FLASHBACK

2011-2012

Annual Report by Deepali Aparajita (President, Gandhi Study Circle 2011-12)

From a state of mere passiveness to plunging into a string of activities, the Gandhi Study Circle had an eventful year. With the academic year beginning in the third week of July and every other college society getting busy with their activities by the fourth week (even before that!) itself, we seemed quite dysfunctional.  The lack of money, events, advisory problems and non-cooperative members made everything appear tough for the GSC. However, hard work and patience paid off and by the end of the academic year the Gandhi Study Circle, St. Stephen’s College had a couple of substantial events to boast of.

We ended our phase of dormancy by organizing a workshop on “love”, courtesy Pooja. The workshop was conducted by Mrs. Suman Khanna Aggarwal, the founder of a Gandhian NGO.  Both entertaining and educational, the workshop taught us the message underlying all the teachings of our beloved Bapu. With this, GSC witnessed the addition of twenty new members. Come the first week of September, the feminists had their bit of Gandhi-ism with Tanya getting Mrs. Prema Cariappa to give a lecture on “Development of Women in India”. From discussions on marginalization of women to the politicization of the familial domain, gender battles and so on- we discussed it all. As November approached, we had to get started with serious events, things that really mattered. It is then that we found Ashita, a student of Physics in college who works to make a difference in others’ lives. Thanks to Ashita, we screened a documentary titled, “Tales from the Margin”, based on Irom Sharmila and more importantly the women of Manipur who decided to fight the injustice caused by the AFSPA in the North-eastern states. The documentary screening was followed by a discussion on the same. The event was marked by participation of students from within as well as outside college.

And then came the end of the first semester in the academic year 2011-12. With everyone getting busy with examinations we were back to being inactive. The exams got over by December and Mahvish got busy with the journal work. The new semester brought with it new hopes, hopes for more and better events which included our annual fest, “Satya-2012”. We wanted to do something different this year for the fest, as Anuroop rightly put, “Last year people came and saw, this year they should come and learn”. Something new and substantial meant that we had to come up with a strong theme. After much thought we zeroed down to the theme, “Tribals and their marginalization over the years”. After deciding on the overarching framework, we had to chart out the events and get sponsors for the same (hats off to Pooja for all the hard work). We entered the fest mood with Asmita Theatre’s award winning play, ‘Ambedkar aur Gandhi’ performed in the college hall a couple of days prior to the Fest. (Juni used her organizational skills and got it done in two days).

 It was now that everyone started working harder than they could. And we found our guide in Ms Eva Loreng, our new staff advisor. After a lot of disappointments we tasted our bit of success with a talk by Ms. Medha Patkar and a panel discussion including eminent personalities like Mrs. Amita Baviskar, Mr. Harsh Mander, Mr.S.N. Sahu and Mr. Abhay Khakha (thanks to Anuroop, Pranav and Anshuman). We also had a Mao dance (a tribal dance form from Nagaland). Satya screened “To the Dream Mountain”, a documentary on the educational initiaves in the tribal dominated district of Wayanad in Kerala. This was followed by a discussion conducted by Arun D. Paul, again a Physicist from college, who has worked for the same cause. The quiz on socio-political issues in the seminar room stimulated the festive air with a brilliance unexpected! (courtesy Pranav and the ever so helpful students of first Economics).  

With the events mentioned above, a good fest and even better compliments from both the senior and the junior members, the year couldn’t have been better.  So much to learn over the months (the other members would agree with me) - hard work pays off, we don’t really need a lot of money to organize a good fest, and that Physicists do a lot more than just physics.

RANGZEN 2010

Towards a more (dis) inclusive world?

By Radhika Agarwal (NALSAR University of Law)

The first part of the paper highlights the fact that despite their objective of helping the world’s poorest and most marginalized people, the Millenium Development Goals overlook the needs of the disabled people as an impoverished group. The second part of the paper studies the initiatives taken by the United Nations to eradicate poverty among the disabled population. Since India ratified the recent United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, it is under an obligation to respect the rights of the disabled persons and to protect them under its national laws. In the third part of the paper, the researcher has given her own analysis of the extent to which the present Persons with Disabilities Act (PWDA) in India respects the rights of the persons as laid down in the United Nations Convention.

PART I- MILLENIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS AND DISABILITY

“The rights of disabled people need to be better incorporated into our poverty reduction work and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals”- Gareth Thomas, Parliamentary under Secretary of State, DFID (DFID Spotlight 29 September 2004)

According to a study conducted by the World Bank, twenty percent of the world’s poor population is afflicted by disability, with ten percent of the world’s population comprising persons with disabilities. The Millenium Development Goals (MDGs) were set to specifically overcome the problem of poverty^[1].  In light of the aforementioned facts, it is ironical that there is no mention of persons with disabilities in the Millenium Development Goals.^[2] Even the vast body of guidelines, policies and programmes that forms an integral part of the MDGs lacks any reference to the persons with disabilities. Hence, the rhetorical question: If the MDGs indeed aim to help the poorest and most marginalized section of the world, can it be done by neglecting this twenty percent of the population? ^[3]

There is evidently a strong correlation that exists between disability and poverty. This argument can be made in two ways, the first being that poverty leads to disability. Malnutrition among pregnant women is seen to be a direct cause of physical deformities leading to disabilities in new-born children. Secondly, poverty can be a consequence of disability.^[4] While elucidating his ‘capabilities’ approach, the well-known economist, Amartya Sen, argued that persons with disabilities suffer from something known as a “conversion handicap”. “.. In the developing world, the disabled are quite often the poorest of the poor in terms of income, but in addition, their need for income is greater than that of able-bodied people, since they require money and assistance to try to live normal lives and to attempt to alleviate their handicaps. The impairment of income-earning ability, which can be called the ‘earning handicap’, tends to be reinforced and much magnified in its effect by ‘the conversion handicap’: the difficulty in converting incomes and resources into good living, precisely because of disability.” Owing to the greater

care that a disabled person requires when compared to a “non-disabled” person, more resources are required to be spent while fulfilling the needs of a person with disability. This may lead to poverty in a family that has to support a disabled member.^[5]

PART II- UNITED NATIONS AND DISABILITY

"Together, let us travel this road toward a more caring and inclusive world." –Ban Ki-Moon (Secretary-General, United Nations)

The United Nations has been proactively involved in advocating rights of persons with disabilities. The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2006) was not only this century’s first comprehensive human rights treaty, but was also the first treaty in the history of United Nations to have 82 signatories on the day it was opened for signature.

The treaty identifies and lists the rights of persons with disabilities which the parties to the treaty must ensure. These rights such as equality before the law without discrimination, right to education, right to work and right to health have to be respected and protected.

The rights of disabled people were also recognised by the United Nations in its earlier declarations of 1970s- The Declaration on the Rights of Mentally Retarded Persons (1971) and The Declaration on the Rights of Disabled Persons (1975). Both the declarations aimed to ensure the inclusion of such persons in society. Among the many rights, both declarations recognized that persons with disabilities have the right to be protected against exploitation, the right to have access to legal aid and the right to live with their families.

The year 1981 was observed as the International Year of Disabled Persons. This led to the adoption of the World Programme of Action concerning Disabled Persons in 1982. The programme seeks to promote a human rights approach through “equalization of opportunities”. Also, the Decade of Disabled Persons (1980-1990) resulted in the 1993 General Assembly Resolution adopting the Standard Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities. The twenty two standard rules summarize the objective of the World Programme of Action.

Apart from the treaties and declarations that focus specifically on the rights of persons with disabilities, other international conventions such as the Convention on the Rights of the Child seek to prevent disability as a ground for discrimination. While conventions such as The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination do not specifically refer to disability as a basis of discrimination, they are understood to implicitly mean so.

The Secretariat for the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (SCRPD) is a part of the United Nations Secretariat that works to promote the basic human rights of persons with disabilities through the implementation of the various human rights treaties, especially the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

The work of the United Nations in the field of disability rights seems promising as its most recent Convention has 153 signatories and has been ratified by 110 parties. The Convention is also legally binding on the parties. The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the Inter Agency Support Group for the Convention work together to ensure compliance with the principles of the

Convention. India is among the 110 State parties to ratify the Convention which thus places it under an international obligation to respect the rights of persons with disabilities. Moreover, the national laws of the land should be reflective of such an obligation.

PART III- DISABILITY LAW IN INDIA

The most important legislation in India that deals with disability is the  Persons With Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995 (PWDA). The Act was enacted on January 1, 1996 after the signing of the Proclamation on the Full Participation and Equality of the People with Disabilities in the Asian and Pacific Region.

The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities aims to ensure the right to education, the right to health and the right to work for persons with disabilities. Section 26^[6] of the Act lays down that the local authorities and appropriate governments shall secure free education for disabled children till they attain the age of eighteen years. Chapter VI of the Act aims to ensure employment for people with disabilities. The provisions of the Act thus seem to protect the rights of the disabled. However, there is very less implementation of the provisions. According to a study by Pamela Koehler on ‘Using Disability Law to Protect Persons living With HIV/Aids: The Indian and American Approach’^[7], there is widespread discrimination against the persons disabled by HIV/AIDs. This can be observed in educational institutions, workplaces and even in hospitals. The disabled are denied their basic rights to education, employment and health-care on account of their disability. The children of people suffering from HIV are often denied admission in schools.

It is safely inferred from such data that much of the disability law exists only on paper.  Moreover, most of the drafting of the current disability law in India has been done without the participation of the disabled people. This is the ‘satya’ that lawmakers need to reconcile. The law hence needs to be amended keeping in view the needs of the people with disabilities. It is imperative to consult the disabled for whom the law is being made. To comply with its international obligations towards people with disabilities as laid down in the UN Disability Convention, India needs to revise its law and to make provisions for better implementation of the same.

“You and I and millions of others know, that when we respect the inherent dignity of persons with disabilities, we enrich our human family,” – Asha Rose-Migiro (Deputy Secretary General, United Nations)

Radhika Agarwal is a second year student pursuing B.A. LL.B. (H) at NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad.

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[1]  “The MDGs are specifically designed to address the needs of the world’s poorest citizens and the world’s most marginalized populations.”

See generally  http://www.un.org/disabilities/default.asp?id=1470 (last visited March 3, 2012)

[2]  “The relevance of disability in the understanding of deprivation in the world is often underestimated, and this can be one of the most important arguments for paying attention to the capability perspective. People with physical or mental disability are not only among the most deprived human beings in the world, they are also, frequently enough, the most neglected.”- Amartya Sen

See generally Amartya Sen, The Idea of Justice (Penguin 2009)

[3] The United Nations concluded with its Expert Group meeting on MDGs that “The Millennium Development Goals cannot be achieved without the full and effective inclusion of persons with disabilities and their participation in all stages of the MDGs processes.”    

“The entire gamut of social policies needs to be monitored in terms of their impact on the most marginalized sections, if inclusive growth is to become a real policy, instead of remaining a mere slogan”- Ashwini Deshpande(Professor of economics at the Delhi School of Economics), Why Do We Need Inclusive Growth ?, UNews MDG Supplement.

[4] I am grateful to Mr. Gabor Gombos (member, UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities) for his valuable insights on people with disabilities.

[5]  See generally ‘Disability, Poverty and the Millenium Development Goals: Relevances, Challenges and Opportunities for DFID’

available at http://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/

[6] Section 26 of the PWDA: The appropriate Governments and the local authorities shall- 

(a) Ensure that every child with a disability has access to free education in an appropriate environment till he attains the age of eighteen years;

(b) Endeavor to promote the integration of students with disabilities in the normal schools;

(c) Promote setting up of special schools in Government and private sector for those in need of special education, in such a manner that children with disabilities living in any part of the country have access to such schools;

(d) Endeavor to equip the special schools for children with disabilities with vocational training facilities.

[7] available at http://www.law.fsu.edu/journals/transnational/vol19_2/koehler.pdf (last visited March 5, 2012)

Jharkhand Ke Adivasi Bhashaon Ki Dasha aur Disha

izksiQslj eatq T;ksRLuk (iwoZ vè;{k] fgUnh foHkkx jk¡ph fo'ofo|ky;] >kj[kaM ,esfjIl iQsyks] ;wúthúlhú
iwoZ lnL;] fcgkj jkT; fo'ofo|ky; vk;ksx)

>kj[kaM ,d vkfnoklh cgqwy jkT; gS vkSj bu vkfnokfl;ksa  ds विषय ;g mfDr lVhd gS&¶budh pky gh u`R; gS vkSj cksy laxhr¸A u`R; vkSj laxhr budh jx&jx esa gS vkSj u`R; rFkk laxhr dk lEcU/ Hkk"kk ls gSA u`R; vkSj laxhr dk Ifjizs{; lkewfgd gS vr% vkfnoklh Hkk"kkvksa ds :Ikxr vkSj èofuxr vk/kj Hkh lkewfgd gS fyf[kr Hkk"kk dk vHkko gS vr% Hkk"kk fuekZ.k vkSj fodkl dk bfrgkl Hkh vfyf[kr gSA IkjEijkxr fodkl dk vuqeku orZeku dh Hkk"kk ls yxkuk Hkh U;k; laxr ughaA fyf[kr :Ik ds Izkfr vkxzg u gksus dk ,d dkj.k& fyfi dh vuqifLFkfr dks ekuk tkuk pkfg,A vkfnoklh leqnk; esa dksbZ Hkh f'k{kk O;oLFkk ugha Fkh fd budk leqfpr fodkl gksrkA vkfnoklh Hkk"kk;s yksd dFkkvksa vkSj yksdxhrksa esa IkjEijkxr :Ik ls Izkokfgr gksrh jghaA vkfnoklh yksd laLd`fr us budks lajf{kr fd;kA ys[kd vkSj ltZad vKkr FksA  ;ksxnku Hkh lkewfgd Fkk vkSj lkewfgd :Ik ls ;s /jksgj laHkkys tk jgs Fks vr% Hkk"kk vkSj cksyh vkSj blds vfyf[kr lkfgR; esa tks [kwfc;k¡ gS os bl lekt dh [kwfc;k¡ gSaA

      >kj[kaM esa Hkk"kkvksa dk IzkR;{k lEcU/ tkfr;ksa ls gS tSls& eaqM+k tkfr dh Hkk"kk gS eqaMkjh] mjk¡o tkfr dh Hkk"kk gS dqMq[k ;k mjk¡o] laFkkyh tkfr dh Hkk"kk laFkkyh] gks leqnk; dh Hkk"kk gks] [kfM+;k tkfr dh Hkk"kk gS [kfM+;kA ;s gh & eqaMk] mjk¡o] lFkkyh]vkSj gks ;gk¡ dh izeq[k Hkk"kk;sa gSA buds vykok >kj[kaM esa xSj vkfnoklh leqnk;ksa dh Hkk"kk;s Hkh gS&iapojxfu;k] [kksjBk] ekyrksA vkfnoklh Hkk"kk Hkk"kh ,d nwljs dh Hkk"kk u le> ldrs gS u gh cksy ldrs gSa ysfdu ;g lqfo/k dh ckr gS fd bl {ks=k esa ,d ,slh Hkk"kh ekStwn gS tks lEidZ Hkk"kk dk dk;Z djrh gS vkSj og gS tks lEidZ Hkk"kk dk dk;Z djrh gS vkSj og gSA ukxiqjh Hkk"kk] ;|fi bldk :i gj {ks=k esa fgUnh ds Ikzpyu ds dkj.k ukxiqjh Hkk"kk esa fgUnh ds 'kCnksa vkSj èofu:Ikksa dk feJ.k gks x;k gSA ;g vPNh ckr gS fd >kj[kaM esa jgus okys lHkh ukxiqjh le>rs gSA

      vaxzst&'kklu ds oDr fcgkj Hkh caxky dk vax FkkA iz'kklu dk dsUnz caxky Fkk vr% iz'kklfud dkj.kksa ls fcgkj esa cgqr lkjs caxkyh vk x,A ;g ckr >kj[kaM ds fy, Hkh lp gSA >kj[akM esa cgqr lkjs caxkyh ifjokj ,sls gS tks cgqr igys ;gk¡ vkdj cl x;s FksA mUgksaus ;gk¡ dh Hkk"kk lh[kh vkSj viuh Hkk"kk dk Hkh fodkl fd;kA vr% >kj[kaM esa caxHkkf"k;ksa dh la[;k Hkh vf/d gSA buds vykok iM+kslh jkT; fcgkj ls ;k vfoHkkftr fcgkj ds dkj.k fcgkj dh dbZ Hkk"kk;sa bl {ks=k esa izpfyr gS&ekx/h] vafxdk] HkkstiqjhA

      ^>kj[kaM vyx izkUr* dh ekax cgqr iqjkuh gS vkSj blds ihNs ;gk¡ ds ewy fuokfl;ksa (vkfnokfl;ksa) ds 'kks"k.k dh nnZukd xkFkk gSA 'kks"k.k ds fo:¼ la?k"kZ vkSj bl la?k"kZ dk ,d gh y{; fd >kj[kaM ds vyx jkT; cu tkus ls 'kks"k.k :dsxk viuh  leL;kvksa dk lek/ku vius <ax ls gksxkA bl {ks=k ds lalk/uksa dk ykHk feysxk vkSj bldh [kks;h gqbZ izfr"Bk okil vk;sxh vkSj ge lHkh lEiUu gksaxs vFkkZr~ csgrj gksus dh vk'kkA

      >kj[kaM esa 'kks"k.k dh nnZukd xkFkk esa vkfnokfl;ksa dh Hkk"kkvksa dks Hkh dkj.k ekuk tkuk pkfg,A bl {ks=k esa ckgj ls vkus okyksa dks ^fndq* dgk x;kA fndq dh ;gh Ikgpku Hkh Fkh tks bl {ks=k dh Hkk"kk u cksyrk gksA ewyokfl;ksa dh Hkk"kk dks tkuuk lEidZ ds fy, vko';d Fkk vU;Fkk xyr IkQgfe;ksa dk tUe gksrk gS vkSj&'kks"k.k dh laHkkouk;sa Hkh IkSnk gksrh gSA ml oDr ,slk gh gqvkA taxy dkV dj d`f"kZ ;ksX; Hkwfe cuk;h x;h mlesa jgus dks og Hkkx iM+s ysfdu mlds dkxtkr rks Fks gh ughaA fyf[kr nLrkost ds u gksus ls dkuwuh gd Hkh bldk Kku ewyokfl;ksa dks Fkk gh ugha rHkh rks fndqvksa us mUgsa cs?kj gh fd;k mudh eqfxZ;k¡ vkSj cdfj;k¡ Hkh Nhu yhA vkSjrksa Ikj vR;kpkj fd;k vkSj Ikq:"kksa dks ca/qqvk etnwj cuk fn;kA dpgjh vkSj dkuwu ds lkeus Hkh os etcwj Fks D;ksfd mudh ckrsa blfy, dksbZ ugha lqurk Fkk fd mudh Hkk"kk le> esa ugha vkrh FkhA 

dHkh Hkh muds i{k esa iQSlys ugha gq, vkSj ewy fuokfl;ksa Ikj dbZ&dbZ bytke yxs ftu dk fojks/ dSls gksrkA mUgsa rks dqN ugha ekyweA bl {ks=k esa tehunkjksa vkSj tkxhjnkjksa us [kwc 'kks"k.k fd;kA tc ogk¡ fons'kh /eZ Ikzpkjd vk;s mudh Ikwjh lgkuqwHkwfr vkfnokfl;ksa ds lkFk FkhA ;a=kd vkSj 'kks"k.k dh lgh rLohj tkuus ds fy, mUgksaus vkfnoklh Hkk"kk lh[kh] muls lEidZ fd;k muds fy, caxky ls odhy eaxk;sA ,sls gh Izk;klksa ds dkj.k vkfnoklh Hkk"kk esa fonsf'k;ksa us dbZ fdrkcsa fy[khA vkfnoklh Hkk"kkvksa dk& [kfM+;k] gks] laFkkyh] eq.Mkjh dk O;kdj.k fy[kk x;k] mudh yksd dFkk;sa jkseu fyfi esa fyfic¼ gqbZA ckbfcy ds IkkB] vkjk/uk dh lkefxz;k¡] /kfeZd xhr vuwfnr gksdj Ikzdkf'kr gq,A Hktu vkSj xhr fyfic¼ gq,A gkIkQeSu dk Izkfl¼ eq.Mkjh dks"k& eq.Mkfjdk fczVkfudk izdkf'kr gqvkA

      ;g è;krO; gS fd vkfnokfl;ksa dh Hkk"kkvksa dh dksbZ fyfi ugha FkhA vr% mudh Hkk"kkvksa dh fyf[kr lkexzh jkseu fyfi esa ;k nsoukxjh fyfi esa feyrh gSA orZeku esa fyfi ds {ks=k esa Izk;kl fd;k x;k gS vkSj ^vksy fpdh* uke ls fyfi dk vuqla/ku djds vc rks mlds Izkpyu dh laHkkoukvksa Ikj fopkj fd;k tkus yxk gSA laFkkyh Hkk"kk esa caxyk fyfi dk Hkh Ikz;skx fd;k tkrk gSA fdlh Hkh Hkk"kk dh vfLerk] LFkkf;Ro vkSj Ikzxfr ds fy, mldh viuh fyfi dk gksuk vko';d gSA fyfi ds u gksus ds dkj.k Hkh vkfnoklh Hkk"kkvksa dk laj{k.k ugha gks ldk vkSj fodkl dh xfr /heh gks x;hA yksd esa Ikzokfgr yksd lkfgR; dh Hkh ,d lhek gksrh gSAtUe ls e`R;q ds laLdkj] fookgkfn laLdkj] ekSle vkSj mRlo ds xhr] d`f"k ds xhr vkfn esa tks yksd lkfgR; ekSf[kd :i ls izokfgr gksrk gS mldk :i cnyrk jgrk gSA bldh ;g fo'ks"krk vo'; Fkh fd dfri; vfHkO;fDr;ks fd fHkUurk ds ckotwn bu vkfnoklh Hkk"kkvksa ds vyx vyx xhrksa esa ?kjkryh; lekurk utj vkrh gSA dF; ;k fo"k; leku gSa Hkk"kk fHkUuA fyf[kr lkfgR; dh deh ds dkj.k rFkk miyC/ fyf[kr lkfgR; esa xq.oÙkk ds dkj.k Hkk"kk ds fodkl esa Hkh ck/k vk;h gSA 'kCnksa dk vikj Hk.Mkj budh lEiUurk dk izek.k gS ysfdu lkfgR; esa budk mi;ksx u gksuk] budh Le`f¼ dsk vo:¼ gksus dk ,d izeq[k dkj.k gSA

      vkfnoklh Hkk"kkvksa dk izkphu :i] vÑf=ke vkSj ewy :i vkt miyC/ ugha gSA muds fodkl dk bfrgkl Hkh miyC/ ugha D;kasfd budk fyf[kr ;k f'k"V lkfgR; gh miyC/ ughaA vktknh ds i'pkr~ bu ij è;ku rks fn;k x;k ysfdu dyk vkSj laLÑfr ds vUrxZr] f'k{kk ds vUrxZr ugahaA vr% buds lh[kus & fl[kkus ds ;kstukc¼ rjhds ugha viuk;s x;sA Ldwyh f'k{kk esa bUgsa u gh ekè;e ds :i esa] u gh fo"k; ds :i esa LFkku feyk vr% ;s ek=k izpyu esa gh vfLrRo dh yM+kbZ yM+rs jgsA foxr pkyhl o"kksZa essa fo|ky;ksa fo'ofo|ky;ksa esa buds vè;;u ds {ks=k esa dne c<+k;s rks x;s rks vè;kiu ds fy, u f'k{kd i;kZIr Fks u gh ikB; iqLrdsaA vr% vkt Hkh budh fLFkfr lqn`<+ ugha rc izxfr vkSj fodkl rks nwj dh ckr gSA fyf[kr lkfgR; gS ysfdu xq.koÙkk dh dlkSVh ij cgqr de gh [kjs mrjsaxsA

      ;qx ds lkFk LkkFk Hkk"kk dk :i cnyrk gS vkSj mls cnyuk Hkh pkfg, D;ksafd Hkk"kk dks mnkj vkSj yphyk (Flexible) gksuk pkfg,A vU; Hkk"kkvksa ds 'kCn xzg.k djds le`¼ Hkh gksuk pkfg, ;fn ,slk u gks rks izpyu esa vO;kogkfjdrk ds dkj.k] Hkk"kk fleV tk;xhA bl n`f"V ls vkfnoklh Hkk"kkvksa dks Hkh cnyko xzg.k djuk iMs+xk ysfdu cnyko viukus ls Hkh buds yqIr gksus dh vk'kadk iSnk gksrh gSA ukxiqjh us ;qx ds vuq:i cgqr lkjs 'kCn viUkk fy;s gSa] vkfnoklh Hkk"kkvksa us Hkh ;qx ds vuqdwy fgUnh ds foKku] fof/] rduhd vkfn ls lEcfU/r 'kCnksa dks xzg.k dj fy;k gS ysfdu vkt Hkh bu Hkk"kkvksa ds lkfgR; esa xq.koÙkk dh vksj fo'ks"k è;ku nsus dh vko';drk gS rHkh Hkk"kk ds :i mldh /ofu;kWa] eqgkojs] dgkorsa] 'kSyh] vyadkj] mldh y;kRedrk vkSj mlds 'kCn HkaMkj ls vU; Hkk"kk&Hkk"kh ifjfpr gks ldsaxsA

Parliamentary Debates Re-defined!

By Somya Barpanda (St. Stephen's College)

It was just another mundane weekday and I was lazily surfing through TV channels. As there was nothing interesting being aired, I had to give in to my mom’s insistence to put on the LIVE parliamentary proceedings on Lok Sabha TV. Now, before you all roll over your eyes and form certain unpleasant impressions about me, I must clarify that I had intended to switch to my next best pass-time alternative i.e. social networking and to leave our house’s news buff at peace with her netas. But the scene that popped up on-screen was so riveting that it made me change my plans.

An exasperated Pranab Mukherjee and a feisty Sushma Swaraj were playing the blame-game as to whose party had the record of disrupting maximum number of Parliament’s working hours and whose party was more tolerant to corrupt party members. The long heated exchange between the two could have tipped off any drama ‘scripted’ for a reality-show. This bickering over black money and scams was indeed ‘for real’ and yet meaty! As the finger-pointing exercise picked pace, the other MPs, some of whom had till now been struggling with their urge to doze off, rose up from their seats and became boisterous. Wooden desks were banged and feet stomped on the green-carpeted floor of the Sansad Bhavan. Amidst all this commotion, our endearing honourable Speaker’s polite request to all, to sit down and maintain silence, felt like a nightingale’s melodious cry bogged down by a band of hard-rockers. Had my strict primary-school teacher been in her place, she would have, in no time, regained the decorum of the place. I bet she would then have re-thought if our class still deserved the tag of ‘a fish market’.  While tempers soared, the eye-candy of the show; pretty Mrs. Gandhi blinked and our pious PM seemed unperturbed. He was right about him not being a lame duck. He looked like an innocent swan swimming peacefully in his Mansarovar, oblivious to the global warming around.

I marvelled at the natural set of distinct characters playing their interesting roles up there on the screen. I thought these Lok Sabha sessions, if supported by some publicity, have good potential to give all sop-operas and reality shows a run for their money. So amused was I by the whole thing’s entertainment quotient that I almost gave my mom the scare of her life, when she saw me watching the next day’s proceedings voluntarily. It had a fiery Mamatadi contesting Congress’ claim of the FDI in retail benefitting farmers.  She donned her “Cholbe Na” (won’t do!) attitude throughout and was not ready to lend an ear to any counter- arguments. The other day, Mr Lalu Prasad Yadav had all Lok Sabha people rolling in uncontrollable laughter as he spoke animatedly about his reservations regarding the draft of the Lok Pal bill.

All this left me in splits of laughter. My mother gave me an admonishing look and said in her typical serious tone, “Debate is at the heart of democracy.” But the only thing that came to my mind was a leading daily; Times of India’s column that appears during elections. It is called the ‘Dance of Democracy”. 

While My Child Gently Weeps

By Devika Agarwal (RMLNLU, Lucknow)

“Where ignorance is bliss, ‘tis folly to be wise.…” Thomas Grey never had it more right: what evokes horror in oneself is better left unheard, unseen and unknown; ignorance begets complacency and complacency begets a blissful existence of oneself. Child sexual abuse that occurs within the family is a well-guarded secret in the Indian society today, a topic seldom broached and quickly hushed.

Sexual abuse that a child faces at home is any sexual abuse of the child by a family member known to the child and includes sexual abuse of a child by his parent, sibling, uncle or aunt. What lends this form of sexual abuse a bitter taste is the fact that the perpetrator is none other than someone whom the child loves, is affectionate about and trusts without a shred of doubt. And it is the rending of this trust that shakes the very mind and soul of the child and shocks any one to whom this tale is recounted. Perhaps the most damaging effect that this form of abuse has on a person who was sexually abused as a child is that it may turn him into a child abuser, perhaps because he feels that he must do unto others what others did to him.

Pinki Virani’s book Bitter Chocolate (published by Penguin Books in 2000) reveals startling statistics: a minimum of twenty percent of boys and girls below the age of 16 are regularly being sexually abused; half of them in their own homes, by adults who have the child’s trust.

The media is scantily clad when it comes to reports of such form of sexual abuse in India, a Google search does not reveal much either. Pinki Virani’s book is an eye-opener in many ways: the author herself admits to being sexually abused as a child by someone known to the family. As a critic notes, Pinki Virani is destitute of self-pity when she narrates how her father knew of the abuse that Virani faced at the hand of the perpetrator but never stopped the man from coming to their house nor confronted him.

What precludes bold reporting of such cases is the fact that the abuse is of such form and character that it strikes at our very beliefs about the role family plays in a person’s life, where a father or a brother is the keeper of a girl’s dignity, and one wonders if home is any longer the sanctum sanctorum for a child.

The existing law in the country is inept to deal with such form of sexual abuse. The relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code which deal with offences against the human body are:

·                     Section 354- punishes assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty. Here woman denotes ‘a female human being of any age’ (A maximum punishment of imprisonment up to 2 years may be imposed)

·                     Section 375- punishes rape committed by a man against a woman. The definition of man is ‘a male human being of any age’. It criminalizes sexual intercourse by a man with a girl below the age of 16 years. The explanation to this section makes penetration an essential ingredient of rape.[1]

·                     Section 377- punishes “carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man or woman”.

The aforementioned provisions are, however, threadbare inasmuch as they do not seek to target the specific menace of child sexual abuse and are very general in their application. 

Also, the Indian Penal Code does not countenance a situation where the rape is committed by a woman or the rape victim is a man. Likewise, section 354 is gender biased in its application, leaving very little scope for prosecution in cases of sexual abuse committed by a woman or that committed against a boy child.

In a country plagued with multiplicity of litigation, the loopholes in the legal framework catalyze an unabashed rate of unsuccessful conviction when it comes to cases of sexual assault. A case in point is that of Smt. Sudhesh Jhaku v. K.C.J., in which a little girl, all of 6 years, used to be taken by her father to the office and from there to a hotel room. the others to accompany were the friends of the girl's father.Enclosed there, they would consume alcohol, watch what are generally known as "blue films" and revel in sex orgies. And, during those naked games of raw flesh, the accused would make his own daughter consume alcohol, remove clothes, and thrust his fingers in her vagina and anus. This led to the mental retardation of the child and the girl would panic in the proximity of any man. The accused was prosecuted under section 354 ("outraging modesty of a woman") and section 377 (unnatural offences) The mother, dissatisfied with the charges levied against the accused, moved the court to charge the accused for the offence of rape (section 375) The Delhi High Court, however, dismissed the petition of the mother that the charge of rape against the father of the child could not be levied on the technicality that the penetration according to its literal interpretation means 'penetration of the male organ into woman's vagina'

Contrast this with the English Law on the point which enacted penal legislation in 2003, Sexual Offences Act 2003. Familial child sexual offences are given recognition in section 25 of the Act. An offence under this Act is made out if a person touches a child family member and the touching includes all forms of penetration. A successful conviction, if carried out, promises to put the perpetrator in prison for a maximum term of 14 years.

Further, Article 34 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) 1989 makes it incumbent upon the State Parties "to protect the child from all forms of sexual exploitation and sexual abuse"

An immediate offshoot of any legislation is the question as to its efficacy in implementation. At the procedural level where a prosecution leads to trial, the child is the key witness. The significance of the psychological angle of cross-examination of such victims cannot be discounted. It is often seen that children who have been sexually harassed are doubly and trebly victimized when they are asked to recount their story of horror and shame, where the defense counsel leaves no stone unturned in manipulating the child by asking leading questions, so that even the Court starts disbelieving the prosecution story. The law therefore must be adequately equipped in order to not remain a mere paper tiger. On the societal front, we need to wake up to the satya which exists in many Indian households before it’s too late to save That Child Who Gently Weeps.

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[1] Section 375 (Explanation): Penetration is sufficient to constitute the sexual intercourse necessary to the offence of rape.

Imagination in Gandhi's Philosophy

By Sonal Singh (St. Stephen's College)

Hannah Arendt writing in the aftermath of the Jewish holocaust argued in the ‘Origins of Totalitarianism’ that true totalitarianism begins with the death of the imagination. In retrospect, her theorization came resoundingly true not just in Hitler’s Germany but also in the colonized regions where the narrative of shame and the imposition of western vocabulary was maintained by the rulers to create a sphere of discourse where any uprising for freedom becomes an impossibility. After all, how can one express discontent when the possible avenues of articulation are distorted or closed? The colonists asserted the incompetence of the colonial subjects to govern themselves pointing to the fact that the natives repeatedly used European terms while talking of emancipation. 

Most movements across the world work on the principle of an ‘ideology’ where individuals group themselves under a certain set of principles. Ideologically led struggles relegate the individual to a background –their creativity is suppressed and imagination is stifled. Ideology projects the idea of a grand direction, meaning and moral path of human ‘development’. Take for instance, the teleology of Marxism, the certainty of Science and the morality of religions. Ideology insists that truth is not something to be created but something which we will be led to within a continuous process. Thus, most ideologies while they may free the people of one evil, inevitably lead them to another.     

Gandhi did not accept this destructive bias which vitiates most public movements. Rather, he transmuted it to respectful contingency of each view which leads us to the narrative of Gandhian philosophy which intertwines and underlies all of his narratives- that of non-violence and truthfulness.

For Arendt, ideologies preclude the possibility of engagement by individuals as they emphasize their internal consistency rather than their subject matter. Most often ideological movements spring from some factual historic occurrence which is elevated to the position of an axiomatic premise for the ideology to hold. However, Reality always occurs fortuitously-“facts have no conclusive reason whatever for being what they are; they could always have been otherwise”.  That is why ideologies notoriously stifle individual expression.

Ideology perverts common sense by denying the contingent nature of reality and instead subsuming all objects in experience to fit the ideological explanation. To bolster their credibility and coherence, ideologies provide retrospective explanations for facts- these explanations themselves do not determine why events occurred; rather they reconcile factuality with human comprehension. Ideology assumes and seeks to prove that its explanations for human events are determinate. Thus, the dialectical movement in ideological argumentation explains past setbacks in terms of future success so that the distinction between past and present is erased, foreclosing the possibility that the present ideological explanation can be contradicted.

Gandhi redeemed ‘dissent’ from being a merely disruptive force and gave it a creative shape while still allowing it to remain flexible, locating the individual in a space both personal and social at the same time. Though Gandhi was for most the face of the Indian Independence Movement, the dissent was in no way ideologically driven. In fact, we have come to use the term ‘Gandhian’ only in retrospect.

Contrary to that, Gandhi assumed that the individual is the creator or formulator of social values and social norms. He himself said: “If the individual ceases to count, what is left of society? Individual freedom alone can make man voluntarily surrender himself completely to the service of society. If it is wrested from him, he becomes an automaton and society is ruined. No society can possibly be built on a denial of individual freedom.”

Actually, Gandhi’s autonomous individual who governs himself resists any source of domination, whether it is a controlled/limited ancient society or the modern liberal world order. Gandhi holds that no text and no economic process can claim to possess a truth that displaces the autonomy of individuals. He said: “Man is the maker of his own destiny in the sense that he has freedom of choice as to the manner in which he uses that freedom. But he is no controller of the results. The moment he thinks he is, he comes to grief.” Thus, Gandhi’s subject is not only the maker of his own destiny, but also a choice-maker. He can hear his own inner voice and takes decisions accordingly. Gandhi enlists his theory of conscience in his arguments on behalf of Satyagraha or civil disobedience. He expects the Satyagrahi to be honest to her/his deepest convictions and ready to suffer on behalf of her/his commitments. 

Gandhi was critical of any fixed definition of truth. According to Gandhi, one of the greatest evils of modern political and other human relations has been our tendency to absolutize what is necessarily relative. Gandhi’s insistence on the relativity of all political, religious and other human perspectives is a justification for toleration and respect for others’ relative perspectives to truth and reality. However, it may seem at this juncture that Gandhi’s insistence on truthfulness tilts towards egotism and is untenable in practice.

However, besides truth, non-violence is another interlinked narrative in Gandhian philosophy. Ahimsa (non-violence) means avoiding injury to anybody on earth in thought, word, or deed. Moreover, this is possible only if we are ready to remove our ego. In order to understand non-violence, as preferred by Gandhi and others, it is imperative to understand how selfless action is compatible with complete self-realization of the individual person. Gandhi says to make oneself a zero is to realize oneself completely. When the egotism/ego vanishes, something else grows—that ingredient of the person that tends to identify itself with God, with humanity, all that lives, the Universal Self. Thus, for Gandhi complete truthfulness goes hand in hand with elimination of egocentricity.

This reduction of egocentricity in no way limits the freedom of the individual. For Gandhi, (political) judgments involve imagining “how I would feel and think if I were in…” the position of another but not as if one were the Other; the distinction being the difference between representing the Other’s possible standpoint in imagination and blindly adopting the Other’s actual perspective or trying to adopt their private mental states.

  To even have a standpoint implies having an intimately private basis to stand from – the facts and experiences informing opinion and action are all our own. Gandhi’s account of ‘judging’ describes how representing another’s possible standpoints informed by their physical characteristics, desires, or experiences could generate within the spectator a new experience of thinking because a different set of particulars are the object of thought. 

To think in terms of the other liberates us from both the absorption of ego-centric individualism, which makes objective judgment impossible as there is no one to hear them and no one to validate them, and totalitarianism which perverts the use of imagination by disallowing the development of a standpoint and the recognition of another’s standpoint. 

Imagination is also the first step for the possibility of impartial and reflective judgment. For Gandhi, the more positions represented in imagination, the more impartial the judgment. Without the spectators to constitute a space for appearances, no action or speech could appear meaningful because it could never survive its ephemeral existence. 

Thus, Gandhi realized that imagination provides the bulwark against blind ideological indoctrination and the state of un-freedom. Truthfulness and non-violence are the necessary conditions for imagination to thrive and vice versa….

Bantewala

By Udit Bhatia (St. Stephen's College)

jkst iqQVikFk ij cSBk] ,d tknwxj

ekSle ij iqjkuh pky pyrk gS]

/wi ls [kwc ca/rh gS bldh

vflLVsaV dh ukSdjh nh gS mldks]

cl cnyksa ls NÙkhl dk vkadMk gSA

jkst iqQVikFk ij cSBk] ,d caVsokyk

dehVh ls tw>rk] iqfyl ls lkSns djrk]

dqN ,slk iQalk gS&

tSls cksry esa ftu

;k fiQj dapkA

NREGA In Naxal-Affected Areas

By Neelashi Shukla and Pankhuri Tandon (St. Stephen's College)

Since its inception in 2005, the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA,  or now MNREGA) has been a topic of great political as well as socio-economic debate. NREGA came in the form of an act, unlike any other welfare and employment generating schemes that the country had seen before. It gave the “right to work”, and initially targeted the 200 most backward regions of the country. However in a country as diverse as ours, it has been confronted with a plurality of challenges. It has had to face administrative and bureaucratic malfunctioning, corruption, political hazards and other forms of leakages similar to other welfare schemes. But since it has targeted the backward-most regions of our country, it has also had to face additional challenges, in the form of socio-economic and institutional barriers. One such major barrier is the issue of Naxalism. Besides posing a threat to national security, the Naxal ideology, in the name of being “anti-government”, also ends up hampering and disrupting various government developmental programs, and instigates the local communities against the state. For NREGA to be successfully implemented, these barriers need to be overcome.

We see Naxalism as what it is today, through the eyes of a so-called “Operation Green Hunt”, a national outcry of rupture of internal security, troubled states of the red corridor, and the intimidating horrors of violence, bloodshed and the chanting of the much dreaded “Laal Salam”. What happened in Dantewada in 2010, brought to everyone’s notice all this and more. In this fight of ideologies, it is the people who suffer at the end of the day. This strife is no longer political, but has very serious economic as well as social ramifications.

However, recently it was revealed in the 2010 Social Development Report (prepared by Council for Social Development) that the Naxals were not blocking any activities that were being implemented under the NREG Scheme. The report states that as a combined result of the NREGA and the Naxalites’ pressure, contractors are paying higher wages to manual workers in the areas hit by left-wing extremism. The Naxalites have been blocking road and bridge construction but not other permissible works under the NREGA, the CSD has claimed. We critically examined this report and analysed the performance of NREGA in the states of Jharkhand, Orissa and Chhattisgarh by taking a sample of nine districts which come under the Red Corridor. Looking at the recent trends of the provisioning of job cards, employment and completion of developmental works for the years 2009, 2010 and 2011, we observed that the picture is becoming steadily positive in Chhattisgarh, gradually positive in Orissa and has been deteriorating in Jharkhand.  Overall, the recent trends of the performance of NREGA in the Naxal affected States in the last three years are more or less consistent with the CSD’s results. That is, the Naxals are not hampering any developmental works under NREGA. However, that does not imply that the picture at the grass roots level is all rosy. There are still problems which restrain the schemes under NREGA from achieving its full potential. The Naxal issue in this case is a smaller problem as compared to other, much bigger problems of bureaucratic inefficiency. The main problems hindering the development are still misappropriation of funds, discrepancies in allocating job cards, pending wage payments and so on.

In the naxal-affected areas, the Government has opted for the strategy of tackling the security issues first and development later. But it needs to realize there should be a simultaneous progress in both fields. The above-mentioned states have recently witnessed a highly significant increase in paddy yields in the naxal-affected regions. We also observed how works like micro-irrigation, land development have achieved dual objectives: employment generation (which is necessary to raise purchasing power and induce demand) and an increase in productive assets crucial for agriculture. This is not opposed by Naxalites because the people supporting Naxals in that area are mainly dalits and adivasis, who are mostly landless or small/marginal peasants. Anything that helps them improve their livelihood is not going to be touched by the Naxals since they are not in a position to provide a better economic option. Thus the government should realize the role of development as a powerful weapon and use it to its fullest to combat the naxals. It has also been observed that there has been an increase in developmental works barring road connectivity (which is still blocked by the Naxals). Thus, the government needs to come up with better strategies to improve road connectivity. This will increase accessibility in these areas and help in identifying the core issues specific to these areas. Moreover, the government can’t blame the failure of implementation to the lack of coordination between state and Central governments because states ruled by opposition parties like Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh are doing better.

NREGA holds promises for millions of rural poor in India. Among these is a section of people who are struggling every single day to live their life in the midst of the grim battle between the government and the naxalites. Implementing NREGA efficiently will not only bring development, which till now is not so familiar to them, to their doorstep, but also help them free themselves from this grim battle and enhance their capabilities.

Truth - Small Things Matter!

By Aleesha Mary Joseph  (St. Stephen's College)

What’s the first thought or image that comes to one’s mind when one thinks about TRUTH? I asked around a few people simply. Mahatma Gandhi – of course a clichéd answer! One said the first image that came into her mind was an ocean, because truth is very deep and bare like the ocean. For another, truth means her parents as they always exist. Another said truth is like gold – always pure, precious and glistening.

This aroused a question in my mind – why is it that our first thought about Truth often tends to be very symbolic about the various virtues of truth? Rather why isn’t it connected to any action? Isn’t truth connected with each moment of our life?

Honesty is an ACTIVE Verb and not a passive noun. It is something which ought to be measured at every second in our conscience on whatever we speak and do. But somehow we don’t think about truth in very small things like borrowing doubts from a friend for attending an unprepared tutorial or while forging a signature for your roommate who is sleeping during the roll call in residence. All such minute lies in our everyday life are often unconsciously justified in our hearts that our conscience never even slightly pricks us for such a silly thing! This actually questions the purity of the conscience of our generation.

As a small child our conscience was pure like a fresh white towel. Even a tiny speck of untruth would be conspicuous amidst the vastness of the white. But, as we grew up, more specks kept on falling on the towel. The accumulation of these small specks made the towel dirty. Now our conscience like the towel has become so dirty that even a big black spot doesn’t look all that odd in the dirty towel which was once pure white in colour! Our ignorance to abide the virtues of honesty in very small things in life has in fact faded away the purity of our conscience, to an extent that its power to discern is gradually diminishing day by day. Hence our honesty needs to be evaluated by zooming in the acts and thoughts of our everyday life. 

Sometimes people say it is impractical to be rigid about honesty in every instance like in our case for example forging one’s parent’s signature for a night out with parents’ permission and hence we cannot call it to be an act of dishonesty at all! But through this argument aren’t we in a way trying to redefine the basic principles of truth and honesty to suit our interests.

Our lives improve only when we take chances and the first and most difficult risk we can take is to be Honest with ourselves.” I guess this is the most challenging task of our generation - to be truthful in each of our words and action in every second of our lives. But we are often very smart enough to hide the truth by cleverly playing with words in the name of diplomacy. Yes that’s the best way to ruin the truth, stretch it and go round about with words.

Actually the truth is that, the truth is always very clear, simple and easy to be expressed. In Gandhiji’s words – “A ‘No’ uttered from the deepest conviction is better than a ‘Yes’ merely uttered to please, or worse, to avoid trouble.” As crisp and short as that! But what we need is - the courage to choose, the bravery to believe in the nature’s ultimate law of eternal endurance of TRUTH, and an inner eye to discover that the ‘Real happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in always complete harmony!’

A bus ride through Jarawa reserve

By Somya Barpanda (St. Stephen's College)

The tropical forests of Andaman and Nicobar Islands are home to a lot of native tribes. Amongst these, the Jarawas are the most popular. Tourist operators, till last year used to take tourists on bus-rides on the Andaman Trunk Road cutting through their jungles and promising visitors sightings of ‘adivasis’. The government has now banned the entry of tourist buses into the reserve area following many complaints from environmental activists.  In 2009, I went on a similar tour to the Jarawa reserve. Here’s what I experienced.

September. 18.2009, Friday: It was 4:00a.m. We were eagerly awaiting the bus at the deserted bus-stop. My little sister yawned for the umpteenth time and my parents paced up and down the footpath to fight back their dizziness. Some other, equally sleepy, tourists kept us company. I was wide awake. The thought of the impending adventure that I was hoping to experience made me a little too excited. This was going to be my first tryst with actual adivasis-the Jarawas. Our tour agent had promised us that we would take home an experience of a lifetime. My restlessness was replaced with great enthusiasm as I saw the yellow headlights of a luxury bus approaching towards us.

It took us 35 minutes to get out of Port Blair. While my co-passengers snored in their seats, I went through the instructions on the pamphlet that had been distributed to us. The same content was displayed on many big-billboards on our way to the reserve. They said:

CAUTION

The bus crossed the check post and then we were moving in the convoy system- a queue of locomotives-trucks, tourist buses, military jeeps and private cars. Tall tropical trees stood on either side of the Andaman Trunk Road. As we drove deeper into the forest, my disappointment grew....I was expecting tribals merry-making, gorging on fruits and drinking coconut beverages-exactly like I had seen on Discovery shows and in Hollywood movies.... But all I had witnessed till then was a single pukka-road in front and impenetrable forest thickets on the sides. As the pungent smell of diesel seeped into my nostrils, I wondered if the tribals I sought hid behind those curtains of green. And before I could realize, our conductor shouted, “Dekho! Dekho!”. In that fleeting glimpse, I saw a little girl, donning simple red and white attire, standing there on the roadside. Her coal-black hands were outstretched towards the windows of the passing vehicles. Her tongue stuck out and she was making strange sounds. My fellow-travellers seemed suddenly amused. The sight had jerked them out of their slumber. But, “What was that!” I thought, “Tribals are merry people. Aren’t they? They hunt and celebrate their day’s catch in groups. They don’t reach out to their seekers. We were supposed to observe them from behind the bushes”-that was my muse of living an adventure flick! And yet again, there was another Jarawa; a male sitting on his haunches; waiting for the party to pass so that he could

 cross the road. But hey! He wore a red cap!! Yes, the same kind of cap that I was wearing to shield myself from the sun’s glare. People clapped. They clapped again when after 15 minutes they saw a group of native women grinning widely. One of them held a baby resting on her hip. The trip ended. I was not satisfied.

When we got down at the cafeteria, just outside the big gates of the reserve, we were met by a commotion. A young couple was surrounded by some security personnel. The lady looked miserably terrified and upset. I learned that they had halted their Indica and had stepped out to take a view of the forest scene, when a Jarawa group smashed their car windows and ran away with their travel bag. The army-men were admonishing them. I heard one of them say, “Ma’am, they roam around with bows and arrows. You could have been attacked.”

“The cap!” It struck me. So, these people have been stealing stuff, begging for food, threatening tourists! Where has their self-sufficiency gone? Don’t they hunt, build fires at night and lead a simple life? “They used to,” my driver said. “The encroachment by the tourists has made them see an easy way out to survive through the day. Now, they entirely count on the daily-routine trips of the tourists for their meals and clothing. They are too lazy to hunt. Incidents of looting and scuffles with the visitors have become common. Woh toh junglee log hain. That’s why we warn people not to provoke them or give them any chance to come near them.”

The population of this unique tribe is dwindling. They are sensitive to the effluents from the vehicles, to various microbial infections that they contract from the tourists through the food they loot or from all that is offered to them. All my initial excitement had dried up. Instead of that, I felt sad about all that these tribes were being subject to. Recalling how my bus-mates had ogled and jeered at the Jarawas, I wondered as to who the real junglee was.