Middle East through the lens of Bitter Rivals (Iran vs Saudi Arabia)- Part II [Review]

This is in continuation to the previous post [here].

War against terror: Iraq War

The situation remained more or less silent in Middle East till the attack on US on 09-11-2001. In the light of 9-11, US started its war on terror, which was expanded to Saddam Hussein from Al Qaeda. Saudi Arabia was against US intervention in the region but the Saudi-US relations were already ebbing as 15 out of 19 hijackers were Saudi citizens. US war-machinery under Bush Administration, was led by Dick Cheney, Bush’s Vice President, destabilized Iraq by toppling Saddam Hussein. Meanwhile President Bush appointed Paul Bremer, as Presidential Envoy to Iraq on May 9, 2003, with authority to rule-by-decree and he came up this radical policy, popularly known as Debathification, of removing the Sunnis (from Baa'th party) from the administration. This sudden vacuum in administration gave way to local violence and Sunni-insurgency and consequential formation of Shia militia. This policy created space for both Iran and Saudis to meddle in internal affairs of Iran in their covert ways. Shia-Sunni conflict was at a peak. In the past, Iraq population was dominated by Shia, however, peacefully administered by the Sunni leaders. Shi’ism took dominance after the de-Baathification and resulted in civil war. Sunni leader Abu Musad was leading the Sunni rebels in Iraq. Iraq had witnessed lot of instability afterwards and remains unstable to this day. ISIS captured few of the cities including Baghdad, and Mosul. At that juncture, again, Iran intervened and set free the city of Mosul by indirect support to the locals.

Syrian Civil War

Next major conflict in the region was Syrian Civil War which erupted in Mar 2011, in wake of Arab Spring, and continuing till this day. Aleppo and Damascus were the two epicentres of the unrest. Iran has been supporting Assad regime from collapsing during the Arab Spring. Assad all along has been claiming that it’s the western power, hand-in-glove with Saudis which   instigated the civil war in prefabricated scenario. Sectarian identity were found among the groups to further the cause by Iran and Saudi Arabia. All this mayhem gave a fertile ground to organizations like IS and Al-Nusra. Syria war took worst turn, when International players started taking interest and it is worth mentioning that different rebel groups have backing of different foreign powers. The major parties supporting the Syrian Government are Iran, Russia and the Lebanese Hezbollah. Syrian rebel groups received political, logistic and military support from the United States, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Britain, France, Israel and the Netherlands.

Under the aegis of operation Timber Sycamore and other clandestine activities, CIA operatives and U.S. special operations troops have trained and armed nearly 10,000 rebel fighters at a cost of $1 billion a year since 2012. However, later Russia started aerial bombing to support Assad regime, which ultimately resulted the war to end in his favour and the uprising was considerably contained by the Assad regime.

Meanwhile, US had nuclear deal with Iran to curtail nuclear adventures which further upset the Saudi Arabia.

Yemen War

The poorest country in the Middle East, Yemen, faced another manifestation of this rivalry. Yemeni Civil War is an ongoing conflict that began in 2015 between two factions: the Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi-led Yemeni government, backed by Saudis and the Shia-dominated Houthi armed movement, backed by Iran. As soon as the uprising began, the capital Sanah was taken under control by Houthi rebels and the Hadi government was about to get overthrown. The Saudi Kingdom decisively intervened considering Yemen as its backyard whereas Iranian felt the obligation to protect the Yemeni Shia people . This intervention came in the form of relentless bombing (popularly names as "Operation Decisive Storm") and left Yemen unstable till date. 

Conclusion

As it can be seen from this discussion, most of the wars or insurgency or conflicts in the Middle East are the proxy wars led by Saudi Arabia and Iran. Islamic Revolution in Iran has irreversibly changed the power-dynamics in the region forever and the world is witnessing its butterfly effect in every corner.

Middle East through the lens of Bitter Rivals (Iran vs Saudi Arabia)- Part I [Review]

Bitter Rivals (Iran and Saudi Arabia) a 3-hour long documentary by Frontline, covering almost all the major events in Middle-East, post-Iranian revolution, through the lens of equation between Iran and Saudi Arabia. In fact, as we would learn by the end of the documentary there is not a single conflict in the Middle East which doesn’t have a Saudi Vs Iran angle. The region has always been a hotbed of conflicts, chaos and clashes since medieval age. However, the genesis of the contemporary conflicts in the region lies in the Islamic Revolution in Iran. In fact, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that today’s Shia-Sunni conflict in Muslim world has its roots pre dominantly in the Islamic Revolution!  

Islamic Revolution

Iranian Revolution back in 1979 was led by Ayatollah Khomeini, which resulted in removal of the US backed Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi’s monarchy in Iran. It was a revolution in many senses. Firstly, it substituted monarchy by the democracy and Ayatollah became the supreme leader of the country. Secondly, it revived Islamic values in the region and many countries re-introduced Sharia. Thirdly, it has been seen as the second most important event in Shiite sect, after Battle of Karbala, which deepened the Shia-Sunni rift. Fourthly, entire region ruled by monarchy was apprehensive of export of revolution in the region and didn’t take these revisionist developments very well, especially Saudi Royalty, which belonged to the Sunni Sect and enjoyed good relations with the United Sates.

Revival of Wahabism: Saudi, Pakistan & Afghanistan 

Ayatollah Khomeini tried to revive the Shia sect in the far-flung areas, including Saudi Kingdom. This led to various uprising in Saudi Arabia which was brutally crushed. In the same year, seizure of Mecca (holiest site of Muslim world) was carried out by Mahdis, under the leadership of al-Qahtani, a Wahabi-fringe, to bring down the House of Sauds which was taken back through the siege. In response to the same, Saudi Kingdom became reactionary and tried to represent itself as guardian of Islamic values in the Muslim world. Religious establishments were given money (petro dollars) and resources to promote and propagate the Wahabism and Sharia in response to Iranian attempt to export revolution. Saudi Arabia encouraged Pakistan (Sunni dominated) for spreading Wahabhism through pumping money in madarsas, and encouraging religious practices of Islam.  President of Pakistan, Zia-ul-Hq who came into power through a coup helped Saudi Arabia to Islamise the country. Saudis couldn’t have been in more luck when the Soviet Union was bent to spread communism in the belt during cold war era. This invasion of Afghanistan gave Saudis, a just reason to intervene in the region. Saudi Arabia grabbed the opportunity and the war was portrayed as Jihad (religious war) against godless communist. US actively supported (Cartar doctrine) Saudi Arabia and Pakistan to resist the expansion of Soviet Union in Gulf countries. US in collaboration with Pakistan and Saudi Arabia formed Afghanistan Mujahdeen (rebel groups) to fight against Soviet Union. This way, Pakistan ISI was militarized by USA to keep a check on Soviet Union thus promoting jihad at global level. Meanwhile Saudi Arabia continued to spread Wahabi teachings and Sharia law in Pakistan. The militarization of the area with the combined force of Saudi Arabia and USA resulted in expulsion of Soviet Union.

Lebanon War

Afterwards many regional wars were not-so-indirectly supported by Iran and Saudi. In fact, it was the Iran vs Saudi Cold war of the region which was fought at different theatres by different players. First of them was Lebanon war in 1980s. The city of Nabitia was invaded by Israel while Palestinian army was thrown out. Iran supported Lebanon in driving out the Israel and kept US and Saudi Arabia at bay. The local rebel groups were indirectly trained by IRGC and Hezabollah came into existence which brought the glory to the local people. It was Iran’s first successful experiment of forming a Shia militia outside the Iranian borders. Hezbollah remains an unformidable force in the region to this day.

Iran-Iraq War

Another, decisive regional war was Iran-Iraq war which lasted for almost 8 years. The war has its genesis in 1979 when Khomeini led the Iranian revolution. With the apprehension of export of the revolution, Iraq led by Saddam with the intention to topple the newly-formed Ayatollah’s regime in Iran and capture new territory, made move into Iran. Iran, although ill-equipped, retaliated with full force of the civilians available in the country, including the children which were popularly known as "human wave attacks". The war turned out to be brutal as chemical weapons were used for the first time by Iraq. Iran was successful in pushing back the Iraqi army and decided to make offensive attack after being defensive for many days. After 8 years of huge devastation from both the sides, and arriving at a lose-lose situation, UN brokered a ceasefire in 1988.

Net Neutrality: The lifeline of the Internet

In this age of information i.e. where information is considered as the most important resource, Internet (or the Web) has emerged as a ubiquitous medium for getting access to all kinds of information. Because of the presence that the Internet (will be calling it the Net onwards in this article) has made in all sectors of life, it has become the primary medium for availing services to users remotely. As with any popular medium of information/services, Net also has its fare share of challenges and debates, the most popular right now being of Net neutrality. Let’s see why Net neutrality means, and why it is a hot topic of debate.

Net Neutrality

Over few decades of evolution that the Net has seen, it has maintained a very peculiar characteristic, as is the case with other public communication and information sharing mediums like telephone, radio etc. The characteristic is its Content and Service Neutralityi.e. the Net itself does not distinguish between the type of content and the service that is being delivered over it. The concept of Net is very loose here, because it essentially means the Internet Service Providers (ISPs) as it is the ISPs that act as the access points for users of the Net.

As already mentioned, the concept of neutrality towards content is not something unique to the Net; it hold for almost all mediums of communication/information delivery. Contrast this property with electricity, which is distributed as a commodity rather than as a medium, and is service aware (Electricity bills change based on commercial vs. household connections, peak load basis, use of special devices like air conditioners etc.)

Why are talking about this?

We are talking about Net neutrality due to the ongoing debate on violation of Net neutrality. Out the various such instances, some have been very popular:

1.     The first major incident was in December 2014 when Airtel announced that it will levy extra charges for making voice calls from it’s network over internet (VoIP).

2.     In February 2015, Facebook launched Internet.org in India with Reliance Communications which provides free access to a selected set of websites through an app. The commotion is about the criteria for selecting only these websites for free access, which is apparently biased and violates Net neutrality.

3.     In April 2015, Airtel came up with the Airtel Zero scheme, where it will provide free access to Internet to certain apps, if the app developer firm has already signed the Airtel zero contract.

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has been under constant criticism for not being able to take action against these incidents and has not been able to ensure Net neutrality.

There have been many such incidents that potentially violate Net neutrality. I use the term “potentially” here because the notion of Net neutrality has never been fully formalized and it is still ambiguous as to what constitutes Net neutrality. For example, Facebook claims that Internet.org is an anthropologic initiative and thus does not violate Net neutrality. However, the experts’ opinions suggest something else. So, I will leave this interpretation to the reader, until a formal framework for Net neutrality comes into effect.

Is Net neutrality so critical?

In short, yes, it is. As aforementioned that Net has become the primary medium for exchange of information and facilitation of remote services, it holds utmost power in the sense that sentiment and information filtering on the Net can drastically change scenario of competition in the market and reduce quality of content and services. This will basically eliminate any new players from the cutthroat competition even before they make their online presence.

 Extrapolation of these impacts to a few years in the future paints a very horrific picture of the market where only an elite few (with deep pockets) will hold control of what reaches the end-users and basically manipulate their behavior at will.

Legal aspects

There are absolutely no laws for enforcing Net neutrality in India. TRAI has some guidelines for the Unified Access Service License, that promotes Net neutrality but don’t enforce it.  The IT Act 2000 also does not make any provisions regarding Net neutrality.

The way ahead…

The debate over Net neutrality is going to grow even more turbulent because of the importance of Internet and criticality of Net neutrality not just for large corporations but also for individual end users. Since, we have already established that access to unbiased information is critical for innovation and indiscriminate online presence is necessary for maintaining fair competition, Indian legal system needs to ensure that a formal legal framework is put into effect around the principles of Net neutrality.

Big Data: Big Deal

In a world run by computers, and everything happening on the Internet, there is a giant, hidden and precious resource that is being generated every moment and every one of us is contributing to it. We know this resource by the name of information or data.  Big Data is one of the new hot terms in the jargon of Internet/Computer science literature.

What is Big Data?

In the field of computer science, every piece of information/media constitutes data. However, for data to be called Big Data, it needs to satisfy the soft criteria of 3 Vs i.e. Volume, Velocity and Variety:

1.     Volume: As the name Big Data suggests, data size should be very large, generally of the order of Petabytes.

2.     Velocity: The data is generated at a very high rate, generally of the order of Gigabytes per second.

3.     Variety: Big Data generally consists of large variety data, mostly unstructured.

Who is generating Big Data?

We are. To understand how we generate big data, we need to know what actually constitutes big data. In most cases, big data is user profile, user preferences and user activity data, where a user means someone who is using a particular service on the web or outside of web. Billions of people are generating plethora of information every second through their interactions with different services that they use. With the advent of Internet of Things (IoT), a world where the vast majority of gadgets, machines and humans are connected to the internet, big data provides a promising future in terms of decisions based on big data.

Why all the fuss?

Data has lately emerged not only as a resource, but also as a precious commodity over past few years. We can only guess how precious this is as a commodity, I would not be wrong to say that it rivals all big commodities in the market like oil, gold etc. and has the potential to beat all these commodities (combined) in terms of gross global value in near future. Some people might think this is too bold of a statement, but let me give some pointers to think about:

Where do you think ALMOST ALL OF THE REVENUE of tech giants like Google and Facebook comes from, when they are not charging anything from the end user? Why do you think the government of India is so keen on investing in UID scheme, smart cities etc., when such basic problems likes illiteracy, discrimination etc. remain unsolved by a great margin? In fact, why do you think most of the services on the Internet are free for the end user?

The Big Data revolution: data never lies

Like every other precious commodity of such a wide impact, Big Data also has the potential to transform the world. If we really look closely, many of our decisions and our behavior are already being governed by data.

As the popular saying goes “Data never lies”, data is already being used by policy makers in progressive governance and big organizations to implement changes, attract people, transform behaviors and eliminate competitions. It would not be an exaggeration if I say that intelligent analysis of data is the key to a successful administration and a cutting edge business strategy in this age of information. In other words, we are going through a Big Data revolution, where data is one of the primary drivers of change, both positive (as we have already seen) as well as negative (as we will see in the next section).

Well there is a darker side too…

As some of the curious readers would have already guessed that, like any other commodity having an ability of such a huge impact on people’s lives, Big Data also comes with a cost and a set of challenges that can not be ignored.

1.    Greed vs Privacy: Since big data is a huge source of revenue, it is very tempting to cross boundaries of user privacy when it comes to using their personal data for filling pockets. As precious it is a commodity, it can not only be used by large corporations who already have a huge source of big data, but also can be sold for insane prices to malicious clients.

2.    Data Colonialism: As it happens with a commodity of such an impact, people with power over it don’t want to let it go.

Large corporations like Google and Facebook already have a soft monopoly over Big Data, but it remains to be seen whether they will use it (or are already using it) to not only generate revenues but also crush competition. However, the scenario here is not as bad as it used to be with oil, since the sources of big data as a commodity are not limited (at least as long as net neutrality is maintained, which is also a big issue of debate nowadays). The more worrisome phenomena is the colonization of the analog universe by the digital. The term Data Colonialism was given by Sorabji in 2013 to describe a scenario where the West has been mining African nations for health data without the African benefiting in any way. This was the case with raw materials extraction from colonies in 18th century- extraction of value.

3.    Transforming behavior: We have already entered the era where advertisements are powered by artificial intelligence which makes use of past user behavior to show advertisements that are more likely to impact user behavior towards a certain product, person, organization, campaign etc. That said, with the power that Big Data provides to large corporations and governments, it potentially provides a powerful tool to modify human behavior on a large scale for their benefits.

The problem of privacy violations can be solved to a large extent by imposing regulations regarding user privacy and performing audits whether those laws are adhered to. However, it is a big challenge since data often crosses national boundaries and there are technological limitations to imposing a law to such an effect.

Data colonialism is a very real possibility but not much can be done other than providing support to competing businesses to maintain an environment of open competition so that such situations do not arise. Although, use of data to transform human behavior for personal gains seems ethically wrong, but law cannot be used to counteract such a practice especially when it is done with user consent. All we can do is to make people aware of the potential risks and let them decide their courses of action.

In short…

In short, Big Data is a very precious commodity and a powerful tool to drive positive changes and lead to a world that runs on intelligent decisions rather than whims and fancies of people. However, this power comes with it’s own set of risks which we need to be aware of as the primary producers of this resource and be vigilant about how this data is being used.

Marital rape: trivialization vs criminalization - Part II

Continuing the previous post Marital Rape: Trivialization vs criminalization - Part I

Why should it be banned?

Marital rape is considered as the violation of Fundamental Right guaranteed under Article 14 of the Indian constitution which guarantees the equal protection of laws to all persons. By depriving married women of an effective penal remedy against forced sexual intercourse, it violates their right to privacy and bodily integrity, aspects of the right to life and personal liberty under Article 21, by differentiating them from unmarried women.

Marital privacy – which justifies laws such as the marital rape exception – is a fundamental denial of society’s commitment to treating all persons with equal concern and respect.

After making high pitch for the government flagship Beti Bachao beti padao, we want our 'Beti' to not have a right on her own body.

If marital rape has been committed, wife is a rape survivor and she has same rights like any other rape survivor.

Don’t women have a right to live  a dignified life even after marriage? I think, this is not true in the current setup. If it was that, then government would have continued the schemes like Sukanya Samraddhi even after marriage. Parents too would have shared the responsibility of a girl child even after marriage like they do for boys. Does marriage provides the license to rape? Hopefully, No. Sexual violence within circle of trust is more painful and the absence of a law to safeguard the same is a human right violation and unjust towards women.

What are the flaws with the legal system?

Our legal system doesn’t provide any concrete protection to the victims of marital rape. Under Hindu marriage act, 1955 one of the "conjugal duties" of the wife is to provide sexual satisfaction to her husband, a very archaic thought congruent to the thoughts of a patriarchal society. Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code(IPC) considers forced sex in marriages as a crime only when the wife is below 15 or the couple is legally separated. Thus, marital rape is not a criminal offense under the IPC. Marital rape victims have to take recourse to the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act 2005(PWDVA).The PWDVA, which came into force in 2006, outlaws marital rape. However, it offers only a civil remedy for the offence.

It is not the case that these irrational acts have not been up for revision. Law Commission's report(2000) and Justice Verma panel's(2013) recommended to do away with the exemption granted to marital rape in the laws. Unfortunately, these were not accepted by the government and the marital rape continues to be unrecognized by law. Parliamentary committee opposed the Verma commission proposal saying that entire family system will be brought under great stress if the Marital Rape is brought under the law.

But it is prone to misuse?

Proponents of marital rape exemption argue that if legalized, this law is prone to misuse as is the case with The Dowry act. I do agree with the same because it is really difficult to prove the charges of marital rape. It is worse when we rely on the methods like two finger test for proving charges of rape in general.

Here, I would say that every law is prone to misuse, let it be a dowry act or an anti defection law, yet we have to accept that the misuse is at the part of investigation.

Moreover, don’t we have acts like Prevention of Atrocities Act(SC & ST), 1989 and similar laws against discrimination? Aren't they prone to misuse? Because here also you have to rely on the statement of the victim prima facia. It can also be used to harass someone. Just because of this lame skepticism, we should not try to evade from our responsibility.

Why isn't law ahead of prejudices?

In a recent case of marital rape, a 27 years old woman herself went up and approached court for marital rape. The court made a superficial assessment and concluded by saying that we wont serve any individual case and asked the victim to come up with a PIL, thus denying to serve the plea. Isn't this absurd that a person cannot stand for himself/herself? I used to think that this is the most conventional thing that a person can seek justice for himself/herself. Similarly, political parties have divisive opinions. Few of them want consensus building in society as a pre-requisite to come with a law. As if society was ready for the revolutionary acts like Untouchability Act, Transgender Act, Child labor Act or affirmative action for vulnerable sections.

What is the international scenario?

Many countries have made it a crime for a husband to force his wife to have sex in recent years. Malaysia changed its laws to that effect in 2007; Turkey in 2005; and Bolivia in 2013. The United States began criminalizing marital rape in 1970s and most European countries in the 1990s. The United Nations has also recommended India to criminalize marital rape. Though we try to emulate US in many areas to prove ourselves as progressive, doesn’t this law provide the opportunity for the same?

Implementation Challenges in criminalizing marital rape

The major challenge is to prove the crime, what shall be the evidence? How will the investigation proceed? Charges of marital rape can be put up just to take revenge and settle scores. There is an enormous amount of social stigma attached to the marital rape. However, the picture is not that bleak as it seems. It is not the going to be the case that just after criminalizing, there will be plethora of cases. As we can see there is nearly 10% conviction rate in normal rapes and dowry cases. Marital rape is a very grey area, so its fate stands tough time. In present times, it may be very difficult to enforce too. But shouldn't the laws and their implementation envision a equitable future and a utopian society.

Is reconciliation not the only solution?

I agree and advocate for couple counselling in cases of differences and argumentative fights. But it cannot be the last resort. There has to be some mechanism on top of it for very abusive relationships.

Isn't the act of considering women as the victim all the time feminist and skewed?

True, it is. Cases of sexual assault against the transgender community are not currently prosecuted as rape under Section 375, which only recognizes women as victims. Here I would like to refer Justice Verma Committee recommendation to amend the section to make it gender neutral with respect to the victim. Because it can be anyone, a man, a woman or a transgender.

What if a man has no sex for a year, can he force his wife? Isn't it about the fairness to men also? What remedy does he has?

For this question, I would say this is a valid ground to have a divorce, so go for it, but why to impose your will on someone else. Respect comes before love and much before sex. If someone is not able to earn that respect, then one should have no right to love other person.

What is it that I am up against?

I am not the extreme leftist person who wants a revolutionary change in laws and want to prosecute half of the country in one go. What I am against of, are the blatant statements made by our lawmakers and even institutions of high respect.

Though the enforcement may be a challenge, but the arguments like, the society not being ready to accept, or crying foul of our backwardness doesn’t hold any water. Atleast they should not set the wrong precedent of trivializing the marital rape. It has actually legalized marital rape(make it permissible and even encourage by vindicating marital rape) in negative sense rather than in positive sense (to prevent it). It is well accepted truth, that many rapes are going on in bedroom then why we are still in denial mode considering marital rape as an exception?

Marital rape clearly reveals our gross double standard on sexual violence.

Way forward

I understand, this issue is sensitive. It took around 30 years for US to come to the present law which got started only with heinous nature of marital rapes. Can't we try to implement it in such a phased manner? Atleast in the cases where it is clearly visible, where a woman has undergone tremendous injury, it should be made punishable as a criminal offence.

Before 2012, it was an odd act to even talk about rape, but it was the solidarity of the nation that came along with Nirbhaya, and today majority of people can condemn the act by taking its name literally. I hope marital rape will also get the same recognition.

We need a social reform because legal reform not sufficient, dowry is still embedded in our society after 10 years of its existence. It is the progressive social consciousness which is need of the hour.

Sexual consent is the right of every woman, married or unmarried, as much as of men, and nonconsensual sex should be treated exactly the same, irrespective of the relationship of the perpetrator to the victim.

It is the inner khap panchayat in us all.

[Meanwhile do watch movie Aakashvani to get a practical picture of marital rape in our society.]

Marital rape: trivialization vs criminalization - Part I

In the aftermath of Nirbhaya BBC documentary, the country came out united. Who would agree with Mukesh Singh's justification to rape? I guess, only miniscule proportion.  Now consider another case, Suppose a person did the same with his wife. I guess these will be the most probable reactions- 1. Aadmi hi vaaiyad tha (the man was beast),  this was an unacceptable act, so she should have gone for legal remedies, and if left to us, we would have lynched him 2. It is not possible marriage is a sacred institution, the wife should have been lying, moreover it is their personal matter and wife has already given consent to have sex at the time of marriage  (any third moderate reaction is welcome).

Though marital rape has been an issue of political and social debate for a long time without any conclusion yet. Lets try to demystify it.

What is marriage?

It is a social and legal institution  in which two people mutual consent to work out things together in the train of life.

What is marital rape?

Marital rape (also known as spousal rape) is non-consensual sex in which the perpetrator is the victim's spouse. It is a form of partner rape, of domestic violence and of sexual abuse.

What does the data say?

Out of the total number of rapes reported to NFHS(though it is an informal survey whose premise was to provide anonymity), 97.7% rapes were committed by the people known to the victim, out of which marital rapes accounts for 2/3rd. UN study has established the fact that 75% men want their wives to agree to sex. There have been many heartrending stories of women raped every night, even during pregnancy and child birth. It is a physical as well as mental trauma because the perpetrator is known to the person, often very close. It is a bitter reality even in developed nations.

Why all the fuss now?

Recently during parliamentary proceedings, a minister reacted on a question regarding the status of marital rape in India, “It is considered that the concept of marital rape, as understood internationally, cannot be suitably applied in the Indian context due to various factors e.g. level of education/illiteracy, poverty, myriad social customs and values, religious beliefs, mindset of the society to treat the marriage as a sacrament, etc”. Other proponents of the marital rape exception, also, argue that it is essential to preserve the integrity of marriage, which is a crucial social institution, so marital rape cannot be brought within the purview of rape law.

What are the possible reasons?

Though we can easily attribute the prevalence of patriarchal mindset as the main reason, yet there are many deep rooted causes.

According to NFHS survey around 74% marriages in India occur without due consent of the bride and the groom. How can we expect two strangers to be very comfortable with each other at the very first night? And the same thing becomes routine due to lack of any firm resistance. We, as a society are stuck in the bus vs bedroom debate and usually make a remarkable difference between the two. If a woman is getting raped in a bus it is rape, but in bedroom it is a ritual. This trivialization of marital rape is one of the major reasons for the perpetuation of the same.

Moreover, there is huge divide across the society. Though, the main victims are women, yet in most cases it is the elder women who give formal acceptance to marital rape by putting it in the category of necessary adjustment or "compromise" in a marriage. And it goes on and on across generations, and we consume this culture of adjustment. Forced sex has become a “wifely duty.”

Another important reason is economic dependence of women on their husbands and in-laws. Rape every night and domestic violence becomes a small price to pay, when basic survival is at stake.


To be continued...

Juvenile justice: Retribution vs Rehabilitation

In recent past, due to many serious crimes committed by juveniles, the trial process and the severity of their punishments has been a matter of debate. One of the most disturbing acts involving a juvenile was the recent Nirbhaya rape case, where the victim was severely molested ending up dead after fighting for life for a fortnight in the hospital.

The biggest controversy in the context is whether the Juvenile Justice Act 2000 holds significance for heinous crimes like the Nirbhaya case or not. The Juvenile Justice Bill 2014 recently got the nod of cabinet treats juveniles in age group 16-18 as adults for heinous crimes. Should the juveniles be given more liberal trials and punishments for their crimes, or should they be punished equally as adults for heinous crimes like rape, following the public sentiment?

Since this is a very debatable issue and opinions vary from person to person, I will not try to support a specific point of view. However, I would rather take a balanced approach to look at the matter, present arguments in favor of and against the public sentiment and the JJ Bill, 2014; and leave it to the reader to choose a viewpoint.

Who is a juvenile?

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child defines a child/juvenile as any human being under the age of eighteen, unless the age of majority is attained earlier, under a state’s own domestic legislation.  The nations that ratify to this convention are bound to it by international law.  Since, India is also a signatory of this convention, the juveniles in India are people under the age of 18 (since the age of majority is also 18), which is also mentioned in the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000.

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The Juvenile Justice Bill 2014

The bill replaces JJ Act, 2000 and addresses children in conflict with the law and children in need of care and protection.  Following are some of the important and debatable points in the JJ bill that are relevant to this article:

·         The bill defines three classes of crimes for dealing with a juvenile i.e. petty, serious and heinous.

·         The bill permits juveniles between the ages of 16-18 years to be tried as adults for heinous crimes. Also, any 16-18 years old, who commits a lesser, i.e. a serious crime can be tried as an adult only if he/she is apprehended after 21 years of age.

·         Juvenile Justice Boards (JJB) and Child Welfare Committees (CWC) will be constituted in each district.  If the juvenile in question is in the age group 16-18, the JB will decide whether he/she is to be tried as an adult i.e. whether the committed crime is heinous. The CWC will decide the care and protection needed for the child in question if  (s)he is to be tried as a juvenile.

Support: Retributive justice to those old enough:

This is the most popular of the public sentiments, with public demanding severe punishments to those committing heinous crimes and equal punishment to 16-18 year old juveniles. I have used the term “retributive justice” because the situation can in some ways be equated to the argument of “Capital punishment or not” in case of heinous crimes, since the boundary between a juvenile and an adult is drawn based on the severity of the crime.  Following are some of the points in support:

·         If they are old enough to commit a crime (old enough to rape), they are old enough to be granted the punishment.

·         The boundary between a juvenile and an adult should not be so crisp. This will allow for different punishments for people who differ by just a day in age (on boundary of 18 years), which is not fair. So, severity of crime should also be a deciding factor in whether the person is juvenile or adult.

·         Severe punishments to everyone who commits heinous crimes will act as deterrence, because it will reduce the likelihood of criminals getting away with minimal punishment on false grounds of being underage.

Criticism: Give reformative treatment to children

Most the criticism is based on the idea that reformative justice should be preferred over retributive justice wherever it is possible (which ideally should be in every case).  Following are the arguments given by the people who oppose the JJ bill:

• Parliamentary Standing Committee found out that such a move violates our constitutional mandate and India's obligation under UN's Convention on the Rights of the Child
• MoWCD: One must not forget that juvenile justice law is based on a strong foundation of reformation and rehabilitation, rather than on retribution.
• The bill does not clarify whether a child tried as an adult will end up in prison (during trials)
• Flawed assumptions- determining their maturity and mindset, as deterrence. 
• [Research Network on Adolescent Development and Juvenile Justice at MacArthur Foundation, U.S.]: shows that human brain undergoes key physical changes from the ages of 16 to 18 and this continues right until the mid-20s
• Adolescents know what they are doing is wrong. But They are unable to act on that knowledge. The underestimate risk; so, deterrence is probably not the best policy against them.
• Adolescents are greatly affected by their environment. So they can be molded in a better person too. Transferring them into adult prison would have negative effect on them.
• Transfer policies have generally resulted into subsequent crimes.
• We should focus more on eliminating core problems that lead to such acts like – poverty, broken families, unemployment, access to pornography etc. and providing community based treatment programs.

Conclusion:  Is age really a deciding factor?

As we can see that the proponents of the JJ bill say that age should not be a deciding factor when a crime is so severe. However, the argument against the bill tries to give a scientific perspective of how age is an important deciding factor into a person’s maturity and tendency to estimate risk of a crime. It is up to the reader to take away whichever point of view suits him/her. However, it is clear that overall societal structure and a futuristic attitude should be taken against such problems which minimizes the risk of such crimes in future.

Good girl - A rare species

In the childhood, the "goodness list"  and rules for being good for boys and girls were common, i.e., don't lie, don't steal, be obedient to your elders etc. As we grow older, this list gets more and more different for girls and boys(I am putting aside other differences- religion, caste and class), particularly getting lengthier for girls. A good girl's attributes as set by the society have made a good girl as the "rarest of the rare breed".

Being a girl, she already has to play multiple roles in two different families, yet conditions imposed on them to qualify as a "good" girl makes it impossible to be one. I will define these conditions and attributes later in the letter followed.

The obsession for a good girl can be seen in the search for a "adarshvadi and sanskaari” bahu. Not only to qualify for a family, but also she has to be a good girl for her survival as well(else she might be raped and killed for not abiding by the rules). And a near impossibility of being a "good girl" is forcing people to go for a shortcut, i.e., female foeticide, directly cutting the root cause("Na rahega baans, na bajegi baansuri").

I will dwell deeper into this topic via a small letter, I am going to write to my future generation(here I am assuming it to be my granddaughter). I assume myself as a good girl(as the society sees) and advising her to be good girl(as I see it).

Dear granddaughter,

Your mother has probably taught you how to be a good girl. You might have been given the sphere you are not supposed to cross. Your games(barbie, ghar-ghar), your hobbies(dancing), your fantasy(to get married) has already been defined for you, and probably you have already been conditioned for them. I know you don't like all these, you asked me for the latest version of Tekken. You asked me to experiment with the screwdriver instead of sewing machine(play models). I pray you could continue making these wishes, while doing what you love instead of falling into the illusion of mumma's good girl. Here and today, I am warning you to not fall in that trap because that "good girl" image is unattainable.

I know now you are confused, how come my grandmother is asking me to go against the society, this is against the "manners" of society. Let me give you a clarification with an example of my life. In my childhood(like yours), I made my desires subservient to my duties and expectations of the society, for instance, I was supposed to talk and laugh with softly(to suppress the loudness), taking dance lessons despite I wanted sports lessons, I was supposed to clean the house when my brother was playing cricket, I was supposed to wear the uncomfortable frocks with the irritating kaajal in my eyes. In my teenage, I needed to learn cooking(with varietal food as A+ marks) and sewing. I was supposed to choose arts as the study field despite my interest being in science. I fulfilled all these expectations, and I thought everyone was happy, and my happiness laid in the same. I thought that I had become the "good girl".

When I needed to enter in college, I thought meritorious performance would let me spread my wings ( and I could also study away from home in a famous institute), but that too was just a dream. I was supposed to be close to the family so as to be secure and save extra expenditure on my education. And then a guy started stalking me on my college route for a long time. I didn’t have the courage to tell my family, and the day I complained against him, it was my studies which were to be banned. Somehow, I managed to ask my family to continue my studies on the condition that I needed to cover my whole body even in the scorching sun.

Then came the "rush for marriage and get career settled period". Obviously I was 23 now.

So, I was expected to look pretty(pretty meant slim and fair), to wear good clothes at the functions, so that someone would like me. I needed to focus properly on my assets (beauty) because that was the only achievement I had. And then a stranger came to see me with his family to seek my hand in marriage; I agreed without talking to him or worrying about my education that remained incomplete. The elders in the family were pleased, they called me a “good daughter” and I thought I was happy.

Then I entered in my new home. I requested to my in-laws for continuing my studies to shape my career. But no, strict no- how could I be safe at workplace. Somehow fortunately, I managed to get a teaching job(despite I didn’t like it as well). Probably everyone was happy with that(easy job with 2-3 hours of workload not a big barrier for my family responsibilities, local posting with in-laws, daylight job with decent earnings). But then started the adjustments of married life, my husband got transferred. Obviously I needed to move with him because I was supposed to give him space and freedom. So, I took a break from my current career and continued it at a new place with new struggle. And, then I was blessed with your father(one more responsibility), and I needed to end up my career to serve him well. I lost my friends meanwhile, meeting first family already became an occasional event. I was taken for granted by my parents, my in-laws, my other half and my own children. And when I lost myself in devotion towards my family, I was called as a "good daughter-in-law".

Today, at the age of 65, when I try to look back into my past, I could only see the unfulfilled desires (when I see a lady sportsperson winning gold medal- I wish if I could be one of them), scattered dreams and still unsatisfied society. I became the obedient puppet for whole of my life and danced on the tune of my near and dear ones as well as far ones. I did all that for the acceptability later to realize that it can become unacceptable just by writing this letter in public.

So my dear, set yourself free from these obligations which are endless and go for wherever your heart takes you.

Spread your wings as much as you want and achieve whatever you aspire.

Your granny

For those who can’t read it completely. I would summarize the do's and don'ts for a good girl set by society:

1. Dress decently
2. Speak and laugh softly
3. Don't deviate from traditions and conditioned behavior
4. Behave properly(such a vague term), includes sitting cross legged, don’t speak unless asked to
5. Drinking, flirting, dating, smoking are the prerogatives of men only, never ever dream of them
6. Be a show piece even if you don’t want- because beauty is the only asset of yours
7. You are a slave who hears everyone, do for everyone but ask for nothing
8. Be spendthrift, you are the goddess(lakshmi) of the home, you are the manager of resources without any ownership
9. Falling in love- are you kidding( we are there to teach you the lesson, respect of family is more precious than your life- Khap Panchayats)
10. Essential ideals for a human being(wake up early, sleep on time) applies to you only
11. Do not spend time on chatting, (technology is not for you). Phones are strictly no for you
12. As per young generation- one man woman(you can either be a good girlfriend or a good wife, as if these are two exclusive roles played by the same person)
13. She can't complain for tortures (marital rape is one of them), basically no human right as such
14. Other objectives like polite, shy, obedient, empathetic, helpful( add as per your convenience and as much as possible)

This exhaustive list can be written in mathematical equation as:
Good girl = Obedient daughter + devoted wife + traditional (susanskaarit) daughter-in-law + responsible and sacrificing mother + understanding sister + adjusting girlfriend + domestic work horse + disciplined as armymen + biologically fit

Doesn't a good girl sounds like a "barbie"- who doesn't exist in real world. Please stop judging a girl. Let her be a girl only..