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8 EDITORIAL
NOIDA/DELHI
THE HINDU
FRIDAY, APRIL 27, 2018
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Anatomy of a reset Judgment day Asaram’s rise and fall is refl ective of the lives of some selfstyled godmen of our times Zorawar Daulet Singh
Saving Afghanistan Global and regional powers must desist from playing the ‘Great Game’ and build peace
E
ven before the Taliban announced its new “spring off ensive”, violence in Afghanistan had escalated dangerously this year. According to the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, the number of casualties in the fi rst three months of 2018 was already 2,258 (763 killed, 1,495 injured). Last year, the U.S. an nounced a new ‘South Asia policy’ for Afghanistan, which was offi cially welcomed by both New Delhi and Kabul and hailed as a gamechanger for the region. Just eight months later, the policy itself seems uncertain. And although the U.S. administration has taken some steps on Pakistani funding of terrorism across the Du rand Line, it has clearly not yielded calm on the ground, as wave upon wave of terrorist violence has lashed Kabul and other cities. Sunday’s bomb attack in Kabul at a voter registration centre, where more than 57 were killed, carried a doubly diabolical message from the Islamic State. Not only did the group attack Afghan istan’s fragile democratic process, making it clear that elections next year could face more violence, but a ma jority of the victims were Shias, highlighting the sectar ian turn in the confl ict. In addition, the statement from the Taliban rejecting Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s off er of talks “without preconditions” and calling for the targeting of American forces in Afghanistan as part of a “spring off ensive” signals the security challenge. According to the U.S., Afghan forces control just a little over half the territory today, down from nearly three fourths in 2015. There seems little to suggest then that the U.S. policies guiding Afghanistan, and Kabul’s ef forts to protect its people, are making any headway. It is necessary for both to take a more hardheaded, realistic view of the road ahead. There is a need to stop the ‘Great Game’ for infl uence in Afghanistan. Growing U.S.Russia tensions are creat ing space for proxies for both on Afghan soil, and the at tacks by alQaeda and ISrelated terror groups have their roots in the larger war between Iran and the Arab world. Tensions between India and Pakistan cast a sha dow over Afghanistan, with India’s development assis tance under attack. In turn, driven by the desire to se cure itself from Islamist groups, China is trying to build a rival military base in Afghanistan. Ironically, in the wake of 9/11 and the Taliban’s defeat in 2001, for a while all these countries were actually on the same page on helping Afghanistan. It is not as if eff orts have not been made for bilateral and multilateral peace talks in recent months, but each one has amounted to too piecemeal an eff ort. Defeating terrorism in Afghanistan needs ev ery stakeholder to put aside diff erences, and acknow ledge that the current situation is a danger to all.
T
he IndiaChina relationship has always been too complex to classify under a single theme. Competitioncooperation discord is an oftenevoked term ty pology that refl ects the contradic tory nature of this relationship. Last year witnessed all these facets play out: India’s trenchant critique of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), India’s entry into the Shang hai Cooperation Organisation, the dramatic crisis in Doklam on the northern frontiers, the accelera tion of multilateral cooperation in the BRICS format, and attempts to foster economic engagement. Yet, nothing exemplifi ed the state of ties more than the Himalayan stan doff , which was the closest both countries came to drawing blood in over three decades. Build-up of negativity What led to this tailspin in India China relations? We will not fi nd the clues in some valley or a nar row stretch of road in the upper Himalayas. Rather, the main rea son has been a systematic buildup of negative images of how each side viewed the other’s foreign policies along with a collapse in geopolitical trust. For India, Chi na’s attempt to raise its economic and political profi le in the subcon tinent was seen as an encroach ment on, and an aff ront to, Indian
Course correction The Modi government’s decision to resuscitate the China relation ship has aroused scepticism from
the doubters in the strategic com munity who think the pendulum will shift towards appeasement af ter a period of doggedly standing up to China. But New Delhi is real ly adjusting a policy that has simp ly not worked. First, it is becoming apparent to the realists inside the government that an adversarial re lationship with China brings no ad vantages and amplifi es security problems that India can neither solve on its own nor address with the assistance of external powers who have shown little inclination to defl ect Chinese infl uence in the subcontinent and its littoral. Second, IndiaChina friction en hances Pakistan’s ability to shape Beijing’s South Asia hand even though the latter itself would pref er a more balanced regional pos ture and a constructive equation with New Delhi. Third, a contentious IndiaChi na relationship also reduces In dia’s bargaining leverage visàvis the U.S. and Japan. New Delhi must have also noticed that des pite their diff erences with Beijing, both the U.S. and Japan truly value
their interdependence with China. SinoAmerican cooperation on the Korean nuclear question and ef forts to transform North East Asian geopolitics is just one exam ple. Japan, with a $300 billion trading relationship with China, too wants to ensure it remains en gaged with the world’s second lar gest economy. Recently, Tokyo has even endorsed the prospect of a “casebycase” cooperation with the BRI. Finally, the Modi government is also recognising that the promise of economic cooperation with Chi na can only translate into mea ningful outcomes if there is overall geopolitical stability. Few econom ic actors will enter the fray if the forecast for bilateral ties is one of uncertainty and turbulence. Mr. Modi’s original instinct to craft a grand “developmental partner ship” with China got lost in the ge opolitical headwinds after 2014. There now seems to be an eff ort to reclaim that pragmatic vision. More than common sense Since 2014, India’s discourse on China’s rise has swung back and forth from paranoia and deep sus picion to calmer assessments of its implications for Asia and the world economy. Fortunately, there is now a shared belief in both cap itals that a posture of hostility has undermined Indian and Chinese interests. But an IndiaChina dé tente will have to be built on more than just common sense. Mr. Modi and Mr. Xi have their task cut out for them. Zorawar Daulet Singh is a Fellow at the Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi
Unpacking the Dalit angst Reverence for Ambedkar requires fi ghting caste discrimination and safeguarding the Constitution
D. Shyam Babu
O
n April 4, Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserted: “No government has, per haps, given respect to Babasaheb the way our government has.” Stung by the criticism over his go vernment’s alleged inaction in de fending the Scheduled Castes and Schedule Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, before the Supreme Court, Mr. Modi cited his reverence for Ambedkar as proof of his government’s commitment to the welfare of SCs and STs. Mr. Modi deserves the credit he claimed for fasttracking the con struction of the Ambedkar Inter national Centre in New Delhi. The Congress was in power for two thirds of those 25odd years that the project took for completion, but it behaved as if it never wanted to fi nish it. Widespread dissatisfaction However, Mr. Modi’s ‘credit’ amounts to nothing compared to the criticism that his government is facing as being antiDalit. Some Dalit leaders of the Bharatiya Jana ta Party (BJP) too have openly ex pressed dissatisfaction with the government, depriving it of the opportunity to dismiss the matter
as antiBJP propaganda. In essence, the controversy ov er the Atrocities Act forces one to take a position on the special pro visions for the protection and wel fare of SCs/STs. Can the interests of these groups be ensured with out resorting to special provisions? Second, one must consider the is sue within the larger context of the unprecedented attacks on the Constitution mounted by some BJP leaders. Mr. Modi’s position appears ambiguous on special provisions and he is silent on the Constitution. Caste annihilated? The apex court’s verdict has its ori gins in a 2014 report of the Parlia mentary Standing Committee on Social Justice headed by Ramesh Bais, a BJP MP. It recommended ‘an inbuilt provision’ to protect those falsely implicated under the Atrocities Act. Through its verdict, the court has just done that. It is not as if those Dalits protest ing against the verdict are bent on falsely implicating nonDalits in criminal cases, but they are con cerned that the verdict will embol den obscurantist sections to un leash violence on the community. It matters little that the guidelines confi ne to atrocity cases involving government offi cials, but the Karni Sena has heard the message it wanted to hear. Where the committee and the court erred is in their failure to re visit why Parliament thought it ne
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Asaram convicted This is a verdict that gives people a lot of hope (“Asaram sentenced to jail till death”, April 26). It was extremely courageous of the girl and her family to have fought the case till justice was delivered. There are many rape cases in India that remain buried under the carpet because families fear for the future of their daughters. There are many cases piling up at the police level; they are not brought to the court’s attention. And if they are, they remain pending in courts for disposal. The verdict on Asaram will be even more meaningful if he is treated like any other convict in prison and not as a VVIP. N. Visveswaran, Chennai
This is the second incident CM YK
some kind of a course correction. Sensibly, both leaderships have drawn the correct lessons and are reciprocating each other’s moves towards a reset. The traditional template, where IndiaChina diff e rences were handled in an overall framework of a politically stable and mature relationship, is being restored. The rhetoric from the re cent meeting between Foreign Mi nister Sushma Swaraj and Chinese State Councillor and Foreign Mi nister Wang Yi was instructive. The emphasis has shifted from a glass halfempty narrative to a glass halffull: “our commonalities outweigh our diff erences” (Indian Foreign Minister) or “our common interests far outweigh our diff e rences” (Chinese Foreign Minis ter). To be sure, we have heard si milar rhetoric before. But the context is new as both leaderships hope to infuse stability back into this complex relationship.
SANDEEP SAXENA
I
n sentencing Asaram Bapu to imprisonment for the rest of his natural life for the rape of a 16yearold girl in 2013, a Special Court in Jodhpur has reinvigorated faith in the criminal justice system. Two aides who facil itated the crime have been sentenced to 20 years in pri son. At a time when sexual off ences against women and minor girls are being reported with benumbing regular ity, a verdict of this sort reinforces public trust. Holding powerful and infl uential heads of religious institutions is not easy in this country, given the wide public sup port and political patronage they enjoy. Fortunately, neither the investigators nor the prosecutors in the case of the 77yearold Asumal Harpalani, who named him self Asaram, seem to have been overawed by his large following or intimidated by his belligerent supporters. Highranking police offi cers received letters and phone calls threatening them and their families with dire con sequences, and witnesses were killed or attacked in the course of the investigation and trial. Against this back drop, it took courage and determination for the victim and her family to seek justice. The facts are chilling. The victim’s parents, who were Asaram’s devotees, were asked to take her from the ashram’s residential school at Chhindwara to the godman’s home in Manai, near Jodhpur, ostensibly to exorcise ‘evil spirits’ that had possessed her. The parents were asked to leave, and the girl had to be alone with him. She was sexually assault ed and threatened against speaking out. Fortunately, her father managed to get a police complaint registered in New Delhi. It was later transferred to Jodhpur. It is also a sign of the times that every time the fi nal verdict is set to be delivered in a criminal case involving a selfstyled godman, the State concerned has to be on high alert and massive police deployment is required to quell possible trouble by followers. After the violence and mayhem that gripped Panchkula town in the imme diate aftermath of the sentencing of Gurmeet Ram Ra him Singh last year in a rape case, this time the police took no chances, and the judgment was delivered in a makeshift courtroom in a prison. There is nothing more mortifying to the devout than witnessing jetage god men betraying the trust of their followers. Asaram fi ts into the template of the selfstyled godman: graduating from running a liquor business to peddling spiritual succour, leading a lavish lifestyle, expanding into busi ness and enjoying the patronage of the rich and power ful, and, ultimately, misusing his power to exploit his unquestioning devotees. Special Judge Madhusudan Sharma has underscored how the accused had broken the victim’s trust in him. Verdicts such as these are needed at a time when sections of society see tainted men as guardians of India’s ageold spiritual tradition.
authority in the neighbourhood. For China, India’s pursuit of deep er military engagement with the former’s main strategic rivals — the U.S. and Japan — was viewed as a serious challenge to its future se curity. Convinced that only an as sertive policy would work, both Delhi and Beijing over the past two years began exploiting leverages and pressure points to keep the other side off balance. India tilted closer to the U.S., China towards Pakistan, and on a scale not wit nessed even during the Cold War years. Yet, neither side has been able to extract any concessions or im prove the terms of their bilateral interactions. On a range of issues – the Nuclear Suppliers Group mem bership, Pakistansponsored ter ror and hydrological cooperation being the most prominent — India failed to receive any give from Chi na. With India’s boycott of the BRI, China too found itself confronting not only the only major holdout against its fl agship international initiative but also its most suspi cious and noncooperative neigh bour in Asia. Beijing also noticed that New Delhi was beginning to openly involve external powers to collaborate with it in an antiChina strategy in South Asia and the In dian Ocean. Worse still must have been the spectacle of India bran dishing its Tibet card. Such unbri dled competition and rising costs to Indian and Chinese interests — and Doklam was the tipping point — appears to have persuaded both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping that their policies were producing zerosum outcomes and required
REUTERS
There is now a mutual recognition in both India and China that a posture of hostility has undermined their interests
cessary to make a draconian law that bypasses due process and whether the conditions have changed so much to warrant dilu tion of the Act. Their singlemind ed pursuit to provide justice to vic tims of false cases at the cost of the Act’s subject matter resembles more of a butcher’s nonchalance rather than the diligence and em pathy of a surgeon. Ambedkar thundered thus in his Annihilation of Caste, “…turn in any direction you like, Caste is the monster that crosses your path. You cannot have political re form, you cannot have economic reform, unless you kill this mon ster.” Sadly, the received wisdom appears to be: to ignore the mon ster is to have killed it. For exam ple, Mr. Modi’s genuine aversion to caste as a divisive force in society has been translated into myriad in congruities. One, the government still refuses to release caste data from the SocioEconomic and Caste Census (SECC), reducing the SECC to merely the SocioEco nomic Census. Two, departing from tradition, the President’s an
nual address to Parliament this year had no references to the go vernment’s commitment to spe cial care that SC/STs and other weaker sections deserve. Three, traditionally the annual Economic Survey used to carry trends in social sector spending, especially on SC/STs, minorities, etc. The Budget would follow a si milar pattern. In 2015, the govern ment dropped this feature in these important policy documents. Jus tifying the erasure of caste, the Fi nance Minister said, “Our commit ment to the ‘Daridra Narayan’ is steadfast, as is commitment to the Constitutional principles of Equal ity and Justice for All, without con cern for caste, creed or religion.” The Budget reverted to the old pat tern from the very next year (2016 17) but the change of heart was never explained. However, the Economic Survey still caters to a casteless India. The aversion to caste in gover nance needs to be contrasted with caste calculus in elections. The ad vocates of a casteblind approach are entitled to hope that it would lead to a casteless society. But it can also throw us into Social Darwinism. Respecting the Constitution Dalits and other weaker sections revere the Constitution as the ulti mate guarantor of their rights in view of the way it recognises them. Most Indians also respect the Con stitution for its obvious merits.
Two notable exceptions to this are the far left and the religious right, which is represented by the Rashr tiya Swayamsevak Sangh. While the former remains in margins, the latter has come to dominate the mainstream. As historian Ramachandra Gu ha highlighted, the RSS rejected the Constitution as it’s not in tune with the Manusmriti whose laws, the RSS claimed in 1949, “excite the admiration of the world and el icit spontaneous obedience and conformity [among Hindus in In dia].” The rub is the “spontaneous obedience and conformity” to the caste system which Ambedkar found so obnoxious that he burnt the book to express his outrage. The only change in seven de cades is that the RSS no longer in vokes the Manusmriti, and its chief, Mohan Bhagwat, takes a nuanced position by merely saying that the Constitution does not re fl ect “Bharatiya ethos”. Union Mi nister Anantkumar Hegde ended the ambiguity, saying: “We are here to change the Constitution.” A BJP MLA from Uttar Pradesh went a step ahead and declared that India would be a Hindu Rash tra by 2024. No senior leader of the government or the party con tradicted any of these utterances. For Mr. Modi, silence doesn’t seem to be an option any longer. D. Shyam Babu is Senior Fellow, Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi. The views expressed are personal
Letters emailed to
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in eight months where a selfstyled godman has been sentenced for carrying out a despicable act. However, before being caught, these men were all glorifi ed by their followers and politicians, many of whom they share a good relationship with. Self styled godmen and politicians share a mutually benefi cial relationship — these men get the clout they need and the politicians get votes through them. Asaram’s sentencing has sent a strong message that no one is above the law. Utkarsh Agrawal, Allahabad
There seem to be many fake gurus fl ourishing and exploiting their believers. The investigating agencies should be praised for their success, for fi ghting against
all odds to obtain justice. Asaram’s shameful story will hopefully open the eyes of many believers of these “gurus”. He has brought disgrace to Hinduism. All his ashrams and properties should be confi scated. There should be a separate investigation into the enormous amount of money that has gone into building his huge empire. And lastly, all the political bigwigs and offi cials who helped him obtain land should be exposed.
Mohd. Zeyaullah Khan,
possessed her shows the extent of ignorance in our society. Fostering a scientifi c temper is crucial.
Nagpur
Tala B.Ragunath,
without bowing to pressure from politicians and others with vested interests.
An unjust law An unjust law is no law at all, St. Augustine once said. This aptly describes the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (“Revisit AFSPA”, April 26). Although in certain places that have been designated as “disturbed areas” the armed forces require special powers, laws authorising indiscriminate use of force and blanket impunity against crimes committed in the line of duty should be revoked.
that UIDAI and various mobile operators pressured all of us to link our phone numbers with Aadhaar and threatened to disrupt our connections if we failed to do so (“Didn’t order AadhaarSIM link: SC”, April 16). What excuse do they have for creating this false impression and allowing this to go on for so long? What about all those who have already linked their SIMs with Aadhaar? It is high time the government studies the eff ect of initiatives like Aadhaar in other democratic countries. The U.K. scrapped its national ID project; India should follow suit and prevent further waste of tax payers’ money on Aadhaar.
Aijaz Hussain Malik,
B. Sundar Raman,
Baramulla
Coimbatore
Aadhaar and SIM cards It is shocking and illegal
more letters online:
Thanjavur
The arrest will sadly not reduce the proliferation of Asarams in the country. This dubious industry is so vast that there are — and will be — many plundering the nation and exploiting citizens unless serious and sustained investigations are carried out in all these ashrams.
S.V. Venkatakrishnan,
S. Ramakrishnasayee,
San Jose, California
Chennai
We must applaud senior police offi cer Ajay Pal Lamba who doggedly oversaw the investigation despite constantly receiving threats. We hope that other offi cers are inspired by him and go about their work with honesty and integrity
People have all kinds of superstitious beliefs and that is why these kind of men thrive. The fact that the victim’s parents were convinced by one of the accused that their daughter required “treatment” for the “evil spirits” that
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THE HINDU
OPED 9
NOIDA/DELHI
FRIDAY, APRIL 27, 2018
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YES, NO, IT’S COMPLICATED
Should those who rape minors get the death penalty? Faith in the law will be restored only if there is a severe deterrent to those committing heinous acts
YES
Pravin GHuge is the Chairman of the Maharashtra State Commission for Protection of Child Rights
The death penalty is warranted in today’s age because I think it acts as a strong deterrent. Let me illustrate this with an example. When we were children, we were told that it was bad karma to drop salt on the ground and that if we did, god would punish us. Now, no one can debate whether god is morally right or wrong in meting out punishment to all those who waste salt. But the moral of the story is that sometimes the pressure of a certain threat is
enough to put the fear of god in a child. Back then, people were go verned by superstition; today, they are governed by laws, and people should fear violating the rule of law. Faith and fear If the purpose of laws is to achieve some semblance of justice, we have to bear in mind that it must fulfi l two purposes. One, people should have faith in the law which has been enacted. And two, the law should
There is no evidence to the show that the death penalty acts as a deterrent
NO
Maharukh Adenwalla is a lawyer in Mumbai working on child rights
Every time there is a public outcry due to sexual violence, the govern ment quells the same by enacting harsher legislation to portray their concern, instead of identifying so lutions to address the cause. It did this after the Nirbhaya rape case by enacting the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, which overturned the well entrenched philosophy of juvenile justice, and it has done it yet again. Provisions in place A fallacy has been created by the state that the punishment for rape/ gang rape prior to the ordinance was not suffi cient for ‘justice’ to the child. It is necessary to clarify that
IT'S COMPLICATED
Nandita Rao is an advocate practising in the Delhi High Court
the punishment for such off ences under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Protection of Children from Sexual Off ences Act, 2012 (the POC SO Act), extended to life imprison ment, irrespective of the child’s age, which met the principle of pro portionality. Pursuant to demands of child rights practitioners, the POCSO Act was enacted to create an enabling environment for chil dren — fi ner calibration of sexual of fences; special procedures for chil dren in police stations and in courts; acknowledgement of the fact that children require support while journeying through the crimi nal justice system; and rehabilita tive measures. Their demand was
The certainty and uniformity of the punishment and not the severity of it will reduce crime Statistics have not been able to prove or disprove the effi cacy of capital punishment as a deterrent. While the U.K. has seen an increase in murders since 1965 when capital punishment for murder was re moved from the statute book, Cana da has not seen any such impact since it abolished the death penalty in 1976. The underlying socioeco nomic conditions in a society that cause crimes seem to have as much of an impact on the increase or de crease of crimes as the law does. The number of reported cases of rapes of children increased in India
by 82% in 2016 compared to 2015. A climate of violence, social and eco nomic insecurity, alienation, and a progressive undermining of the sta tus of women and children seem to have given an impetus to carry out crimes against women and chil dren. Therefore, I do agree with the proponents of capital punishment when they say that the legal system must give a clear signal that we as a nation consider the rape of chil dren below the age of 12 as among the most heinous of off ences. Mak ing such crimes punishable by cap ital punishment certainly gives
generate fear in the hearts of potential crimi nals and violators. If a child below the age of 12 becomes the victim of a traumatic event like rape, we have to deal with the off ender or of fenders fi rmly. Anyone who takes advantage of a child’s innocence must be dealt with fi rmly under the law of the land. Only a severe penal ty will act as a deterrent to a hei nous crime. And only then will peo ple’s faith in the law be restored and potential criminals be afraid of breaking the law. Raping a child de not the death penalty. Though the POCSO Act did positively respond in certain aspects, the ena bling provisions have not been implemented, thus denying children the en visaged ‘protection’. Not a deterrent Moreover, the IPC/the POCSO Act arises only after the sexual off ence is committed. What is the state do ing to stop such occurrence? Shouldn’t safety of children be the prime concern? How is inclusion of the death penalty going to keep our children secure? The government counters these questions on the ground that the death penalty will deter the commission of sexual of fences. There is no evidence to show so, which is noted in Report such a signal. Dilution of abhorrence Both the crimes that a so ciety suff ers and the pun ishments that it considers appropriate for such crimes are a refl ection of the standards of decency and pro priety within that society. In the fi ve years that I served as a defence counsel in the Delhi High Court Le gal Services Authority, I recall the strong disapproval of the rape of children among the convict popula tion in Tihar jail. Even ruthless gangsters who were in prison for multiple murders abhorred those who raped minors, and the jail staff had to often provide protection to
serves a very harsh sen tence, and that sentence is death. Ordinance will help But just making a law doesn’t change anyth ing. It needs to be fol lowed by a stringent justice system. The ordinance will defi nitely act as a check. There is a reason why rapes are underreported and regis tration of cases is not the norm. There is a certain stigma associated with the subject of rape — more so when it happens within the family, by someone known to the child.
That’s why the number of cases re ported are few. But if society gets reassurance that in cases like this there is a law which will come to the aid of the victim, the secrecy sur rounding this issue will disappear. Once this is established, reporting will increase. We must remember that in most cases, someone who the victim is familiar with commits the rape. So, this new law is more likely to embolden people to report such cases. Also, the death penalty for raping minors does not mean that all the accused will be hanged. The due process of law will kick in as soon as a complaint is registered.
As told to Sonam Saigal
No. 262 of the Law Com mission of India on the death penalty: “After many years of research and debate among sta tisticians, practitioners, and theorists, a world wide consensus has now emerged that there is no evidence to suggest that the death penalty has a deterrent eff ect over and above its alternative — life imprison ment.” If death sentence is not a de terrent, what is the purpose for pro viding such punishment for child rape? Report No. 262 answers this: “In focusing on death penalty as the ultimate measure of justice to victims, the restorative and rehabil itative aspects of justice are lost sight of. Reliance on the death pe nalty diverts attention from other problems ailing the criminal justice
system.” In India, the deterrence aspect is further diluted due to uncertainty of punishment — perpetrators be lieve that the chances of the crime being reported or conviction are ve ry low, which is also refl ected by da ta. The ‘Study on Child Abuse: In dia 2007’, published by the Ministry of Women and Child Deve lopment, shows that 72.1% of child respondents did not report sexual assault of penetrative form to anyone. One of the reasons is that mostly the perpetrator is a ‘known accused’. ‘Crime in India: 2015’ in dicates that 94.8% of the accused under Section 4 (penetrative sexual assault) and Section 6 (aggravated penetrative sexual assault) of the POCSO Act were ‘known accused’. It is apprehended that the death pe nalty will increase pressure on the
child to not report the crime. The conviction rate refl ected in ‘Crime in India: 2016’ is low — 28.2% under Sections 4 and 6 of the POCSO Act. Instead of attempting to instil fear in the minds of potential rapists of minors, the state should concen trate on winning the confi dence of children through skilled investiga tion, modern forensic gathering, and establishing structures/ap pointing human resources under the POCSO Act. To ensure ‘justice’, the state should provide the child certainty of healing/rehabilitation; certainty that sexual violence will be con demned by state actors; certainty of support to the child within and outside the criminal justice system; certainty that the due process of law will be followed in all cases of sexual off ences.
those convicted for the rape of children. The re cent public defence of the rape accused in Kath ua seems to indicate a di lution of social abhor rence for the rape of a child. Given the growing polarisation in society and that both the police and the judiciary are products of society, it seems un clear whether the state will be able to ensure a free and fair trial. Undoubtedly, it is not the severi ty of the punishment but the cer tainty and uniformity of it which will reduce crime. Even for capital punishment to work as a deterrent, the fairness of the investigation, the certainty of conviction, and the
speed of the trial are vital. With the police and judicial independence being under a cloud, especially af ter the incidents in Kathua and Un nao, the deterrent value of capital punishment seems diminished un less police reforms and fasttrack courts are a part of the package. Of equal signifi cance is the con cern raised by those opposing capi tal punishment, which is that by equalising the punishment for rape and murder, it is likely that most child victims of rape will be harmed so that the best witness is eliminat ed. Also, can the law alone bring about social change or do we need other strong measures such as scientifi c investigations, better pol icing and gender sensitisation of
youth to grapple with this issue?
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We also have to bear in mind that there is a consensus on the subject of capital punishment — if anyone rapes a child, a severe punishment is required to be meted out. I think the government has taken this deci sion after a lot of thought and I fail to understand those who think that the ordinance is a kneejerk reac tion to the problem. To my mind, parliamentarians had initiated a de bate on this subject back in 201213 when they agreed that we need more stringent laws to address this problem.
A dishonest decision What I can say with certainty is that introducing capital punishment by way of the ordinance route without a thorough debate was a dishonest decision. We have been deprived of the parliamentary procedure of le gislation, which is both democratic and constitutional and would have off ered an opportunity to discuss all the pros and cons, study interna tional experience and hear all the stakeholders to ascertain the im pact of capital punishment. It is a welcome development that the Del hi High Court has issued notice on a petition challenging this hasty ordi nance.
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Nutritional politics
FIFTY YEARS AGO APRIL 27, 1968
Decision on Assam not likely now
After more than a decade of discussions, there is no agreement on what to feed children in anganwadis
The current negotiations between the Centre, the Assam Con gress, and the Hill leaders are not likely to assume fi nal shape till after the current session of Parliament. This was the indica tion after a brief meeting between the Union Home Minister, Mr. Y.B. Chavan, and Mr. Williamson Sangma, President of the AllParty Hill Leaders’ Conference. Mr. Sangma is understood to have urged that a solution be found for this problem soon, preferably before Parliament is adjourned. Mr. Sangma will meet the Prime Minister in a day or two to press his case for an early decision. He will also call on Mr. Chavan again. Despite Mr. Sangma’s plea, it seems unlikely that the Union Govern ment would be in a position to reach fi nality about the reor ganisation of Assam within the next two or three weeks. Both Assam Chief Minister Mr. B.P. Chaliha, and Mr. K.P. Tripathi, Industry Minister of the State, have left for Shilong. The Assam Congress leaders are reported to be not in favour of the new suggestion to make the Hill areas a Union Territory.
Anuradha Raman
BISWARANJAN ROUT
Many children have died of mal nutrition in India and yet Wo men and Child Development Mi nisters over the years haven’t decided what food to give chil dren in anganwadis. This is wor rying. How many more children must suff er from stunted growth before the Minister in charge of their welfare decides on whether to serve them hotcooked nutritious meals or pack aged/processed fortifi ed mixes? And why does there have to be a choice between the two? Why can’t India incorporate both? Is it really that diffi cult to keep a close watch on the quality of food served to children between the ages of three and six as well as takehome ration for pregnant and lactat ing women? Apparently, it is. If you put together the years of the Con gressled United Progressive Alliance government and the Bharatiya Janata Party government, no solution is in sight af ter more than a decade of discussions. The Minister of Wo men and Child Development, Maneka Gandhi, and her pre decessor, Renuka Chowdhury, have always exercised the easy option: dense, fortifi ed food for malnourished chil dren, courtesy the manufacturers. But early this month, Ms. Gandhi locked horns with her own offi cials on arriving at a solution. While her offi cers are batting for takehome ra tions that are locally available and processed, Ms. Gandhi fa vours a quickly served, nutrientsfortifi ed alternative. It is an old debate; one that involves big biscuitmakers and assort ed corn puff manufacturers on the one hand and social acti vists on the other, with children caught in between. Data on malnutrition should serve as a wakeup call for the government: 38% of children are stunted and 35.7% are underweight in India. About 21% of children under the age of fi ve are wasted (low weight for height), according to the National Family Health Survey4 data. Eight years ago, when malnutrition deaths occurred in some districts in Maharashtra, a simple solution involving a proteinrich diet called Lapsi — a green millet mixture com bined with water and milk — was given to malnourished ba bies. In Jharkhand, dry rations such as oil, dal, wheat or rice were given to mothers — until the contractor lobby forced the government to shift in favour of processed food. The point is to address malnourishment through locally produced, diverse food options that the country off ers. Un der the UPA government, the Minister in charge wondered aloud in 2007 about who would keep a watch on the quality of meals served. She asked what would happen if something fell into the food being cooked. “Can we keep a close watch? Why not serve packaged food?” This is a valid point of con cern, but is it impossible to work out a solution? Or is there no solution because children cannot be quantifi ed as vote banks? The writer is with The Hindu in New Delhi
CM YK
ARCHIVES
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CONCEPTUAL
ACT ONE
Hebbian theory
Merging associate banks with the SBI
Neuroscience
This refers to a theory of how neurons can learn to coordinate with each oth er over time to carry out new body functions. For example, as two neurons increasingly communicate with each other to carry out a new body function, the bond between them strengthens and facilitates the function. By the same token, when neurons stop interacting as often, the bond between them be comes weaker and aff ects body functions. The idea, which has been used to ex plain the fl exible nature of the brain to learn new things, was proposed by Canadian psychologist Do nald O. Hebb in his 1949 book The Organisation of Behaviour. CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC
MORE ON THE WEB
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The legacy of Srinivasa Ramanujan http://bit.ly/2r3iV0v
On the State Banks (Repeal and Amendment) Bill of 2017 Krishnadas Rajagopal
In August 2017, the Lok Sabha passed the State Banks (Repeal and Amendment) Bill of 2017 to amend the State Bank of India (SBI) Act of 1955 to remove references related to subsidiary banks. After the acquisition of subsidiary banks by the SBI, subsidiary banks have ceased to exist. Therefore, the government found it necessary to repeal the SBI (Subsidiary Banks) Act of 1959 and the State Bank of Hyderabad Act of 1956. The government has al so found it unnecessary to retain certain provisions in the SBI Act, 1955, which apply to subsidiary banks. These subsidiary banks — State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur, State Bank of My sore, State Bank of Patiala, and State Bank of Travan core — were constituted under the SBI (Subsidiary Banks) Act of 1959. The State Bank of Hyde
rabad was originally con stituted as Hyderabad State Bank under the Hyd erabad State Bank Act and renamed as the State Bank of Hyderabad under sub section (1) of Section 3 of the State Bank of Hydera bad Act of 1956. To rationalise resourc es, reduce costs, improve profi ts, for lower cost of funds leading to better rate of interest for the pu blic, and to improve pro ductivity and customer service, the SBI, with the sanction of the Central go vernment and in consulta tion with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), en tered into negotiations with the State Bank of Bi kaner and Jaipur, the State Bank of Mysore, the State Bank of Patiala, the State Bank of Travancore and the State Bank of Hydera bad for acquiring their bu siness, including assets and liabilities. The schemes relating to such acquisitions were agreed
upon by the Central Board of the SBI and the respec tive boards of the subsidi ary banks and approved by the RBI. In exercise of the powers conferred by subsection (2) of Section 35 of the SBI Act, 1955, the Central government ac corded its sanction. Accordingly, the Cen tral government issued the following orders, sanc tioning the scheme of ac quisition: (a) the Acquisi tion of State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur Order, 2017; (b) the Acquisition of State Bank of Mysore Or der, 2017; (c) the Acquisi tion of State Bank of Patia la Order, 2017; (d) the Acquisition of State Bank of Travancore Order, 2017; and (e) the Acquisition of State Bank of Hyderabad Order, 2017. As per these, the business of these sub sidiary banks is to be car ried out by the SBI in ac cordance with the SBI Act, 1955, with eff ect from April 1, 2017.
The Graham Murder: A Horrible Story. Enquiries have now established that the lady whose body was found on the B. and N.W. Railway line between Bara Banki and Lucknow was a Dr. Graham of Bina. She had been for a month in service as lady doctor at Hathwa Raj Hospital, but had re signed owing to a diff erence about her salary. She left Hathwa on the 16th April and was accompanied by a Mahomedan ser vant. She is known to have had about Rs. 600 in her posses sion. The deceased lady had her compartment labelled “re served for ladies”, and at Kunderwa station she obtained permission to have her servant in her carriage. She was never again seen alive. The servant apparently murdered his mis tress by strangling her and then threw the body out of the train and himself alighted at some station and took all the lady’s lug gage away with him save two boxes which were in the brake van which duly arrived at Bina. A systematic search is being made for the servant and every hope is entertained that he will sooner or later be arrested. CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC
DATA POINT
A ND-NDE
