Stabbing the cause from the front

Closely after the Raising Day of the National Security Guard (NSG), several national dailies reported a rather disturbing story of discrimination of women. No. This time it’s not the male chauvinists, but the women leaders who have done their bit.

The NSG has raised a women’s division, given the same training as its men. However, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa and BSP supremo Mayawati have reportedly refused to be protected by these women commandos.

Ironically, both are often cited as examples of women power triumphing in a male-dominated society. Both had towering male mentors and overcame challenges to their authority and consolidated power. As party bosses whose MPs’ support decides the fate of the government, they are also symbols of well-earned power that inspires thousands of women across the country.

However, their refusal to trust the security cover provided by women commandos has damaged the very foundation of the call for equality of women in all professions. Mayawati and Jayalalithaa have indirectly hinted that they don’t consider women commandos as competent as their male counterparts.

Not only have these politicians insulted these brave soldiers, but also they have undermined their own competence to be in positions of power.

Now how can one say Jayalalithaa is as capable as the No 2 in the party or the ministry? How can she be trusted to handle the political and administrative leadership of a crucial southern state?

For Mayawati, the questions would be even more difficult. She is not just a political leader. She is also considered by many as a symbol of empowerment for Dalits (though her biggest project was self-glorification through statues, parks and memorials). How can the Dalit community put its trust in a party and its leader, whose competence is in question because of her gender?

Even worse is the predicament of the premier security agency, whose ‘black cats’ are the most reassuring sight for the VIPs. They have put together a squad of talented, committed and well-trained women. With the VIPs refusing their services and the government policy not permitting their deployment in counter-terrorism operations, they will be reduced to mere showpieces.

Any professional who has spent substantial time ‘on the bench’ will vouch for the crushing feeling of boredom and self-doubt. So, imagine the plight of these brilliant women who have been trained for the most risky field operations, but forced to stay put at their base.

We hear ridiculous comments that degrade women from obsolete institutions like khaps and fringe groups that call themselves moral police. And we attribute little significance to their takes due to their dubious backgrounds and illegal activities.

However, what Mayawati and Jayalalithaa have done is not something that can be ignored that easily. Both must apologise, and accept protection from women commandos.

(This article was published as the editorial column in Postnoon on October 17, 2012)

Khaps are our Taliban, crush them before it is too late

After decades of deafening silence or being hand-in-glove with caste councils (khaps), the politicos seem to muster courage to speak out against these kangaroo courts, if Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s forays can be considered as an indicator.

Political parties have banked on caste votes to fuel their journeys to power and therefore it is natural that they don’t tread on the turf of their benefactors. This is not purely an India-exclusive phenomenon. At the zenith of Nazi power, the Catholic Church maintained silence on German atrocities in return for sparing the interests of the Church. Spain’s brutal dictator Franco too enjoyed similar privileges.

Haryana is not the nucleus of the menace of khaps — its tentacles reach the nook and corner of the country. Even while public outrage against khap-ordered atrocities, especially against women, are on the rise, political leaders are very measured in their response — Sonia too is no exception to this unspoken rule. Though she condemned the rise in crimes against women and called for the severest punishment for rapists, her response to a question regarding the ‘authority’ of khaps was surprisingly mild. She said only the government and courts have the authority to prosecute people. The statesman-like statement did not directly attack khaps nor did it say the kangaroo courts need to be done away with.

Khaps are nothing but an Indian version of Taliban, which has been instrumental in crushing the lives of millions of women in Pakistan and Afghanistan. The colour of the flags may differ, but the obsolete and suppressive ideologies are same.

The khap advisory to get girls married off at the age of 16 to curb rapes is not much different from the logic of proponents of female genital mutilation that physically and mentally scars millions of women across the world.

The primitive justification of male superiority and importance has over the decades created a demographic disaster across the country with plummeting sex ratios. The result has been an overdose of testosterone in social life. Coupled with the tradition of glorifying suppression of women’s rights, an environment dangerous for the fairer sex has been created.

Though our politicians take umbrage at comments on a wide range of matters and their wisdom spans from personal etiquette to art, philosophy, and literature, no one has the courage to take on the scourge of these extra-constitutional cancers that have been gnawing away at the core of ideals of democracy and liberty — ironically, guaranteed by the Constitution and reinforced by court rulings.

Mahatma Gandhi once said that India lives in its villages. And if the women in our villages are forced to live under the reign of khap terror, what kind of rule of law can we boast of?

Unlike the urban folk, the rural heartland turns out to vote in large numbers. When they exercise their electoral franchise, they hope their representatives will create a better future for them. However, our democratic model has remained a pathetic failure in this department.

When a country cannot protect its women (No, locking them inside houses and teen weddings are NOT solutions); when it cannot ensure freedom of choosing life partners for its youths; when law and order machinery fails to do its duty, we are no different from the failed states that are our neighbours.

(This article was published as the editorial column in Postnoon on October 10, 2012)

It’s do-or-die for cornered Kiran

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Kumar Reddy’s categorical statement that he won’t be pushed around over Telangana statehood heralds a turning a turning point for the embattled CM and his party in the State — for better or worse.

Ever since he took charge after the exit of K Rosaiah, the former cricketer always confined his game to defensive shots as the party’s national leadership kept dilly-dallying on the statehood issue.

Even wave after wave of agitation causing losses of tens of thousands of crores in terms of production, destruction of public property, security, and not the least, investments that went to Karnataka and Tamil Nadu for lack of political stability in the State.

The violent agitations also ensured that the image of the City was sullied. The debris of statues at Tank Bund, barely a kilometre from the Secretariat, is a reminder of the paralysis of the State administration.

Though in power with adequate numbers, the chief minister has been constantly under attack from elements within the party — some blaming his indecisiveness over Telangana, the rest over issues ranging from corruption-tainted ministers to policy blunders.

The constant wrangle for power between the CM and APCC chief Botsa Satyanarayana also undermined Kiran’s ability to command the support of the party’s rank and file. With Botsa and actor-turned-politician Chiranjeevi being promoted by some factions as possible replacements, the CM’s continuation in the post was always under doubt. To make matters worse, the numerous visits by national leadership’s envoys never made any credible impact in favour of or against the CM.

The divisions in Congress also resulted in the party being humiliated in bypolls, first by the TRS and then by former chief minister YS Rajashekar Reddy’s son and YSR Congress chief YS Jaganmohan Reddy. Kiran’s inability to stop a scam-tainted political novice from a sizeable chunk of Assembly seats was the ultimate humiliation for the chief minister.

It was at this point that Kiran Kumar Reddy realised that personal political oblivion and decimation of the party was at the doorstep. And ever since, the CM has taken the route of squarely confronting political adversaries.

The CM made it clear that he  will be at the helm till 2014 and rubbished suggestions to the contrary. This was also an open challenge his critics within the Congress to come out and confront him. Kiran’s gamble paid off as, with a series of electoral defeats in the backdrop, no one could muster enough courage to stage a coup and face the prospect of snap elections.

The latest statement of ‘enough is enough’ shows that the party’s national leadership sees Kiran Kumar Reddy as the best bet for the Congress in these testing times.

However, there are more challenges that await the CM. He will have to get the Telangana leaders of the party to either fall in line or keep quiet. With the Telangana agitation going out of KCR’s control, Kiran will have to decide whom he should woo and whom to ignore.

He also needs to get his act together as the head of the Council of Ministers and ensure that the complacence and paralysis that has become the trademark of administration are done away with.

The fate of the government, the Congress and Hyderabad now hinges on the ability of Kiran Kumar Reddy to walk the talk.

(This article was published as the editorial column in Postnoon on October 3, 2012)

What makes Zionist occupation of Palestine justifiable?

The self-proclaimed defenders of freedom and liberty in West are blind to the most modern example of colonialism, state-sponsored oppression and systematic ethnic cleansing — yes, even in the 21st Century.

Why aren't the Western democracies arming Palestinians to overthrow the Zionist occupiers? No Arab Spring for these people huh?

Just imagine Winston Churchill (or the new Labour PM) giving a similar presentation at an international conference in 1947.

The continuing occupation of Palestine by invaders from across the world shows what happens when religion, and not reason, decides policies.

Israel (actually its Zionist-occupied territory of Palestine) continues to occupy an entire country and vast swathes of territory of neighbours, has hundreds of nuclear weapons and has an 'impressive history of unilateral military aggression - and everyone is worried about Iranian nuclear weapons, of which there is no proof of!

This UN theatrics reminds me of the Weapons of Mass Destruction presentation before the US invasion of Iraq.

Since the God has already chosen his people [Hey, what are you doubting? The Good Book says so. After the burning bush spoke to Moses, millennia had to pass before God spoke to Bush (George W Bush)], I have only one thing to say to the suffering Palestinians...

May the Force be with you.