“Rape” the word carries with it a host of meanings and in East or Orient cultural baggage too. The term signifies violence, anger, atrocity, patriarchy, imposition and coercive submission. It is particularly used by men against women or children, though in rare cases men can be victim of rape too in particular sodomy. Rapes have been happening in the past and future would be no exception viz a viz the crime of rape is concerned. Indian subcontinent due to its patriarchal culture is still a bastion of rapists and the notion of ‘honor’ and ‘shame’ associated with rape doesn’t let the crimes of rape to be reported in Police stations, hence most of the rapists are never brought to the book.
The court judgment awarding death sentence to the four rape and murder convicts of 16 December, 2012 Rape and murder of a 23 year old paramedic student in a fast track court is glaring exception where ‘justice’ has been doled out quickly. Originally the convicts being six, one committed ‘suicide’ inside the jail, according to the jail authorities a claim contested by his family, other being declared a minor will walk free after serving three year sentence at a juvenile home. The handing over of death sentences comes in wake of huge anger and resentment of masses as well as the media hype and trails that this particular case aroused. Within nine months only ‘Justice’ was delivered in the case, but the convicts have the right to appeal in the Supreme Court. It will take a few years for justice to be delivered and it needs to be witnessed whether death sentence would be upheld and carried out in future or not?
This judgment has been welcomed by some as an epitome of Justice to the dead victim and her family, while others have decried it as justice of a kangaroo court and banana republic. Various people have criticized the decisions of awarding death sentence to the culprits too. Those in favor of death sentence try to legitimize their claim by citing the fact that it would act as a deterrent and would bring down the number of rapes. This logic of deterrence is flawed because even in those countries where death sentences are regularly handed over, the crimes and rapes against the women haven’t gone down. Hence this claim of hanging rapists in order to save women from rape is utterly wrong.
Rape is a manifestation of the status a woman enjoys in the society. The number of rapes committed against women is inversely proportional to the status women enjoy in a particular society. The 16 December rape and murder known as Nirbhaya case initiated the debate once again about various issues related to women including dress code, co-education, late night jobs, pre-marital affairs and need for women to uphold norms of modesty, honor and shame. All these debates were heavily overdosed with patriarchal overtones, hence the victims i.e. women were held responsible for the increase in crimes against them.
The religious heads and doctors of divinity issued ludicrous and many times sick statements. Ashok Singhal, President of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), a fascist Hindutva organization stated that Indians should go back to tradition. Women should not opt for jobs and remain confined to homes. They should also keep a domestic cow as it will help inculcate good values in them. Asaram Bapu, who is now accused of raping a teenaged girl at his ashram stated that the victim of Nirbhaya rape and murder case was herself responsible for the rape because for clapping one needs two hands. He further added that the victim should have fallen at the feet of her rapists and called them brothers in a manner that she would have been spared from rape. This character assassination of victim depicted the misogynist nature of the rapist Asaram who is revered by many.
Jamaat e Islami (JeI) of India came out with fourteen points that included banning co-education. The JeI members are too naïve to understand that co-education doesn’t give rise to rapes. Most of the rapes are committed in places that are construed as safe and secure for girls and women, and perpetuators in most cases are known to the victims. These measures of banning co-education, taming a cow, pleading with rapists and even the death sentences for rapists will in no way help stop the rape culture in India.
In the Indian patriarchal culture where a woman is treated as a second class inferior citizen whose only purpose of life is to satisfy the carnal desires of her husband, raise the children and look after his household. She is being praised for her selfless household activities and dedication towards her husband. Her salvation in the hereafter depends on how happy her husband is with her services. Any disobedience is treated as sin. She is doomed to raging fires of hell if her husband is unhappy with her. The disobedience of her husband is equal to disobedience to creator. The misogynist Hadith wrongly attributed to Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) try to reinforce this mindset. The patriarchal mindset wants to demean the status of women by stating that “if Prostration was allowed for anyone other than Allah then it would have been allowed for a wife to prostrate before her husband”. Also another misogynist Hadith states that, “If a husband is angry with his wife, Allah doesn’t listen to her prayers”. Also another Hadith that tries to reinforce the upperhand of husbands by stating that, “If a husband doesn’t permit his wife to fast, she shouldn’t keep the non obligatory fasts”. When the patriarchy and misogyny is inculcated and camouflaged in religious terms then obedience and submission becomes a religious duty that few women would dare to oppose. Islam, Quran and Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) gave revolutionary rights to women that were snatched by Muslim men over centuries.
The situation of Indian Muslim women is pathetic, as Fatwas and Mullahs try to deny them rights on religious pretext. But the case with majority Hindu women is even worse. Hinduism and its laws have reduced women to sub human level. The Manusmriti is abhorrently misogynist when it comes to women and their status. The Hindu women certainly need to fight an intra religious reform in order to achieve a respectable, legal and equal status within Hinduism.
In India there is no training for gender sensitivity both within homes as well as in schools. The father and male teachers are mostly misogynist and patriarchal in their worldviews. The children learn same and indoctrinate similar values. The lewd jokes with deep misogynist overtures depict our bias towards half of our population. The use of women’s bodies as a subject of abuse and the declining sex ratio with millions of girls missing is a living testimony of the status women today enjoy in India. When one doesn’t inculcate the values of gender equity, how can one expect that awarding death sentences will curb the epidemic of rape?
To add insult to injury the numerous rapes that men in uniform commit against the minorities, Dalits and downtrodden is an ugly scar of the Scam Republic of India. Most of these rapists in uniform are never brought to book. The black laws like Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in Disturbed Areas of India grant impunity to these beasts in uniform to commit rapes and then escape the judicial process and noose too. The fast track judgment is missing in case of Kashmir, Manipur and numerous Nirbayas who are raped and then forced to keep mum??
This judgment was passed because one middle class girl residing in a cosmopolitan city that also happens to be the capital of India was raped. The mass protests and media hype resulted in the judgment, otherwise millions of Nirbayas are awaiting justice in the peripheries of India that would never be rendered to them in their lifetime. Death sentences would never help in curbing the rape culture in India, but gender sensitivity, equity, education and training would certainly help. Also till the victims of lust of uniformed rapists don’t get justice, selective justice will remain flawed and sham. The minorities and downtrodden will continue to be alienated from the mainstream and mainland cosmopolitan developing India. This Nirbaya judgment is rubbing salt to the numerous victims of India and dividing India through judiciary, otherwise previously only politicians divided people for votes.
Mushtaq Ul Haq Ahmad Sikander is Writer-Activist based in Srinagar, Kashmir and can be reached at sikandarmushtaq@gmail.com