFA
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