A preview of the Leader in Indian Newslink Digital Edition September 1, 2024
Venkat Raman
Auckland, August 26, 2024
In its first guilty verdict in 2016 (14 years after its establishment), the International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hauge declared ‘rape as an act of war.’
The Court was adjudicating in a case involving a warlord and secured a conviction for ‘command responsibility,’ meaning that a commander can be found guilty even if he did not himself take direct part in such crimes as rape, murder and pillage but allowed them to be committed.
Absence of accountability
The Officer of the Prosecutor at The International Criminal Court, in his extensive report released in December 2023 said that Gender-based-crimes (GBC) or crimes involving acts of sexual, reproductive and other gender-based violence have occurred for centuries in the context of armed conflict, attacks on civilian populations, and genocide.
“From World War II and its comfort women, persecution of LGBTQI+ persons, and ‘medical experimentation’ on reproductive organs to more recent accounts of widespread rape, sexualised torture, and forced imposition of contraception of prisoners and enslaved persons, GBC has affected people of all ages, genders, and circumstances,” he said.
“Justice has been elusive,” Karim A A Khan, the Prosecutor, added.
It is a pity that, as ICC has observed, while ground-breaking convictions have emerged from international, hybrid, and national courts and tribunals around the world, a majority of incidents of GBC evade accountability.
“This is due to myriad factors including discrimination, stigma, underreporting, and survivors’ reservations about law enforcement and judicial systems. Accountability can also be inhibited by inconsistent commitment or the ability of justice actors to treat GBC with the same rigour and seriousness as other crimes,” the report said.
Justice for Abhaya
We hope that justice will not only be done but also done speedily in the rape and murder of Abhaya, an unfortunate trainee doctor who was sleeping in the Seminar Hall of R G Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9, 2024.
From our Archives
Rape and murder of Kolkata trainee doctor angers the Indian Nation
According to the National Crime Records Bureau of India, there were about 32,000 rapes in the country in 2022.
“That number hugely understates how common sexual violence is in the country. Most incidents are never reported. Those that are rarely make the news,” the Economist said.
Renowned journalist and our mentor Khushwant Singh once said, ‘Rape is the only insult that a man can inflict on a woman which she cannot return.”
While the increasing incidence of rape has cast a shadow on India’s time-honoured tradition of female worship, the gang rape of a 23-year-old physiotherapy student in a moving bus in Delhi on December 16, the brutality that she suffered and her eventual death in a Singapore Hospital two weeks later angered every human on earth.
Indians, mostly women and younger members of the society, took to the streets in Delhi and other major cities, demanding capital punishment for the six men (who later met their destiny) accused of the heinous crime and enforcement of legislation that would deter men from perpetrating such offences in the future.
Rally in Auckland
There have been similar reactions to Abhaya’s rape and murder.
Thousands of people have been marching the streets of major cities in sympathy, holding vigils or rallies mourning the death of the young woman and asking the West Bengal and the Indian government to take proper action against those involved in this ghastly incident.
In Auckland, community worker Parama Bose organised a rally at Aotea Square on August 24, 2024, which was attended by about 100 people.
“Our protest rally was not against any government or non-government organisation either in New Zealand or in India. Participants at the Aotea Square chanted slogans in sympathy for the young doctor who was raped and murdered in Kolkata and for better work conditions for women. We distributed pamphlets so that Aucklanders could understand the reason for the rally,” Ms Bose said.
A pathetic system
Their anger was understandable.
But how and why did West Bengal (and a few other States in India) degenerate into such a pathetic state of international ridicule and a system that appears to have failed at every stage of its execution?
We know that just a few thousand rowdies and despicable miscreants can create chaos in a land of 1.4 billion people. But these are like a drop of poison that can desecrate a barrel of milk, just as a single cancer cell can destroy the entire body.
Thankfully, people are beginning to say, ‘Enough is enough, let us deal with those offenders and erring politicians and officials with a firm hand.’
Their frustration, urge to do something concrete and anger are all beginning to take effect, rattling offenders and offending politicians and officials.
It is untenable that a country, which has accorded women pride of place and honour (as President, Prime Minister, Parliamentary Speaker, Leader of the Opposition, diplomats, leaders and captains of industry and as successful and leading entrepreneurs), should allow a few unacceptable elements to undermine its image, dignity and global status.
Worldwide protests
The rape and murder of Abhaya has prompted millions of people to take to the streets demanding safety from violence and equality at work and in public life.
“Yet outrage has done little in recent years to improve the lives of Indian women. The number of reported rapes in the country was higher in 2022 than a decade before. That may be due to a greater willingness to report such crimes, but it is hardly a sign that the risk of falling victim to one has been reduced. Public spaces still belong firmly to men, with women expected to keep themselves safe when they venture beyond the confines of home (which is often hardly safe, either),” the Economist said in a report.
One reason is that the government is not enforcing its own laws. The case in Kolkata, for instance, might have been prevented if the doctor had had access to a safe resting space, as is already required by India’s workplace safety rules. And while high-profile cases such as the one in 2012 have been fast-tracked through special tribunals, the legal process for most victims remains painfully slow and unpromising, with only about a quarter of cases that go to trial resulting in a conviction.
The need to protect our women
Mahatma Gandhi always valued the important role played by women in the political, economic and social emancipation of the country. Under his guidance and leadership, women shouldered critical responsibilities in India’s struggle for freedom. They held public meetings, bravely faced the baton of the police and even went to jail.
Mahatma Gandhi was instrumental in transforming their outlook and uprooting taboos and restrictive customs that were in vogue for several decades.
Through their participation in the Indian struggle for freedom, women of India broke down the shackles of oppression that had relegated them to a secondary position.
India has risen again. We hope that the young men and women, who have begun a new age of intolerance towards politics and corruption, sex offenders and moral turpitude will not rest until the right things are done in the right way at the right time.
The Kolkata incident has raised troubling questions about institutional negligence, possible evidence tampering, and the role of law enforcement. With public outrage mounting, the case has taken several dramatic turns and at the end of it, we hope that better outcomes will emerge for the betterment of women, especially in their workplaces.
