On Wed, May 27, 2009 at 2:42 PM, Udhay Shankar N <[email protected]> wrote: > What a fascinating juxtaposition. A clash of Indias, of genders, of > classes, worldviews, of politics, philosophies and many other things.
If you want some of the above, Madhu Kishwar's articles/writings provide more room for debate. Her article "Indian politics encourages durgas, snubs women"[0] on the different attitudes and male psyche when women are in a powerful role, as compared to an everyday common woman ; makes an interesting read. A decade old but still its Scandinavian countries[3] which has more female participation. [0] http://www.cscsarchive.org/MediaArchive/audience.nsf/(docid)/F9C8489C5FBCAFD86525693F001AE98F [1] [1] The full article was archived and available until a few months ago. An abstract can be found here [2] [2] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12295711 [3] http://www.indiatogether.org/manushi/issue97/politics.htm > You will need to see here [1] for background to the piece below. She sounds like any other women, who when assaulted feels indignant (rightly so), but slowly turns guilt-ridden because the system fails them for various reasons beyond their control. I suppose that is where the downfall in the system begins enabling the "can get away with crime" or "rot in prison" cycle. > The possibilities are endless but there we were, on two ends of a > precarious see-saw, which was hoisting me upwards. The see-sawing variable is actually money/strings** each party can pull, albeit not evident at the outset. ** as in, political connections, surplus cash/time available for legal proceedings (or settle case), or do the rounds of the courts/police station, etc... Depending on this the officers will (dis)/encourage you to register a criminal case. For the most part 'justice' is usually not the main objective. > But I never really took those thoughts further. I never thought about > what would happen after I left the police station. In the years since, > I changed jobs, took a year off to do my > Masters, moved to London. I assumed that the police would have knocked > Sanjeev Kumar around a bit, and then let him off later that same day. This is odd. Wasnt she a journalist with the Hindu and yet she seems confused about what it means to formally press criminal charges against someone, and that the police is (on paper) not supposed to "knock around anyone" (assuming she meant the physical kind) nor do they have judicial powers (how did she assume the police would let him off when she has pressed formal charges and knew he was locked up for 15 days, unless she withdrew the complaint later). Why would she assumed the police would judge her case and pass a verdict in 24 hours because she might have guilt pangs over the slow judicial system after 2 years??? Strange. Because the lady constable warned her of exactly this. > What did I think would happen when I filed the FIR? A > two-and-a-halfyear, and continuing, saga of justice delayed and a > judicial system erring unbelievably in my favour? What happened that > night perhaps merited a short imprisonment and a fine. Or just a fine. Stockholm syndrome? I would be interested in knowing if she did take her case further, went on trial or did she withdraw the case?? It is unfair to rot for 2 years but its not easy to prove "harassment" cases in court either, as opposed to say filing a case under the dowry act[4]. Also delays in the judicial system don't automatically mean that (in)justice was done nor is the mere existence of a law on paper a sufficient deterrent for sexual assaults on women. Yes, delayed justice is denied justice, for all parties involved. And yet she now feels guilty about standing up for herself because of weak links in the system which she misinterprets as favoring women, when it actually doesn't in the case of sexual assaults (the recent Bangalore and Mangalore cases?). [4] I am not an expert on womens law nor related issues but if experts on the subject are to be believed the dowry act is perhaps the most (mis)used one[5]. Is there a marked difference in how different laws play a contrasting role with respect to women seeking justice? What makes it easier for women to seek justice under the dowry act (even if its another reason) as compared to those women who are sexually assaulted? What are the legal shortcomings in the laws in the latter that makes women reticent in actively seeking justice when assaulted? Its definitely not because cases under the dowry act are dispensed with quickly while other women's cases gather dust. [5] http://www.indiatogether.com/manushi/issue148/dowry.htm -- .
