More laws not the answer in India
M D Nalapat
This past week, attendance at cinema houses has suffered because of two
stories that have repeatedly been shown on television. The star of the
first is the 86-year old Congress Party politician,Narain Dutt Tiwari,
who has been Chief Minister of two states,a Union Cabinet Minister,and
till a few days ago,the Governor of Andhra Pradesh. According to the
channels, a charming lady from his home state of Uttaranchal used to
arrange for other - and much younger - women from the same location to
visit the Governor in his official residence.
Although protocol demands that each appointment be cleared by the
Intelligence Bureau, this was not done.Instead,the lovely young ladies
were escorted by an Officer On Special Duty ( very special duty,indeed)
past the security checkpoints at the Raj Bhavan to the waiting arms of
His Excellency. No entry was made in the visitor logs,and the Chief of
Security was informed that the ladies in question were all “close
relatives” of the Governor. Of course, the “close relatives” usually
looked very different from each other,thus raising questions as to the
gene pool they belonged to being 86, Tiwari did not follow the example
of some other Governors, who met their “relatives” in 5-star hotels
rather than in their official residences. Indeed,in Delhi, at least two
5-star hotels are known for the multitude of charming “relatives” that
come for short periods - sometimes at night but usually in the
afternoons) to meet “Uncleji” for what must surely be chats about the
weather. Others rely on close friends to provide the venues needed for
such refreshing encounters, meetings that do so much to preserve family
values and the spirit of togetherness. Sadly for Tiwari, his contact got
annoyed because a promised coal mine allocation did not materialise. She
promptly got one of the “neices” to film Uncleji as he gave learned
discourses in the bedroom to her and to two other “neices”, discourses
where the practical mingled happily with the theoretical.
Some would say that an 86-year old who educated three “neices” at a time
should be given a Sports Award. However, India’s straitlaced Prime
Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, took a somewhat negative view of the Andhra
Pradesh Governor’s visible (on television) love for his extended
family,and forced poor Narain Dutt Uncle (or Grandpa,more appropriately)
to resign. Several other residents of Raj Bhavans across the country who
have similar proclivities must be thanking their lucky stars that in
their case,they kept their word about such trifles as coal licences,and
hence have yet to become television stars.
The other story that has been making waves in India is more tragic than
the loss of office. Ruchika Girhotra was a 16-year old tennis prodigy
when she was summoned into the presence of the President of the Haryana
Lawn Tennis Association,Inspector-General of Police Rathore,and
allegedly groped. She resisted,and was plucky enough to give a written
compaint against the top cop. After that,she was forced to leave school
on a trumped-up charge,while her brother Ashu was repeatedly arrested by
the police on false charges. The harassment grew so severe that Ruchika
killed herself in 1980. A couple of weeks ago,after 19 years,a court
finally sentenced Rathore to a term of six months for his responsibility
in the tragedy. The mild sentence finally woke up the media,which led a
campaign that seems set to ensure that Rathore (who was promoted to
Director-General of Police,possibly for his groping skills) may spend
the next few years of his life in prison. There are far too many
instances of high officials exploiting their power to humiliate and
assualt women,and the Rathore example may serve as a warning to such
individuals.
However, after having slept for 19 years,the Government of India has
woken up after the media furore to put in place yet more rules and
legislation,on top of the draconian laws that already exist in India.
The new laws would make arrest mandatory in every case where a woman
complains of harassment, with no right to anticipatory bail. Last year,a
young friend of this columnist was harassed for months by his wife (who
left him after a love affair), because she filed a case of dowry
harassment against him. Under the law in India,such a complaint means
that the entire close family of the spouse can be arrested.
My friend’s 79-year old mother had a criminal case filed against her,as
happened to his sister and her husband. It took a while before the
falsity of the charges could be established, a period when the family
lived in dread of being taken away to jail. The point is that laws are
only as good as the people who enforce them,and in India the enforcement
machinery is usually very corrupt.Hence the proposed new laws that will
follow the Ruchika case will not end such harassment,as much as it will
increase the ability of the corrupt to blackmail and intimidate,so as to
get bigger bribes. After more than a decade of liberalisation, India
seems to be returning to the Nehru era of tough laws indifferently or
crookedly applied.
For the politicians,the passing of tough laws is an easy way out of the
public displeasure created by reports such as the Ruchika Girhotra
suicide. However,such laws are useless in the absence of a
clean,transparent and effective administrative structure. What is needed
is milder laws but better compliance.And this can happen only when the
public become more alert and more demanding of better standards.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is a reformer,but some others in his
Cabinet are not,and they have been forcing through rule after rule,law
after law,since they came to office six years ago. Such administrative
methods have resulted in a shrinking of the space for the public,which
is once more at the mercy of the officials,the way they were during the
time the Nehru family were in charge. Of course, even today the family
is in charge,as Prime Minister Singh has to report to Congress President
Sonia Gandhi,the current head of the Nehru clan.
Is there hope? There may be,and from the Nehru family itself. Rahul
Gandhi,the 39-year old son of Rajiv and Sonia Gandhi,is showing genuine
reformist instincts. He was born into a new India,and has grown up in a
more self-confident country. His associates know first-hand the dangers
of choking the system through draconian laws,that may some day get
applied against them. Rather than join the herd in pushing through new
legislation and new rules that can only increase the flow of bribes,
Rahul needs to nudge his party’s government into undertaking the
systemic reforms that alone can prevent the abuse of power that took the
life of 16-year old Ruchika Girhotra two decades ago. He needs to
encourage civil society in India. As in Pakistan,an alert and informed
citizenry is a much better defense against tyranny and misfeasance than
a plethora of indifferently implemented laws. |
