We have built a rapist’s paradise

A journalist friend’s social network post on the Delhi bus rape made some scathing observations, and correctly so, about how the nation is truly ‘outraged’ only when sexual violence occurs in the heart of political and economic powerhouses. 

Society and what we call “the system” are equally responsible for the state of sexual siege the women of this country are forced to live under.

Newspapers come up with illustrations of statistics and news channels line up ‘experts’ from different walks of life to hold prime time panel discussions on the deteriorating social conditions.

There is a lot of drama and rage before cameras and mikes for a few days, then all is gradually forgotten — till another mauled female form is discovered abandoned and battling for life.

Though psychologists may line up a host of reasons to explain the behaviour of perpetrators of sexual violence, it boils down to few basic reasons.

• Societal endorsement of masculine aggression
• Lack of airtight case-building that will lead to conviction
• Flawed portrayal of women in popular culture
• Outdated patriarchal social system that tends to punish the victim than the violator
• An ultra-slow legal system that can be exploited to delay justice to the effect of denying it

As long as we have ludicrous ‘out-of-court settlements’ for rape such as rapist agreeing to marry the victim, the justice system is taking a beating. This is an endorsement that the rape victim is in some way ‘contaminated’ and ‘unfit’ for leading a normal life. 

It also puts the victim at the mercy of the violator, who has already destroyed every minute element of self-respect she possessed. Every act of sexual intercourse after such a wedding is nothing short of socially-endorsed rape.

The absence of quick legal redress ensures that the victim is forced to put up with inordinate delays as case hearings are postponed and mental wounds stay raw and open. And thanks to the media attention (which usually goes overboard), every last bit of privacy of the victim goes for a toss — making a return to normal life even more difficult.

From policemen, politicians and social workers, we need to go miles in terms of treating cases of sexual violence with sensitivity. There is no dearth of top cops and politicians who shift the blame on victims’ tight clothes and loose morals.

Above all, the lack of a punishment that serves as a deterrent to rapists is the biggest inducement for the perpetrators to continue their brutal hobby with impunity. I reiterate my call, from an earlier column, for surgical castration of rapists. 

If there is anything that can deter the rapist, it is the permanent destruction of the supply chain that powers the macabre hunt.

I know this is not a permanent solution. However, with predators reduced to paper tigers, forced to live in self-loathing for the rest of their lives, the world becomes a better place for the fairer sex.

(This article was published as the editorial column in Postnoon on December 19, 2012.)

Iran-Israel imbroglio in Indraprastha

With Iran being blamed for the simultaneous magnetic bomb attacks on Israel embassy personnel across different parts of the globe, India finds itself in a particularly difficult diplomatic fix where it has to make some hard choices.
India imports 12 per cent of its crude from Iran and has continued to do so despite immense pressure from the EU and US to stop it and choke Iran’s finances, which they say, is funding its covert nuclear weapon programme.
Iran has been a friend of India and has honoured its commitments on supply of oil and bilateral trade despite India voting against it in International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) meetings, siding with the US and its allies.
However, with more evidence emerging about the similarity in the modus operandi of the attackers in using ditto style that was used to assassinate key Iranian nuclear scientists and the coincidence with the anniversary of killing of Hezbollah leaders, India would find it difficult to believe the Persian republic’s story.
Since the end of the cold war, India has been slowly but steadily strengthening its ties with Israel. Counter-terrorism and defence are areas of shared interest for both countries, bordered by hostile neighbours and constant targets of terrorist attacks.
Co-operation in these fields has grown multi-fold in the last two decades. Today India is the largest customer of Israeli military hardware and sources a substantial chunk of its high-end weapon platforms from the Jewish state.
Israel has also emerged as India’s second largest military supplier after the Russian federation. Israel has gone out of its way to persuade the US to allow it to sell sophisticated weapons systems it developed with American collaboration.
The attack on Israeli diplomatic personnel on Indian soil has been a first and comes close to the two countries celebrating establishment of diplomatic ties in January 1992. The ease with which the attack was carried out in broad daylight very close to the prime minister’s official residence has also exposed an embarrassing hole in the radar of the dozen-odd security agencies tasked with keeping the Capital secure.
Tensions are high in West Asia. Israel is preparing for a unilateral pre-emptive air/missile strike on Iran, with or without the US support. A cornered Iran, feeling the economic crunch of harsher EU-US sanctions, is threatening to cut off oil supplies to Europe and close the Straits of Hormuz — a vital route for international oil trade.
The US has responded by sending its carrier group to international waters close to Iran and has vowed to defeat any attempt to block oil routes. Iran responded by testing additional land-to-sea and sea-to-sea missiles and unveiling two indigenously built submarines.
The current dicey situation is also a wake-up call for Indian planners and the need to diversify from the country’s over dependence on import of oil and military hardware.
Another key area that needs addressing is intelligence gathering. Despite all the gung ho about overhaul of security apparatus after 26/11, several terrorist attacks have taken place in the country — the Delhi incident being the latest feather in the cap of intelligence failures. A conflict is looming and the ripples of the tensions have reached Indian shores.
It is time for India to man up and tell its squabbling West Asian friends to stop dirtying its backyard.

(This article was published as the editorial column in Postnoon on February 15, 2012)