India Foundation Journal November December 2018
India Foundation Journal November December 2018
India Foundation Journal November December 2018
SPECIAL ADDRESS
Ushering into an Era of Connectivity and Prosperity .................................. Mohd. Ashraf Ghani 54
REPORTS
Conference on Smart Border Management 2018 ...................................................... Ankit Gupta 58
Indian Ocean Conference 2018 ............................................................................... Deeksha Goel 64
BOOK REVIEWS
Devaki Jain’s “Close Encounters of Another Kind:
Women and Development Economics” ................................................................... B. Shruti Rao 76
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{2} India Foundation Journal, November-December 2018
FOCUS
W
omen in Indian culture occupy an respectably married woman is supreme in Hindu
ambivalent position. Accordingly, this society. As in any other transactional relationship,
article confines itself to an overview this status comes at a price.
of the cultural situation of the majority of Indian Drawn from preceding centuries, the wifely
women, which is to say, women in Hindu culture virtues postulated by the sixteenth century poet
of which the author is personally a part. Coevally, Goswami Tulsidas of Varanasi went out as advice
the article consciously stays away from discussing for wives given to Sita by Rishi Atri’s wife
the noticeably difficult and far from enviable Anasuya: “Devotion of body, speech and mind to
position of women in non-Hindu cultures in India, the feet of her lord, the husband, is the only duty,
lest the author be suspected of minority-baiting sacred vow and penance of a woman.” This is
in these perilous times. Whereas, as a devout found in the Sri Ramacharitamanas, Aranya Kand,
Hindu herself, the author can claim to speak with Verse Four; a seminal book of pervasive and
belonging, ownership and reform-minded good lasting influence across North India.
intentions from within mainstream Hindu society, This job description was detailed in the sub-
not outside it. universe of South India in the thirteenth century,
In the traditional patriarchal Indian mind-set, in a hugely popular verse. Written by the Telugu
the Devi or prime goddess of Hindu theology is poet ‘Baddena’ or Bhadra Bhupala in Neeti Saara,
enthroned on a pedestal to be worshipped as the his treatise on morals, it says: “Karyeshu dasi,
sacred feminine. The position of Devi or Shakti is karaneshu mantri, bhojeshu mata, shayaneshu
thus greatly exalted. She is worshipped as the Rambha, roopeshu Lakshmi, kshamayeshu
Parashakti or Supreme Power, as the Jagadamba, Dharitri, shat dharmayukta kuladharmapatni,”
the Universal Mother who created the male Gods meaning “Like a servant in doing the household
and their feminine counterparts. chores, like a minister in giving her husband
How does this translate vis-à-vis the situation intelligent advice, serving him food as lovingly
of mortal women? The reality is that Indian as a mother feeds her son, as seductive and
tradition discounts mortal women unless they pleasing in bed as the celestial nymph Rambha,
deliver the goods in their prescribed role as a as beautiful as Mahalakshmi and as forbearing as
service sector. In particular, the position of the Mother Earth: the woman who has these six
*Renuka Narayanan writes on religion and culture. Formerly an editor and a diplomat, her published books
include The Book of Prayer, Faith: Filling the God-sized Hole,The Little Book of Indian Wisdom (Penguin),
A Madrasi Memoir (Academic Foundation), The Path of Light - Inspiring Tales from Upanishads, Jatakas and
Indic Lore (Penguin Random House India) and Hindu Fables (Juggernaut). She has just completed a book on
Lord Shiva for Penguin and is presently working on a life of Adi Sankara for Speaking Tiger Books.
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{4} India Foundation Journal, November-December 2018
YouTube and in live discourses/satsang. Though Ujjain, Mathura, Haridwar, Ayodhya, Dwaraka
Katha and Naam Sankirtan are expressed in the and Kanchipuram.
mother tongues, they often include quotations You can find the hand of sacred geography in
from and references to the Sanskrit texts, the the waters, too. First of all, take the Arabian Sea
source that feeds them and unites them. to the west and the Bay of Bengal to the east. These
They also rely heavily on the Bhakta Vijaya, are recent names. The old Indian names for these
the eighteenth century Marathi book which retold two great seas are ‘Ratnakara’ for the western sea
the lives of 108 important saints from the and ‘Mahodadhi’ for the eastern sea.
preceding five centuries. Its special focus is on Now take the rivers. There are seven sacred
saints between the thirteenth and seventeenth rivers of note: Ganga, Yamuna, Godavari,
centuries from the ‘Varkari’ tradition, centred on Sarasvati, Narmada, Sindhu and Kaveri. Most
Krishna as the deity Vitthala in Pandharpur. Its Indian rivers flow eastwards. They are called
author, Mahipati, was a scribe turned ‘nadi’. A few rivers flow west like the Sharavati
hagiographer. His book was translated into several in Karnataka of Jog Falls fame, the Narmada and
Indian languages in the last 250 years and into the Tapti. Technically, they should be called ‘nadah’,
English in the 1920s. Its tone and content uphold not ‘nadi’. However, since most of our rivers flow
the patriarchal status quo which is often repeated, east, the common word for river is ‘nadi’.
un-updated, in twenty-first century religious It is well-known that the Ganga is India’s
discourses. holiest river. The Mekong in South-east Asia is
Fourth, the components above, from across named after her. Mekong means ‘Ma Ganga’,
time and space, are held together by the ancient Mother Ganga. Of all the towns on the Ganga’s
Hindu concept of the sub-continent’s sacred banks, it is Kashi or Varanasi which has made
geography, ‘AaSetu Himalaya’, from the tip of the Ganga pre-eminent. Kashi itself is made great by
Indian Peninsula to the Himalayas – from the Lord Shiva. He is worshipped in Kashi as
southernmost shores to the northernmost Vishvanath, Lord of the World. Every believing
mountains. This sacred geography is underpinned Hindu is supposed to make a pilgrimage to Kashi
by innumerable living temples and by pilgrim at least once. There are boys in places very far
circuits like the Char Dham, the Dvadasha away named ‘Kashi Vishvanath’ because they
Jyotirlinga, the fifty one Shakti Peeth, the Devi were born after the momentous family pilgrimage
circuit in Himachal Pradesh, the Aaru Padai Veedu to Kashi. In the old days, when people from other
or Six Holy Places of Kartikeya in Tamil Nadu, parts of India set out to Kashi, they said their final
the sacred rivers and lakes (tirtha) and the sacred goodbyes at home because it was so far away and
landmarks (kshetra) across the length and breadth the journey to and fro was so dangerous and
of India. The seven mokshapuri or ‘salvation difficult. But go they did. Everyone was so
cities’ also play their part in holding this grid of emotionally invested in Kashi that they risked their
sacred geography together. They are Kashi, lives for millennia to get to ‘Hindu Central’. So,
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{6} India Foundation Journal, November-December 2018
of Karaikal’, is the earliest woman saint known Avvai. ‘Avvaiyar’, meaning ‘Respectable
to us. Her real name was Punitavati. She lived in Woman’, was the title of more than one poet in
the port city of Karaikal in the sixth century, in different periods of Tamil literature. The first
the old Chola country. She is one of the sixty-three Avvaiyar is said to have lived during
ancient Tamil Shaiva saints, collectively called the the Sangam period, c. 3rd century BCE and was
Nayanmar, whose statues are found in every major greatly respected by the Tamil chieftains VelPaari
Shaiva temple in Tamil Nadu. The legend goes and Athiyaman. She wrote 59 of the poems in
that Punitavati was a young woman devotee of the anthology called Purananuru. The second
Shiva who received a magic mango from him one Avvaiyar reportedly lived during the time
day as a mark of his favour. Her husband, the of Kambar, of Tamil Ramayana fame, in the reign
merchant Paramadattan, refused to believe it and of the Cholas, c. ninth-tenth century CE. She is
so she begged for another mango from Mahadev imagined as an old and intelligent lady. Her poems
to convince her husband that she spoke the truth. remain very popular even today. Her aphorisms
When the second magic mango appeared, her in the Aatichoodi contain a list of dos and don’ts
husband could no longer think of Punitavati as for daily life. Avvai’s sayings, even after a
his wife for she now seemed like a goddess to millennium, are among the very first texts taught
him. He moved to another town and married to children in Tamil Nadu.
another woman. Punitavati was devastated. She After Karaikal Ammayar and Avvai, we have
begged Mahadev to turn her at once into an ugly Akka Mahadevi of Karnataka in the twelfth
old woman. She then went all the way north to century and Lal Ded or Lalleshwari of Kashmir
the Himalayas and climbed Mount Kailash upside in the mid-fourteenth century. They became
down on her head and hands, for she did not want ‘women saints’ after they were severely ill-treated
to disrespectfully put her feet on holy Kailash. by their in-laws. They left their families and
The positive interpretation of this story is very actually wandered about naked in utter rejection
Shaiva, that she was liberated from a lifetime of of everything that their societies stood for. Akka
worldly ties and went off to God sooner rather was ten when she was married and Lalla was
than later. twelve. The Kashmiri language is reportedly full
Besides Karaikal Ammayar, the most famous of Lalla’s sayings. Lalla had to eat last, alone in
old lady saint of the Tamil country is Avvai, a the kitchen, after everybody else. Her mother-in-
composite of two personas. The legend goes that law used to put a big stone on her plate and cover
when her parents fixed her marriage, young Avvai it with a layer of rice to make it look like a large
begged her favourite deity, Ganesha, to turn her helping. Her husband was of no support at all.
into an old woman so that she could escape having Why was the mother-in-law so unkind to a
to be married and waste her human birth as a bond- little girl? We do not know. Perhaps she was
slave of domesticity. unkind because she had the culturally sanctioned
At this stage, let us look into the historicity of power to be so. But it is too easy to sneer that
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{8} India Foundation Journal, November-December 2018
if not man’s. This is how tradition reports the Hindu women saints. Nine hundred years after
encounter. Allama Prabhu asked Akka, “Who is Akka, in the twenty-first century, little girls are
your husband?” Akka answered, “I am married still being married off early in India despite the
forever to Mallikarjuna.” Allama Prabhu said: modern law that forbids it. Although the present
“Why do you roam around naked as though law of the land is on the side of Hindu women,
illusion can be peeled off by mere gestures? And society has yet to catch up with the law in many
yet you wear a sari of hair? If the heart is free and areas, for it is mentally held back by its old cultural
pure, why do you need it?” Akka said, with reflexes as indicatively sketched above. It will take
absolute honesty: “Until the fruit is ripe inside, a collective and detailed effort across Hindu
the skin will not fall off”. By ‘fruit’ she meant society to upgrade its attitude to its women while
that her mind was not ready yet. keeping much that it holds dear from its deep and
Melted by her sincerity, Allama Prabhu vast tradition.
accepted Akka into the Veerashaiva fold. But after There is that vital, inexorable difference
some years, while merely in her twenties, Akka though between the past and the present to speed
left to look for Mallikarjuna. Not one person Hindu society along the margdarshan or path
supported her. The tale goes that she went to the marked out by our Constitution. Today, a Hindu
holy peak of Srisailam, an ancient Shaiva temple girl is legally empowered by Hindu reform to ‘get
in Kurnool district in Andhra Pradesh. Adi a life’ as the colloquialism goes without having to
Shankara, the founder of Advaita philosophy, is renounce normal human ties as her saintly
believed to have meditated under an ancient predecessors were compelled to. In the eyes of
banyan tree at Srisailam and composed the Indian law, the Hindu woman is a free, equal
Shivananda Leheri there. citizen.
It is possible that Akka was eaten by a tiger in In sum, our society is a work in progress with
the jungles around Srisailam. Her body was never regard to women in Hindu culture and the task
found. Alas, there are many in our land even today calls for encouragement at every level to fulfil
who bear witness to Akka and the company of India’s human potential.
Anger and women Some even think the poor umpire “did not stand a
A
s I sit down to write this, the world (of chance” against her rage. Many opinion pieces and
news and otherwise) has erupted over posts on this that I have seen use these words or
Serena Williams and her actions at the strongly imply that that’s what the 36-year-old did
US Open final against Haitian-Japanese player — fight unfair because she was angry. And at a
Naomi Osaka. Post after post on my social media time when feminism is back under a spotlight, and
timeline since Sunday, September 9, has been especially when men feel threatened, it is no
about her fit of anger after an umpire gave her a wonder this is garnering so much attention. When
code violation. It soon went on to be called “the questions of colour, race, women, immigrants,
mother of all meltdowns” by at least one leading being woke, being liberal surround us, did one of
US media house. the most successful black women in the world
The coverage when I woke up on Sunday actually have the audacity to claim someone was
morning Indian Standard Time was skewed, at being sexist (or racist) towards her because she
least from what I could immediately get my hands was losing a match and angry?
on. Initial reports made it out to be this: Williams One cannot assume to know what Williams
was handed a code violation after she was coached was trying to do or what went through her mind,
from the side, she then lost a penalty point for but from the videos I watched later, it did not seem
breaking her racquet in frustration over this, and as simple as the reports made it out to be — sure,
then a game penalty when she called umpire Carlos she lost her temper, she shouted at the umpire
Ramos, a “thief” and “liar” and became very angry which led to her losing a match, but she also
with him. Williams was nowhere close to winning attempted to make up for the disaster of an evening
the match, and she then lost and allowed the by telling a crowd of booing people to let Osaka
audience to boo 19-year-old Osaka, Japan’s first have her moment. Later, at a press conference,
Grand Slam singles champion. The teenager, who she brought up sexism, which seems to be
idolises Williams, cried during her prize ceremony “convenient” to people. But sexism has never been
and apologised for winning. Following that, convenient for women. Some weeks ago, Williams
Williams accused the umpire of sexism at a press wasn’t allowed to wear a black catsuit — which
conference. she had worn to prevent life-threatening blood
Why has this become such a huge deal? clots — and I was surprised that she did not say a
Williams is a woman, and black. Most people — word though women on the internet rallied around
men and women — think she is “using the gender her. But that night at the US Open final, she did
card”, and not just that but the “colour card” too. speak up. And she seems to be paying the price.
*This article has been written under pseudo name for personal reasons.
A
rmed conflict, insurgency, civil war and attempt to understand the dynamics of insurgency
ethnic rivalry all have devastating and its effect on women in the region.
effects on the entire community,
however, it is the women and children who are Conflict, Insurgency and
particularly affected due to their vulnerable Women: An Overview
social status in society. This is predominantly Insurgency, conflict and war affects society
evident in patriarchal societies in which women depending upon the nature and magnitude of the
have relatively smaller roles in social and conflict. Sometimes, it affects the life of the people,
political decision making. According to the entire economy, livelihood and social fabric of the
estimates of UN, systematic abuse of women, community (Walsh, 2000). The state machinery is
sexual slavery, rape, forced sterilisation and often paralysed and the life of common people is
murder are often used in conflict situations as devastated by the collapse of health and transport
‘effective’ strategies of war (Bushra & Lopez, systems. The case of Afghanistan, Bosnia, and
2004). Similarly, conflict and insurgency leads Darfur etc. are classic examples of such conflicts.
to loss of family support when their husbands Some conflicts are less pervasive and the impacts
and other earning male members are killed and are limited to partial failure of economy and
the social stigma attached to being a single infrastructure. The specific impact of conflict on
woman in a male dominated society becomes men and women also depends on the social role of
exponentially higher. Their safety as well as women and their positions in family prior to the
recovery from untoward incidents is also conflict (Walsh, 2000).
compromised by their lack of exposure and With the emergence of insurgent groups within
understanding of established government aid the national territory demanding secession, there
machineries. have been significant changes that have affected
Against the broader social political women. In the case of these conflicts, the traditional
landscape of the expanding participation of warfare with military is often replaced by the use
women and their increased vulnerabilities in of new actors including women soldiers, child
situations of armed conflict, this article attempts soldiers and suicide bombers (ADA, 2009). Women
to analyse the effects of insurgency on women also take part in ethnic violence either voluntarily
in India’s Northeast region. The Northeast has or as a result of forced abduction into the group.
witnessed insurgency as well as the longest Women and girls are abducted and forced to marry
running armed conflict in the country. This has leaders of rebel groups or captured as slaves. In
resulted in huge casualties including women and many contexts, rape and physical violence are used
*Rami Desai is the Director of iSTRAT CA, a company that deals in research, communication and
data management and skill development. Views expressed are personal.
{16} India Foundation Journal, November-December 2018
as the strategies to exhibit power, authority and hand and drastically reduces their support system
control over the opponents (ADA, 2009). on the other (Bushra & Lopez, 2004). For example,
There are three ways in which women are when the earning male member of the family is
affected by conflict. One is in the personal sphere killed, they have to shoulder the responsibilities
as individuals, in which women face threat of their of farming or trading in which they have no
life from landmines, bullets, bombs etc. Here, previous experience. Apart from that, conflict
unlike men, women may not be able to escape forces women to migrate to other places in search
quickly due to their physical health, pregnancy or of jobs and income. In many contexts, women are
general restrictions in mobility (Bushra & Lopez, also forced to take to commercial sex work as a
2004). Thus, they are at a higher risk than men livelihood option (Bushra & Lopez, 2004).
while directly confronting militants. Also, they are Third dimension is the public sphere in which
vulnerable to rape and sexual violence. The fear the policies and social rules alienate and oppress
of personal danger and chances of rape force the human rights of women. In many post-conflict
women to restrict their mobility. This reduces their reconstruction phases, women are denied
participation in work, food aid, relief programs participation and their social role is restricted to
and even their effort to get fire wood for cooking the household level. Women hardly get support
(Carrillo, 2000). The restricted mobility as a from community structures that are built on the
consequence of fear of personal danger has deeply premise of patriarchal values (Bushra & Lopez,
affected their livelihood and survival during the 2004). For example, in Nagaland, where entire
phase of armed conflict effecting their mental as state is affected by the longest running insurgency
well as physical well being. Lack of in the country, there was a strong objection to
communication, transport and medical services women’s participation in the political sphere. The
also restrict the availability of medicines further Naga Hoho – the apex body of all the hill tribes in
effecting their health and safety. In traditional the state strongly opposed the initiative of 33%
communities in which men control power, male reservation for women in urban local body
members of the family get preferential rights over elections stating that it would infringe upon Naga
food items. Thus, in many conflict-affected customary laws and traditions. This kind of
communities, women eat last and are forced to opposition not only puts social pressure on women
suffer from starvation and famine. Hence, it is candidates but also prevents them from taking
evident that social context and gender relations necessary steps towards public participation.
also play a key role in determining the impact of
insurgency over women. Insurgency and Armed
The second dimension is the private sphere. Conflict in Northeast
Insurgency and conflict affects the survival of the Since independence, almost all the states in
family, which is the principal arena of a women’s the Northeast have witnessed insurgent
responsibility. Often, women have to take movements and armed struggle in one form or
responsibility of the household when their father another. The reasons for the emergence of
or husband loses his life. This increases their insurgent movements include ethnic rivalries,
economic, social and psychological burden on one cultural supremacy of one tribe over the other,
I
ndia had become one of the most popular avoid slipping further into poverty, while others
global destinations for commercial surrogacy were involved as surrogate mothers to provide
by the year 2015, providing standardised in- their family with immediate basic human needs
vitro fertilisation technology and English-speaking and adequate food. One important ethical concern
doctors for cheaper rate especially to couples of this practice is the development of biomarkets,
seeking surrogacy from abroad. Surrogacy agents in which certain bodies become more bioavailable
linking clinics in India with prospective parents within the existing global ornational structural
abroad had mushroomed all over the world. inequalities. As Nepal, India, Thailand, Mexico1
However, it was only during my field work in and Cambodia limited or proposed a prohibition
2009-10 that it became evident to me that intended on commercial surrogacy, the practice has moved
parents from abroad were coming to India mainly to Laos, Malaysia, Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, South
because surrogate mothers had lesser rights over Africa, Argentina and Guatemala. This pattern of
the child and over their own bodies as compared globally moving markets that is based on
to Canada, USA and UK and also because of the exploitative capitalisation and the control over
unregulated manner in which surrogacy was human reproductive biomaterial2 by the rich using
practiced. I conducted my research in two clinics global inequalities and vulnerabilities is a form
in India, one in a smaller town in Gujarat with of recolonisation of women’s bodies and labour.
three surrogate homes and one without a surrogate It also raises globally relevant questions of
home in Ahmedabad between 2009 - 10. I geneticisation, alienation of the gestational role,
interviewed five intended parents, 13 surrogate human and child rights violations, trafficking and
mothers, and five medical practitioners. Among reproductive injustice. These markets raise ethical
these, I closely followed five surrogate mothers questions of exploiting the needs of the poor
throughout their pregnancy (from embryo transfer particularly where disadvantaged participants
to post relinquishment) and five intended parents enter into unjust contracts, its relevance to
using participant observation method and hence informed consent, unequal distribution of health
could interact intensively also with their spouses resource, unfair distribution of benefits, violation
and family members. of good medical practices, and commodification
Most women in my study were living on the of women and children. Such concerns are evident
edge of poverty wanting to provide for their not only in the transnational movement for
children’s education, to pay for a dowry, marriage surrogacy but also in similar biomarkets such as
or sickness in the family, to buy a house and to gamete donation, organ donation, trafficking and
*Dr. Sheela Saravanan is a Research Associate at South Asia Institute, University of Heidelberg, Germany.
She is the author of the book ‘A Transnational Feminist View of Surrogacy Biomarkets in India.’
References:
Anderson, Elizabeth S. 2000. Why commercial surrogate motherhood unethically commodifieswomen and
children: Reply to McLachlan and Swales. Health Care Analysis 8: 19–26.
BBC News, Thailand bans commercial surrogacy for foreigners, Feb. 20, 2015,http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/
worldasia-31546717.
Bhalla, Nita, and Mansi Thapiyal. 2013. Foreigners are flocking to India to rent wombs and grow surrogate
babies. Reuters, Business Insider. https://www.businessinsider.com/india-surrogate-mother-industry-2013-9?IR=T
CARA 2018. Adoption Statistics. Central Adoption Resource Authorities, New Delhi. Ehttp://cara.nic.in/
resource/adoption_Stattistics.html. Accessed on 13th October 2018.
Colen, S. 1995. Like a mother to them: Stratified reproduction and West Indian childcare workers and
employers in New York. In Conceiving the new world order: The global politics of reproduction, ed. F. Ginsburg
and R. Rapp, 78–102. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Corea, Gena. 1985. The mother machine: Reproductive technologies from artificial insemination to artificial
wombs. New York: Harper and Row.
Donchin, Anne. 1996. Feminist critiques of new fertility technologies: implications for social policy. The
Journal of Medicine and Philosophy 21 (5): 475–498.
Harding, Sandra. 1991. Whose science/whose knowledge? Milton Keynes: Open University Press.
International Coalition for the Abolition of surrogate Motherhood 2018. http://abolition-ms.org/en/home/
Jaipuriar, V. 2014 ‘Dowry cry in surrogacy death - Woman’s brother files FIR, accuses in-laws of conspiracy’.
2nd October, The Telegraph, Jharkhand. https://www.telegraphindia.com/states/jharkhand/dowry-cry-in-surrogacy-
death-woman-s-brother-files-fir-accuses-in-laws-of-conspiracy/cid/320485. . Accessed 14 Oct 2018.
Meta, Kong. 2017. ‘Cambodian Surrogacy Law due in 2018. The Phnom Penh Post, Phnom Penh, 11th
August 2017, Cambodia.
1 Mexico prohibited surrogacy in Tabasco state (Photopoulos, 2015). In Nepal, The Supreme Court (SC) of
Nepal has issued an interim order to immediately halt the surrogacy (The Himalayan 2018). Thailand banned
commercial surrogacy for foreigners (BBC 2015). India has proposed a ban on commercial surrogacy since
Sept 2016 with the Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill (MoHFW 2016).Cambodia has proposed a ban on commercial
surrogacy (Meta 2017)
2 Human biomaterial refers to the child making industry that is based on biological material such as oocyte,
sperms, stem cell, tissues, breast milk and the surrogate mother’s womb.
3 European Court of Human Rights 2017; http://www.echr.coe.int/Documents/FS_Childrens_ENG.pdf
M
uch has been said, written and the pervasive malignance of the caste system,
proselytised about the Sexual religion, the colonial legacy of ‘class’, skin tone
Harassment of Women at Workplace and especially the subordination of women.
(Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 At present, life in our country is still a study
and the now renowned Vishaka vs. The State of of paradoxes. The juxtaposition of urban and rural
Rajastan1 judgment of the Supreme Court. While areas is scripted by paradoxes relating to economic
the de-criminalisation of Section 377 of the Indian as well as societal position and gender. It is
Penal Code may be in the news, it is important to pertinent to discuss this as these paradoxes often
examine welfare laws such as this which paved impede the enforcement of this law.
the way for our current legal amelioration. It is also relevant to know that the current
This article seeks to examine this crucial application and enforcement of the Act is preceded
legislation from a positive, objective perspective. by cases of harassment prosecuted under the
However it is also important to note that law needs provisions of the Indian Penal Code punishing
to be understood as a discursive process, both crimes committed ‘with the intent to outrage the
emancipatory and oppressive. modesty of a woman’ and the landmark judgement
on the issue - “Vishaka and others vs. the State of
Introduction Rajasthan”. Vishaka was the first judgement to
Our country has affirmed its commitment to define SHW in India, after which “Medha Kotwal
women’s rights at local, national and international Lele & Ors. v Union of India & Ors.”2 analysed
platforms on several occasions. Towards this goal, the implementation of the Supreme Court
the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace Directives set out in Vishaka. The Bill for the
(Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act 2013 current Act was enacted a month before the Apex
received the assent of the President of India on Court’s decision in this case. In a similar vein, it
April 22, 2013. It came into force on December 9, was the Justice Verma Committee Report
2013. following the unspeakable crimes against
However it is no secret that India is a complex Nirbhaya that served as the final catalyst for the
and diverse democracy; and that despite its passing of this legislation on sexual harassment
insistent advancement towards globalisation, of women at work in India.
*Shivakami Kumaramangalam is a trained lawyer and a practicing legal consultant. She studied law at
the prestigious ILS Law College, Pune, India and later graduated with a Masters in Law from the
internationally acclaimed University of Warwick, United Kingdom. Her thesis, submitted in
September, 2006 evaluated the crucial Vishaka vs. The State of Rajastan on sexual harassment law.
She continues to work in the field of workplace discrimination.
Section 4 {1}) to hear and address the the Committee is invested with the duty to
complaint and to make a recommendation assist the aggrieved party when she wishes
in every matter. This includes the payment to make the complaint (Section 9).
of fees for the Committee members (Rule z The Internal Complaints Committee (ICC)
3). It bears note that there is no specific must be setup as per the guidelines
penalty imposed by the Act on employers prescribed in Section 4. As per the current
who do not accept or act according to the law, there should be an ICC formed at every
ICC’s recommendations. branch of the company in the country,
3. Provide the necessary facilities to the where there are more than 10 employees.
committees to conduct the inquiries. This The District Officer is required to
includes providing assistance to the constitute a Local Complaints Committee
respondent and necessary witnesses, (LCC) in each district, and if required at
making available such information as may the block (Taluk) level (Sections 5, 6 and
be required for the inquiry etc. 7).
4. The employer must also assist the z The Act mandates for the LCC to be set up
T
he SAHAY Single Window was set up in the power of community engagement. Members
Ward No. 62, Jaipur city, in August 2017 to of the women’s forum, and the community-based
strengthen community engagement and organization that emerged from the forum, prevailed
administrative convergence to regulate unsafe upon the government and urban local body to
sanitation practices. The one-stop community-led recognise the process of community engagement
sanitation node aims to ensure well co-ordinated which they had evolved and taken to scale in their
service delivery, and enables the community to settlement. In the process, they won over the entire
secure timely intervention for services. community including the men.
“It took Daksha Samooh two years to get toilet subsidy released for 200 toilets in Jhalana Kunda
and other settlements. Now, with the Single Window led by a forum of members from different
CMCs, this could be achieved in a much lesser time. The Single Window has succeeded in
bringing together all stakeholders on a common platform.” – Anju, Daksha Samooh
representative
“The Single Window will ensure timely response from the departments.” – Phoolwati, CMC
representative
“There is great need for a platform like the Single Window for maintenance and monitoring of
services in underserved settlements.” – Ms. Priyanka Sharma, World Bank
Where and for whom? during the summers. You tell us, how can
The Single Window is located in Ward 62 reaching anyone survive without water?” - Geeta
out to community across the Jawahar Nagar belt. It was decided that CFAR would facilitate the
The area is resource poor, under-served, and community structure and its representatives to co-
densely populated. Most residents are migrants and manage the one-stop sanitation node. In this way,
from vulnerable communities. There are complex it would help strengthen the mutual engagement
power dynamics in the community. Some of the of the ULB and the community.
common problems voiced are given below: SETTING UP THE SINGLE WINDOW
“I am a resident of Jawahar Nagar ‘tila’ 3. There Community involvement and participation
are 13 tilas (hillocks/ settlements) across this belt The representatives of Daksha Samooh and the
with more or less similar challenges. Monsoons Community Management Committee (CMC) from
are the hardest, as we live on the foothills of the settlements like Sootmill Colony and Sitaram
Aravallis. With no drainage system there is always Nagar helped mobilise the community across the
terrible water logging and flooding.” - Farida 13 settlements. They went door to door and also
“Since my family moved here 20 years ago, conducted meetings in the settlements.
sanitation problems have increased. The “We went door to door and conducted meetings
household is not connected with the sewer system, with community members to identify issues. We
so we constructed single pits. These are now full shared the concept of Single Window and told
but the lanes are too narrow for desludging them how over the years Daksha Samooh and
vehicles to come in and clear it.” – Kamlesh CMC were facilitating similar processes in other
“I am from Tila IB. There is no household water settlements. Listening to our experiences they
connection here, only common taps on the main gained confidence and agreed to join hands with
road. Residents in the back lanes have to walk up us.” – Poonam, Daksha Samooh member
to a kilometer to get water. The situation worsens “We also took some on-the-spot actions like filing
Key Achievements
• Four Government Orders, One Inter-Departmental Directive have been released by the Jaipur
Municipal Corporation mandating presence of Junior Engineer nomination of point persons and
release of toilet subsidy
• Out of 153 Cases registered, 118 have been resolved benefiting 11,800 households directly
• Timely desludging rate has increased from 1% in 2016 to 3.2% in May 2018
INSTITUTIONALISING THE SINGLE WINDOW Nine sittings have been conducted thus far. The
Single Window Forum members interact with the
In March 2018, in response to the findings of a J. En and other ULB functionaries and service
survey conducted on Fecal Sludge Management providers like Assistant Engineer (A. En), Chief
(FSM) in Ward 62 of Moti Dungri Zone, the JMC Sanitary Inspector (CSI), Sanitary Inspector (SI),
issued a Government Order deputing a Junior desludging operators and Supervisor-SWM and
Engineer (J. En) to be present at the Single Window submit resolutions passed by their respective CMCs
thrice a month. demanding specific improvements and redress.
Executive Engineer, JMC (Moti Dungri Zone) and understanding on Fecal Sludge Management
(FSM) and Solid Waste Management (SWM).
“Single Window and Point Persons or Swachhta The Single Window connected with communities
Grahis have enabled us to fast track delivery of of these settlements through various processes.
services by eliminating unnecessary processes.” These include Rapid Participatory Appraisals
– Sh. Lokesh K. Meena, Junior Engineer, JMC (RPAs); joint micro-planning by ULB officials and
(Moti Dungri Zone) CMC and Daksha Samooh; meetings of CMC and
Simultaneously, JMC officials started the process Single Window Forum members; through orienta-
of verification of documents for release of toilet tion and knowledge camps on FSM and SWM. In
subsidy which also included households from three addition, in collaboration with concerned depart-
Wards other than Ward 62. ments enrolment camps on social security schemes
This led to an increase in the footfall to the Single were held in the different Wards.
Window, especially from neighboring Wards. At the The Single Window Forum remodeled itself to ac-
same time, ULB officials also called upon CFAR to commodate active members from the new Wards
expand the services of the Single Window to the in two Zones of JMC. At present there are 61 Single
residents of other Wards of the Zone. Window Forum members drawn from CMCs across
the 7 Wards from 20 settlements.
Scaling up beyond Ward 62 In April 2018, JMC Hawa Mahal Zone nominated
18 Point Persons or Lead Representatives across
By April 2018, the Single Window had scaled up its three Wards and 18 settlements to represent JMC
interventions across seven Wards within a 10 km across the seven Wards of the Single Window. These
radius covering two Zones of JMC1, reaching out Point Persons lead all joint assessments and site
to 17,000 households across 46 settlements. Of inspection visits across the 46 settlements. They
these, 6,800 households have been linked to Sani- bring concerns of the people to the J. En for on
tation Services directly and 10,200 households have the-spot resolution. In August 2018, Moti Dungri
benefited indirectly through increased information Zone nominated another 17 Point Persons taking
Voices
Lali, CMC representative from Ward No. 62 stated, “We gained a lot of new information especially
on FSM and Solid Waste Management. We used to think that constructing and using a toilet is
enough but we now realize that if we construct the toilet using the right techniques it is not only
beneficial for the environment but also for us in the long run.”
Phoolwati, Single Window Forum member stated, “We came to know of many government schemes
and programmes applicable to us which we had never heard of earlier. The Single Window
did not just provide the information but explained the whole process, taught us how to use
this information, gave hand holding support, to the extent that we can now do the same for
others.”
References:
1 Women’s collectives at the settlement level under National Urban Health Mission working on WASH issues.
2 Jhalana Kunda has been declared a Learning Site on Community Engagement under SBM by Directorate of
Local Bodies in 2015.
3 Daksha Samooh is a Community Based Organization registered in 2014 with 105 members from across 10
settlements of Jaipur.
4 1. Conducting Sanitation Campaign across Ward 62 – March 9, 2016; 2. GO for conducting Sanitation
Camp on IHHL and Triggering – November 15, 2916; 3. Orientation Camp on IHHL and Overall Sanitation
– February 13, 2017.
5 The Help Desk is operated by the Single Window Forum with guidance from Subject Experts and CSOs
addressing issues of Pension, Ration, Labour Card, Palanhar Scheme, Domestic Violence and others. Of the
126 cases received between November 2017 and June 2018, the Help Desk successfully resolved 106.
6 The 7 Wards cover 46 settlements under two Zones viz. Moti Dungri Zone- Ward 51, 54, 60 and 62 and Hawa
Mahal Zone – Ward 63, 67 & 68.
M
edia is the sensitive litmus test that responsible to her community and the profession.
represents the dichotomy of tradition Then in 1965, Pratima Puri charmed the audiences
and transformation in society. The to become the ‘First Lady of Indian Television’.
coming of media institutions in India announced In times when women on celluloid were deemed
a culture of revolutionary inclusiveness and its infamous, she overcame the binary of vamp-virgin
further ballooning caused the collapse of representations to be recognised as a professional
conventional pecking orders. Having said that, the newsreader on Doordarshan.
media never disregarded the policy of “I travelled across Delhi on a bicycle, wearing
reproduction and reaffirmation of social a saree, with two huge sling bags across my
inequalities that suited the popular culture. shoulders that held cameras and equipments. I
Perhaps, the internalisation of gender would get strange looks from people on the street,”
discrimination in media flows and media effects discussing her sepia memories with India Today,
was classically convenient to the model of media the first woman photojournalist of India, Homai
capitalism given that women have always been Vyarawalla had consuming anecdotes of covering
sanctioned as the second sex in society. Sonia the World War II for the Indian station of British
Bathla, the author of Women, Democracy and the Information Service. She evolved into an
Media, writes on this phenomena, “The silence uncompromising personality in the mediascape
of the media on women’s issues and the movement because of the enduring realisation that she was
hints at the insignificance attached to women as working in a man’s profession in a man’s world.
citizens and to their participation in the public Regardless of the Vyarawalla example, the Indian
sphere.” media could not receive women war journalists
Praise the lord for the bravery of men who because apparently valour and vulnerability could
never came to the rescue of women in media. Only not coexist in society. Hence, Prabha Dutt had to
when the men in the journalism tribe in their secretly cover the 1965 Indo-Pakistan War since
infinite wisdom decided to misreport and she was not permitted to undertake the assignment
marginalise women, women were stimulated to by her paper. Barkha Dutt in her interview to the
stake claim in the media machinery. In a field Firstpost recalled her mother’s contribution to the
peopled by men in 1942, the relentless activist protestation, that women sought no preferential
Vidya Munshi became the first mainstream woman protection on the frontlines. Prabha Dutt was
journalist in India. The acute awareness of being reserved to report a local flower show in town
a woman is what made her overwhelmingly when she demanded to be assigned to cover the
References:
1. Bathla, Sonia. Women, Democracy and the Media. New Delhi: SAGE Publications, 1998.
2. Dasgupta, Sanjukta, Dipankar Sinha, and Sudeshna Chakravarti. Media, Gender and Popular Culture in
India: Tracking Change and Continuity. New Delhi: SAGE Publications, 2012.
F
irst I would like to thank PM Modi, my will be intensely examined and in the end instead
friend, the friend of Afghanistan, for his of spending 4 years, will come for two months to
steadfast attention to nurture this historic India and get joint certificates. This is the new
relationship. A billion ties will grow to billions India partnering with new Afghanistan and there
more of hope in common understanding. I would are no limits to understand it. Equally with regard
like to thank the Indian people. The welcome that to industry and commerce and all related aspects,
has been given to Afghans, the billion dollars that we would like India to consider Afghanistan as a
India committed to our country is an indication of platform for the global world. Like the air corridor,
the commitment of every Indian to the future of now to jump to territory, invest in Afghanistan to
Afghanistan. I would also like to thank Indian look towards Central Asia and beyond.
businesses. In Mumbai last week the economic I would like to thank Indian educational
corridor resulted in 120 million dollars in contract institutes. Approximately 15,000 Afghans are
and close to over 400 million dollars in MoUs. studying here, forming deep relationships and
Indian business is very welcome and on Digital friendships that are going to be enduring. Not only
India and Digital Afghanistan, I would like to are our graduates from Indian institutes of higher
thank Dr. Qayoumi, former President of San Jose learning now serving in Afghan cabinet, but they
State University and currently Minister of Finance are working across the board. A young Afghan
of Afghanistan for having created a very special who wrote an MA thesis with 93% originality on
relationship with Indian Institutes of Technology water resources is now Deputy Minister of water
and Indian Institute of Business. and energy in Afghanistan. And ambassador has
One result of what Mr. Ravi Shankar Prasad just given me a list of 100 Afghans who have
spoke (offering National Knowledge Network topped in Indian Universities. As soon as I return
(NKN) programme, an initiative that will allow I am going to invite them collectively and appoint
educational institutes in the war-torn country to them to positions across the board.
connect using high-speed internet) is going to be I would also like to thank Indian democratic
at least 1,000 virtual labs for the remotest schools institutions. What India and Afghanistan share is
in Afghanistan. We have turned tech assistance a deep and abiding trust in democratic
by its head by agreeing to virtual courses where institutions and the will of the people. I am here
instead of hundreds, now tens of thousands of because I am the elected leader of Afghanistan
young Afghan men and women will take courses, speaking in the world’s largest democracy and
*This article is a summary of the speech delivered by Mr. Mohd. Ashraf Ghani, Hon’ble President of Afghanistan
at a civic reception hosted in his honour by India Foundation at New Delhi on 19th September 2018.
F
or ages, larger stretch of Indian land was natures, formats and from various sources.
known to be safeguarded by natural barriers Artificial intelligence coupled with Big data
like sea & mountains, and threats from analysis act as the critical differentiator by
neighbouring countries were more conventional enabling border agencies to make every interaction
and therefore predictable. In last two decades, simple and smart. Machine learning techniques
geopolitical environment of the world has taken help border guarding forces and CAPFs to train
a major shift and emerging economies like India robots & unmanned systems for enhancing their
have started facing new set of challenges from capability of taking appropriate decisions in varied
across borders and near border areas within its situations for their deployment in the remotest
own territories which is often induced by external areas, difficult terrains, areas with harsh climatic
forces. Border guarding forces have been facing conditions and threat prone/ Naxalite-affected
increased pressure of safeguarding Indian land & parts of the country.
nullifying potential threats in addition to ensuring FICCI & India Foundation jointly organised
safe & smooth trade, movement of individuals, third edition of ‘Smart Border Management’ with
development of border areas, welfare of border an objective to explore possible ways to address
communities etc. contemporary border management issues with help
Meeting these diversified expectations of new age solutions. The two-day conference was
demands decision making based on massive organised on September 17-18, 2018 at FICCI,
amount of information coming in all possible New Delhi.
PRE-CONFERENCE SYMPOSIUM - I
T
he third edition of the Indian Ocean
Conference was hosted by India The first pre-conference symposium on
Foundation in association with the Security Architecture was chaired by Mr. Brahma
Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam, the S. Chellaney, Author, India. The speakers were Prof
Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Wang Dong from Peking University, China; Dr
Singapore and the Bangladesh Institute of Tan See Seng, Deputy Director, Institute of
International and Strategic Studies on August 27- Defence and Strategic Studies, S. Rajaratnam
28, 2018 in Hanoi. The theme for the Conference School of International Studies, Singapore; Amb
was “Building Regional Architectures” and Munshi Faiz Ahmed, Chairman, Bangladesh
discussions focused on the region’s security Institute of International and Strategic Studies; Dr
architecture, governance architecture and on Seyed Hossein Rezvani, Former Ambassador and
maintaining peace and tranquility in the Indo- fellow researcher at IPIS, Ministry of Foreign
Pacific. The Conference was attended by over 300 Affairs, Iran and Dr. Le Dinh Tinh, Deputy
delegates from 44 countries of the region and was Director General, Bien Dong Maritime Institute,
addressed by 41 speakers from 25 countries. The Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam.
The first day of the Conference started with While providing different perspectives on the
two parallel pre-conference symposia on subject matter, the panelists shared the common
discussing the fundamentals of the Security and view of international law and exclusiveness being
Governance Architecture of the region along with the basis of a stable regional security architecture,
the way forward. in which ASEAN plays a central role.
To me, this domestic slavery of women is a remnant of our barbarism. It is high time that
womankind was freed from this incubus. Woman has rightly been called the mother of the race.
We owe it to her and to ourselves to undo the great wrong that we have done to her.
- Mahatma Gandhi
I
t is now globally recognized that the GDP As per the Census 2011, contributions of
numbers that define national economic nearly 70 crore Indians, majorly women — who
progress, measure only monetary transactions, perform household duties are not recorded in the
unfairly excluding all essential unpaid household national income as they are technically a ‘ghost’
work and family care, which have always fallen workforce who find no place in the data. Over the
disproportionately on female shoulders. In light years, data gaps of such whopping scale have led
of this, the recent announcement that the National not only to poor designing of employment and
Sample Survey Office (NSSO) in India would be welfare programs but also have resulted in a
conducting a year-long household survey starting neglect of the understanding of the intrinsic value
from early next year using the “time-use method”, of such work in comparison to their market value.
comes as a correction long overdue. Professor Devaki Jain’s latest book, Close Encounters
Devaki Jain, the first economist to use time-use of Another Kind, has no such narrowness in its
study in India more than three decades ago might approach and appositely underscores the vitality
well say it is about time. Through her pioneering of feminist economics. The book is a collection of
work over the decades, she has eloquently veered her essays and speeches on gender dimensions of
out of a parochial approach of understanding poverty, and political and social power. It
economic development by successfully putting a examines the ideas, facts and questions on
gender lens on public policy issues in India and deprivation, development and gender norms raised
the Global South. in major global development documents like the
Gilgit – Baltistan
And Its Saga of Unending Human Rights Violations
G
ilgit-Baltistan and its Saga of Unending Surrounded by Xinjiang province of China,
Human Rights Violations is a book on a Wakhan Corridor of Afghanistan, Chitral &
region that the Parliament of India calls Kohistan Districts of Pakistan and stone’s throw
as an ‘inalienable part of India’ but which has been from Central Asia, Gilgit-Baltistan has attracted
under the occupation of Pakistan for the last 70 the attention and interest of great powers for its
years.This exotic ‘crown of India’ has been out of geo-strategic location, which is of critical
national consciousness since Independence so importance in controlling the world (Heartland
much so that the present generation, ‘Gen Y’ as it theory). Gilgit-Baltistan has been an integral part
likes to be called, is completely oblivious of its of the ancient Silk Route and the modern re-
existence and importance. creation of the same by China, through its
The author, Capt Alok Bansal, a former ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Thus
defence personnel with a distinguished career, has this 73,000 sq. km region is important for more
dedicated more than a decade in studying this reasons than one, making it the cynosure of all
region minutely, and understanding all its and sundry, except its lawful owner, India, until
intricacies and finer nuances, in order to press recently. It was PM Modi’s mention of this region
upon the national security establishment and the from the rampart of the Red Fort, in his
academia, in bringing back the focus on this Independence Day speech of 2015 that triggered
strategically important region, which is home to a sense of curiosity in the people and policy
some of the largest peaks, glaciers and fresh water makers of India. That curiosity can be quenched
reservoirs in the world apart from a vast bounty to a large extent by this book as it touches upon
of mineral resources comprising of precious stones all important aspects of this region in good
like emerald, ruby, topaz, heavy metal like gold, measure ranging from its pre-Islamic history,
copper, mica, lead, iron, and uranium reserves too. culture and tradition to the current spate of
*Aayushi Ketkar is a faculty of International Relations at Gautam Buddha University, Greater Noida.