India Today [October 15, 2018] | Sexist Gods

70 Pages·2018·7.435 MB·English

by  India Today

O
C

www.indiatoday.in OCTOBER15,2018 `60
9 7 7 0 2 5 4 8 3 9 9 0 9
T
N
E
M
Y
A
P
E
R
P
T
U
O
H
T
WI
T
S
O
P
O
T
D
E
S
N
E
C
LI
S ST
9 X
1
-
7
1
0
2
/
5
0
/
D
A
B
A
D
RI
A
F
0;
2
-
8
1
0
2
/
8
8
-
)
C
(
U
0; G DS
2
-
8
1
0
2
/
8
6
0
6
/
1
1
-
)
D
N
(
L
D
O.
N
D
E
R
E
T
S
GI
E
R
5
7
/
7
8
5
8
2
O.
N
NI
R
WHY RELIGIONS IN INDIA
DISCRIMINATE AGAINST WOMEN
DIGITAL EDITION
SAFAIGIRI AWARDS 2018 THEUNMAKINGOFIL&FS OC
www.indiatoday.in OCTOBER15,2018`60
977025 839909
REGISTEREDNO.DL(ND)-11/6068/2018-20;U(C)-88/2018-20;FARIDABAD/05/2017-19LICENSEDTOPOSTWITHOUTPREPAYMENTSG X DSST
RNINO.28587/75
WHYRELIGIONSININDIA
DISCRIMINATEAGAINSTWOMEN
EXCLUSIVE MULTIMEDIA CONTENT
ONLY FOR IPAD
COVER STORY
A FIGHT FOR HER RITES
BIG STORY
A NEW COURT IN SESSION
UPFRONT
A CONSPIRACY OF SILENCE
SAFAIGIRI SUMMIT 2018
TRASHING WASTE

#SexistGods
SUBSCRIBE NOW
www.indiatoday.in/digitalmagazines
FROM THE
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
www.indiatoday.in
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Aroon Purie
T hishasbeenalandmarkyearfor
GROUP EDITORIAL DIRECTOR: Raj Chengappa
GROUP CREATIVE EDITOR: Nilanjan Das; GROUP PHOTO EDITOR: Bandeep Singh women breaking into traditional
MANAGING EDITORS: Kai Jabir Friese, Rajesh Jha
male bastions. In February, an
CONSULTING EDITOR: Ajit Kumar Jha (Research)
EXECUTIVE EDITORS: Damayanti Datta, S. Sahaya Ranjit, IAF pilot became the first Indian
Sandeep Unnithan, MUMBAI: M.G. Arun
woman to fly a fighter jet solo and just
DEPUTY EDITORS: Prachi Bhuchar, Uday Mahurkar, Manisha Saroop
HYDERABAD: Amarnath K. Menon CHANDIGARH: Asit Jolly three months later, in May, a six-member
SENIOR EDITORS: Shweta Punj, Sasi Nair, Alokparna Das
JAIPUR: Rohit Parihar Indian Navy crew became the first Indian Our April 4, 2005 cover
SENIOR ASSOCIATE EDITORS: Kaushik Deka, Ashish Mukherjee
women to circumnavigate the globe. Their
MUMBAI: Suhani Singh, Kiran Dinkar Tare; PATNA: Amitabh Srivastava
ASSOCIATE EDITORS: Shougat Dasgupta, Chinki Sinha unique achievements go down in the hall that the legitimacy of an adult woman’s
KOLKATA: Romita Sengupta; BHOPAL: Rahul Noronha;
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Jeemon Jacob; BEIJING: Ananth Krishnan of fame for a country that already has more marriage by her choice could not be ques-
ASSISTANT EDITOR: PUNE: Aditi S. Pai
women comm ercial pilots than any other, tioned. In another landmark judgment, it
PHOTO DEPARTMENT: Vikram Sharma (Deputy Photo Editor),
Rajwant Singh Rawat, Yasir Iqbal (Principal Photographers), and where women who are successful poli- upheld the right of daughters to claim an
Chandra Deep Kumar (Senior Photographer); MUMBAI: Mandar Suresh
Deodhar (Chief Photographer), Danesh Adil Jassawala (Photographer); ticians, sport stars and CEOs now don’t equal share in their ancestral property.
KOLKATA: Subir Halder (Principal Photographer);
CHENNAI: N.G. Jaison (Senior Photographer) attract a second look. But there is one glass Our cover story, ‘Sexist Gods’, looks at
PHOTO RESEARCHERS: Prabhakar Tiwari (Chief Photo Researcher), ceiling that keeps women out—religion. why men still call the shots in all of India’s
Saloni Vaid (Principal Photo Researcher),
Shubhrojit Brahma (Senior Photo Researcher) The doors of a large number of shrines are religions and why religion discriminates
CHIEF OF GRAPHICS: Tanmoy Chakraborty
still closed to women. This bastion too is against women. Our galaxy of guest
ART DEPARTMENT: Sanjay Piplani (Senior Art Director);
Angshuman De (Art Director); Devajit Bora (Deputy Art Director); now being challenged. writers who have closely looked at this
Vikas Verma (Associate Art Director);
Bhoomesh Dutt Sharma (Senior Designer) On September 28, the Supreme Court peculiar religious patriarchy—authors
Siddhant Jumde (Senior Illustrator)
paved the way for women of all ages to Pavan K. Varma and Devdutt Pattanaik,
PRODUCTION DEPARTMENT: Harish Agarwal (Chief of Production),
Naveen Gupta (Chief Coordinator), enter the Ayyappa temple in Sabarimala, the historian Uma Chakravarti, literary
Vijay Kumar Sharma (Senior Coordinator)
Kerala. Four of the five judges on the historian Rakhshanda Jalil, lawyer Flavia
PUBLISHING DIRECTOR: Manoj Sharma
ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER: Anil Fernandes (Impact) constitution bench said the temple ban Agnes and women’s rights activist Syeda
IMPACT TEAM violated the fundamental rights of Hindu Hameed—explain why it is now untenable.
Senior General Manager: Jitender Lad (West)
General Manager: Mayur Rastogi (North), women. These entry barriers are really a We also have profiles of women who
Upendra Singh (Bangalore),
Kaushiky Gangulie (East) metaphor for what is essentially a settled have swum against the religious tide.
GROUP CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER: Vivek Malhotra patriarchal and male-dominated religious Mahant Devyagiri of Lucknow’s Mahaka-
Assistant General Manager: Garima Prashar (Marketing)
SALES AND OPERATIONS: D.V.S. Rama Rao, Chief General Manager order, which has continued unchallenged meshwar temple, the only woman head
Deepak Bhatt, General Manager (National Sales)
Vipin Bagga, Deputy General Manager (Operations) for centuries. Patriarchy, or the power priest of a major Hindu temple. Noorje-
Rajeev Gandhi, Regional Sales Manager (North)
of men over women, continues into the han Safia Niaz of the Bharatiya Muslim
religious spaces when it denies agency or Mahila Andolan, who got the court to
autonomy to women. allow women to visit the inner sanctum of
In Hinduism, male gods are incom- Mumbai’s Haji Ali dargah, and Gulrukh
plete without their female consorts. Contractor Gupta, who is fighting for
But women are deemed unclean when equal rights for Zoroastrian women.
Volume XLIII Number 42; For the week
they menstruate and, hence, kept out of I believe if religion is to remain rele v-
October 9-15, 2018, published on every Friday
kitchens and temples like Sabarimala. In ant, it has to keep up with the times. The
● Editorial/Corporate Office Living Media India Ltd., India Today Group Mediaplex,
FC-8, Sector-16A, Film City, Noida - 201301; Phone: [phone] diferent ways, the practices of every major various faiths must reflect the society
● Subs criptions: For assistance contact Customer Care India Today Group, B-45,
Sector-57, Noida (UP)-201301; Phones: Toll-free number: 1800 1800 100 (from global religion reflect an inherent patriar- where they are practised while adhering to
BSNL/MTNL lines); (95120) 2479900 from Delhi and Faridabad; [phone]
from Rest of India (Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.); Fax: [phone]; chy. The clergy are largely a men-only club. their core beliefs. Women’s emancipation
Mumbai: 022-66063411/3412, Kolkata: 033-40525327, Chennai: 044-24303200;
e-mail: [email protected] This is why the Supreme Court verdict on and gender equality has been a movement
● Sales: Direct all trade enquiries to General Manager (Sales), Living Media India
Limited, B-45, Sector 57, Noida-201301 (UP) September 28 is ground-breaking, because for over a century and still continues.
● Regd. Office: K-9 Con naught Circus, New Delhi-110001
● Impact Offices: 1201, 12th Floor, Tower 2 A, One Indiabulls Centre, (Jupiter it highlights the skewed relationship Women form half our population and can-
Mills), S.B. Marg, Lower Parel (West), Mumbai-400013; Phone: [phone];
Fax: [phone] ● E-1, Ground Floor, Videocon Towers, Jhandewalan Extn, between women and religion. The judg- not in today’s age be denied their fundam-
New Delhi ● Guna Complex, 5th Floor, Main Building, No.443, Anna Salai,
Chennai-600018; Phone: [phone] ● 201-204 Richmond T owers, 2nd Floor, ment by the four Supreme Court justices ental freedoms. Most importantly, they
12, Richmond Road, Bangalore-560025; Phones: 22212448, 22213037,
22218343; Fax: [phone]; ● 52, Jawaharlal Nehru Road, 4th Floor, recommends abandoning ‘the dualism that should have the freedom to choose. After
Kolkata-700071; Phones: 22825398; F ax: 22827254; ● 6-3-885/7/B, S omajiguda,
Hyderabad-500082; Phone: [phone], persists in religion by glorifying and ven- all, if women can fly fighter jets, surely they
23410982, 23411498; Fax: [phone] ● 39/1045, Karakkatt Road, Kochi 682016;
Phones: 2377057, 2377058 ; Fax: [phone] ● 2/C, “Suryarath Bldg”, 2nd Floor, erating women as goddesses on one hand can be allowed the same access to places
Behind White House, Panchwati, Office C.G. Road, Ahmedabad-380006; Phone:
26560393, 26560929; Fax: [phone] ● Copyright Living Media India Ltd. All and by imposing rigorous sanctions on the of worship as men, or even become priests.
rights reserved througho ut the world. Reproduction in any m anner is p rohibited.
other in matters of devotion’. The world will be a better place for it.
Printed and published by Manoj Sharma on behalf of Living Media
India Limited. Printed at Thomson Press India Limited, This is one in a series of enormously
18-35 Milestone, Delhi Mathura Road, Faridabad-121007, (Haryana)
and at A-9, Ind ustrial Complex, Maraimalai N agar, District significant Supreme Court judgments
Kancheepuram-603209, (Tamil Nadu). Published at K-9, Connaught
Circus, New Delhi-110001. Editor: Raj Chengappa. upholding women’s rights. Last August,
● IN DIA TODAY does not take the re sponsibility for returning unsolicited
publication material. the court held that triple talaq had no
All disputes are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of legal validity. Earlier this year, it ruled (Aroon Purie)
competent courts and forums in Delhi/New Delhi only
OCTOBER 15, 2018 (cid:3)INDIA TODAY (cid:3)1
UPFRONT I N S I D E LEISURE
BOLLYWOOD: A CONSPIRACY RAGHU CHUNDAWAT’S
OF SILENCE PG 3 NEW BOOK PG 59
BOOKS: FLAVOURS OF Q&A: FREDERICK
NATIONALISM FORSYTH
PG 7 PG 66
JUSTICE GOGOI
40
A NEW COURT IS
IN SESSION
With approaching polls and a
pile-up of high-profile cases, the
year ahead brings big challenges
for the new CJI Ranjan Gogoi
IL&FS
36
DAMAGE
CONTROL
Can the new board constituted by the
government save IL&FS and a cascading
crisis in the NBFC sector?
COVER STORY
18
WOMEN
& GOD
Women warriors take on gender bias in religion and society. The
apex court’s Sabarimala verdict gives their efforts an impetus
SAFAIGIRI AWARDS
The Deepest The Equality of Women A Cleansing
Taboo Is Integral to Hinduism Quest
45
—Flavia Agnes —Pavan K. Varma —Syeda Hameed
CLEAN
SWEEP
Metaphors of The Purdah of A History of
the Goddess the Mind Patriarchy
India Today honours the country’s
—Devdutt Pattanaik —Rakhshanda Jalil —Uma Chakravarti safai sentinels of 2018
Readers are recommended to make appropriate enquiries before sending money, incurring expenses or entering
E-MAIL to:
into commitments in r elation to any advertisement appearing in this publication. The India Today Group does not
vouch for any claims made by the advertisers of products and services. The printer, publisher, editor-in-chief and [email protected] or
the editor of the India Today Group publications shall not be held liable for any consequences in the event of such logon towww.indiatoday.in
claims not being honoured by the advertisers.
FOR SUBSCRIPTION ASSISTANCE, CONTACT: Customer Care, India Today Group, B-45, Sector-57, Noida (Uttar Pradesh)-201301. Phones: 2479900 from Noida, 95120-
2479900 from Delhi and Faridabad, and 0120-2479900 from Rest of India. Toll Free No.: 1800 1800 100. Fax: [phone]. E-mail: [email protected]
2 (cid:3)INDIA TODAY OCTOBER 15, 2018
U P F R O N T
THE OPTIMISM MURDER IN
OF YOUNG INDIA UNIFORM
PG 4 PG 5
AFSPA BOOKS: FLAVOURS
QUESTIONS OF NATIONALISM
PG 6 PG 7
#YOUTOO?
Tanushree
Duttainteracts
withthemedia
onsexual
harassmenton
thesetsofafilm
P
R
O
C
O
T
O
F
BOLLYWOOD
A CONSPIRACY OF SILENCE
By Suhani Singh
W henactressTanushreeDutta stillliftingonlystoriesandplotlines. ofabusecanlookelsewhereforthere
remindedIndiansoftheal- Dutta’sstorygainedsometrac- willbeno#TimesUpmovementnor
legedsexualharassmentshe tiononlyafterJaniceSequeira,thena anawardsshowwherecelebrities
sufferedatthehandsofNanaPatekar reporterwithAajTakandHeadlines dressinblacktoexpresssolidarity
adecadeagoonthesetsofHorn Today,validatedheraccount,which,in withthevictims.Thisisatremorthat
OkPleassss,Bollywoodprofession- turn,wasfurtherbackedbythefilm’s won’tleadtoatsunami.Forindustry
alsdidn’trespondwith#MeToobut assistantdirectorShyniShetty.It’s heavyweightslikeAmitabhBachchan,
#IBelieveHer.Thehashtagisproofthat theirtweetsthatgotPriyankaChopra, silenceisbliss;herefusedtobedrawn
Bollywoodisfarawayfromfollow- FarhanAkhtar,SonamKapoorand intothecontroversyatthetrailer
ingHollywood’sexampleinopening SwaraBhaskertocomeoutandsupport launchofhisupcomingfilm,Thugs
thecanofwormsthatledtoproducer Dutta.Butevenafterthis,anddespite ofHindostan.“Neitherismyname
HarveyWeinstein,actorKevinSpacey, thenodsandwinksandasides,the TanushreenorNanaPatekar,”washis
comedianBillCosby,tonameafew, industryseemedlockedtogetherina tameresponse.BachchanSr,inciden-
losingfavourwiththepublicandthe conspiratorialsilence. tally,istheambassadorofthegovern-
entertainmentindustry—andfacelegal Thoseexpectingmoreactresses ment’s‘BetiBachao,BetiPadhao’
action.EthicalBollywoodiscontent tocomeforwardwiththeirowntales campaignandhadwonawardsfor
UPFRONT
his role in Pink, to promote which he The industry is What will discourage actresses
wrote a long letter to his granddaugh- unwilling to even from sharing their experiences is the
ters warning them of the “difficult reprimand, let aspersions cast on Dutta in the after-
world” women have to grow up in. alone punish, math of her disclosure, predominant
The most telling reaction on men who have being that she seeks publicity after
Dutta’s allegation came, unsurpris- her return from the US, where she is
been accused of
ingly, from another actress—Raveena now settled. That Dutta is defiant and
inappropriate
Tandon, who tweeted: “The fact that demands action infuriates her detrac-
behaviour
many industry wives/ girlfriends are tors even more. Bollywood, it appears,
silent observers or instigators when ac- won’t mend its ways; till July 2018,
tor husbands destroy actresses’ careers only seven production houses had
after the chase and flirtation is over, with Patekar in the same film. There’s agreed to form sexual harassment cells
[and] have them replaced with other no call to boycott Patekar even after as required under the Sexual Harass-
potential targets, makes our films actors like Renuka Shahane admitted ment at Workplace Act.
on women’s empowerment hollow.” that many men and women have faced Last year, a female assistant ac-
Tandon’s diatribe on the hypocrisy of the wrath of his volatile temper. cused director Vikas Bahl of molesta-
Bollywood is spot on, including her Earlier instances prove that the tion. The incident was forgotten and
unsparing criticism of women who, by industry is unwilling to even repri- Bahl got an opportunity to direct
turning their backs to the philander- mand, let alone punish, men who have Hrithik Roshan in a biopic on Super30
ing of the men in their lives, become been accused of inappropriate or violent founder Anand Kumar. Will Dutta
complicit in the offence. Even after behaviour. In 2002, Aishwarya Rai is- get a second chance? Will anyone step
Dutta had spoken up, filmmaker and sued an emotional statement declining forward to revive the career of a woman
choreographer Farah Khan shared a to work with her ex, Salman Khan, for who exposes its dirty secrets? As actress
photograph on Instagram with the “the sake of my well-being, my san- Richa Chadha said, “Silence is a choice.”
cast of Housefull 4—directed by her ity...” Rai went on to add that in her Indeed. It’s a choice our actresses have
brother Sajid—that included a beaming two-year relationship, she had endured exercised for long to survive in the film
Patekar. Author-actor Twinkle Khan- his alcoholism and “verbal, physical, industry. The cracks that have appeared
na shared her support for Dutta, but emotional” abuse. Khan sailed through lately offer the hope that they may find
her husband, Akshay Kumar, co-stars all this, practically unblemished. the courage to speak up some day. ■
INDEX
15 40,506 92.1%
The Optimism
Countries surveyed People surveyed Of young Indians
of Young India in the Goalkeepers for the poll. are “optimistic
Global Youth Poll, split 33,354 were about their futures”,
into 7 higher income adults, defined compared to 95.4%
A global youth poll, funded by the Bill ones such as the US, as over 16 in Kenya, 94.7% in
and Melinda Gates Foundation, found the UK, Saudi Arabia years old in Mexico, 94.1% in
that young people between the ages of 12 and 8 lower and most countries. China, 86% in the
middle income ones About 2,800 US but only 69.4% in
and 24, particularly in poor and middle
such as India, Indians were France and 65.3%
income countries, are optimistic about
China, Kenya interviewed in Sweden
their futures, though they see that much
is wrong with their world and much
needs to improve. In countries classified
76% 77.6% 56%
as poor and middle income, young
people believe they have a greater chance
Of Indians Indians Of Indian youth
of making an impact on governance.
believe “life think their believe their leaders
Their priorities in poorer countries are is better for “future living “care” about them,
different, focusing on access to jobs, for men/boys than conditions will second only to
instance, as opposed to climate change. women/girls” get better”. Saudi Arabia. A
in the country, Compared to mean of 6.9/10
In India, jobs were a big concern. But our
the highest of 78.4% in China, Indian adults and
politicians will be happy that Indians,
any country 72.8% Mexico, 7.2/10 young Indians
more so than people in any other country
surveyed. The 40% Britain are “happy” about
surveyed, “are happier about the impact average of all and just 31.7% the impact of
that government has on their lives.” 15 countries in Germany government on
was 43% their lives
4 INDIA TODAY OCTOBER 15, 2018
Illustration by TANMOY CHAKRABORTY
UPFRONT

POINT
BLANK Police
officers examine
the car of Vivek
Tiwari, who
was shot by a
constable at a
checkpoint in
RI Lucknow
T
O
H
NI
G
A
H
S
E
E
N
A
M
UP POLICE
MURDER IN UNIFORM
OnSeptember28,UttarPradeshpolicechiefO.P.Singh tioninavillageinFirozabad district. The cop reportedly
proclaimedthat“sanskari”policepersonnel—vegetar- wasincensedwhenthe child tripped over his foot while
iansandteetotallersofgoodcharacter—wouldbe dancing.S.R.Darapuri, a retired inspector general, says po-
postedondutyattheKumbhmelainAllahabadnextJanuary. licemeninUPhaveturned trigger-happy after CM Aditya-
TheDGP’spointlessattempttoprojecthisforceasa‘cultured’ nathgavetheforceafree hand to go after criminal gangs.
unitbecameatalkingpointlessthan12hourslater. Hesayskillingsofmany innocents have been passed off as
InLucknow’sGomtiNagarExtensionarea,notfarfrom ‘encounters’.Pointing to Tiwari’s murder, he adds, “...but for
whereSinghhadspoken,policeconstablePrashantChaud- themedia’spersistence, this too would have been dressed as
harishotdeada38-year-oldsalesexecutiveworkingforUS an‘encounter’.”
multinationalAppleInc.Returningpastmidnight(1:30 LikeinFebruary,when a team led by sub-inspector Vijay
a.m.)fromaneventtolaunchthenewiPhoneinthecity, Darshanwaylaidandshot dead the owner of a small gym
VivekTiwariwasonhiswaytodropafemalecolleaguehome inNoida’sParthalavillage. Twenty-five-year-old Jitendra
whenChaudhariandanotherconstableflaggedthemtostop. Yadavwas‘punished’for arguing with the cops, who stopped
Fearingtheworst,Tiwaritriedbackinghiscaraway,whichis himforplayingloudmusic in his car. Initially reported as
whenareportedlyinfuriatedChaudharisteppedupandshot an‘armedencounter’, the case was only handed to the crime
himthroughthewindshieldatpointblankrange.Thesingle branchafterthevillagers protested. A senior state police
bulletshatteredthevictim’sjawbeforelodginginhisneck. officerattributestheconstabulary’s high-handed ways to a
Theensuingfurore,afterlocalmedianetworkshigh- lackoftraining.According to him, 40,000 constables and
lightedthecold-bloodedcrime,forcedtheYogiAdityanath SIsrecruitedin2015-16 were deployed in the districts with-
governmentintodamage-control out any training worth the name. Of-
mode.Bothpolicemenweredis- ficers concede that a large section of
missedfromserviceandarrested the lower ranks are no different from
GIVEN A FREE
pendinginstitutionofmurder the criminals they are out to tackle.
charges.Thechiefministeralso HAND TO GO AFTER Coincidentally, every one of the po-
orderedaspecialinvestigationteam licemen accused of randomly opening
CRIMINAL GANGS,
(SIT)forthecase. fire is from the lot inducted in 2015-16.
Butthisisn’tthefirstinstance THE POLICE ARE NOW Which has now prompted a re-think
of innocentsbecomingvictimsof in the state. DGP Singh has called for
TRIGGER-HAPPY,
UP’slawlesspoliceforce.InApril, special training programmes for the
constableMahendraSinghshota SAYS A FORMER IG unruly constabulary. ■
12-year-oldboyataweddingcelebra- — Ashish Misra
WASEEM ANDRABI/GETTY IMAGES
UPFRONT
AFSPA
ARMY
RETURN
FIRE?
LEGAL SHIELD The army argues that AFSPA must not be diluted
I
ntheclutchofhighlysen- servingarmyMajorforal- propertywithoutawarrant TheAFSPA,theysay,offers
sitivecasestheSupreme legedlykillinga12-year-old andshoottokillinorder protectiononlyinthecase
Courtiscurrentlyhearing boyinManipur.Thecase tomaintainpublicorder. ofactiontakenin“good
isonechallenginganydi- wasregisteredaftertheSC Armypersonnelcannotbe faithintheperformanceof
lutionintheArmedForces admittedaninquiryinto prosecutedforactionscar- duties”.“Itisperfectlyfine
(SpecialPowers)ActorAF- 1,500encountercasesin riedoutunderAFSPA.The toseekprotectionagainst
SPA.LastAugust,thecourt Manipurin2016anddirect- actisinforceinJammuand maliciousorvexatiouspros-
admittedthispetitionby edtheCBItoregistercases Kashmir,Assam,Mizoram ecution,butnotokaytoseek
nearly700servingmilitary insuspiciousincidents. andNagaland.Itwaslifted immunity,”saysalawyer,
personnel. inManipurearlierthisyear. requestinganonymity.
Themilitaryfrownsat Tilldate,noarmyper- “Mostarmedforceshave
servingpersonnelapproach- Till date, no sonnelhavebeenpunished dealtwithrogueorbad-faith
ingcivilcourtsandGeneral army personnel forviolationsunderthe actionsundermilitarylaw
BipinRawatreactedon have been AFSPAandthearmyhas toavoidconflictwiththelaw
predictablelineswhenhe punished for zealouslyfoughtattempts oftheland,”saysLtGeneral
publiclywonderedwhythey todilutetheact.Thearmy H.S.Panag,formernorthern
violations
weredoingit.Thepetition- arguesthattinkeringwith armycommander.“Inthe
under AFSPA
ershavesoughtguidelines theactmakesitssoldiers lastfewyears,thecredibility
toprotectmilitaryperson- vulnerabletolitigation. ofthemilitaryjusticesystem
nelfromcriminalproceed- WithouttheAFSPA,they todealwithviolationshas
ingsforactionstakeninthe argue,thearmedforces becomesuspect,”headds.
lineofduty. Passedasanactof cannotmaintaininternal TheSCbench,consist-
Thepetitionadmitted Parliament60yearsago, securityorbeeffectivein ingofJusticeMadanLokur
bytheSupremeCourtthis onSeptember11,1958,the operationstothwartinsur- andJusticeU.U.Lalit,isto
Augustwaspromptedby AFSPAgivesarmedforces gentgroupsinKashmirand pronounceaverdictonthe
theCBI(CentralBureau personneloperatingindis- theNortheast.Butsome petitionsoon.Thearmywill
ofInvestigation)actionto turbedareasextraordinary armyveteransarguethat watchitveryclosely.■
registeranFIRagainsta powerstosearchandseize themilitaryisover-reacting. —SandeepUnnithan
PULLQUOTE BJP president AMIT SHAH,
talking to a group of social
“Hum jo chaahein woh
media volunteers in Kota,
sandesh janta tak pahuncha
Rajasthan, before the
saktey hain, chaahe khatta ho upcoming elections in which
the opposition is anticipated
ya meetha ho, sachcha ho
to fare well, appeared to
ya jhoota ho.”
endorse, albeit with a wink
(We can deliver to the public the and a smile, the spreading
message of our choice—sweet or sour, of rumours, fake news and
true or false/fake) propaganda
UPFRONT
BOOKS
A POLITICAL BUFFET
WITH SIDE DISHES
By Amita Baviskar
W
henpeoplefromprivi- on her mother’s lap and later real-
legedbackgrounds izing how that small distinction was
writememoirsabout a doorway into the world of caste
food,theytendto discrimination.
be heavy on nostalgiaandlowon Haksar’s perspective in Flavours
self-awareness. Lavishfeasts,loving of Nationalism is shaped by her
families and loyalservantscrowd parents’ Nehruvian values and her
the pages. Werarelyreadaboutthe subsequent career as a human rights
labour behindtheseconfections—the activist and lawyer. Marriage to a
domestic drudgerythatswallows Tangkhul Naga activist who was a
up women’s entirelives.Nordowe fellow-student at Jawaharlal Nehru
find in these proudaccountsofDelhi University (“[only] the Naga activists
Kayastha, BengaliBrahminorRajas- I met did not expect me to cook and
than Rajput cuisineandcultureany wash their dishes”) gives her greater
acknowledgementoftheiniquities access to food traditions starkly
and prejudicesbornofreligion,caste different from those of Hindu India.
and class. In failingtorememberthe She looks fondly yet critically at them
Dalit sweeper deniedentryintothe all. While Haksar’s comm itment to
kitchen, the Muslimvisitorserved THE FLAVOURS OF looking at food from the point of view
water in a separateglass,theocean NATIONALISM: of justice and equality is commend-
of poverty thatsurroundedtheir Recipes for Love, able, she wanders far too often on
Hate and Friendship
prosperous littleislands,thesebooks brief forays into current food-related
By Nandita Haksar
purvey cosy fictions,forgettingas news—the khichdi debate, GI tagging
Speaking Tiger
much as they recollect. for roshogolla, chicken tikka masala
248 pages; `350
As the daughterofadiplomat as Britain’s national dish, the latest
and advisor totheprimeminister, on gut flora and lab-grown meat.
Nandita Haksar’sbackgroundis As the daughter of These snippets of information seem
about as privilegedasitgets—an an advisor to the PM, to be culled from newspaper clippings
affluent KashmiriBrahminfamily, and add little substance to the book.
Haksar’s background
indulgent parents,khansamasand Together with the numerous typos,
is about as privileged
ayahs, internationaltravelfroman they suggest that the book was hur-
as it gets. But even
early age. But evenassheremembers riedly compiled.
as she remembers
families and feasts,Haksarisnotably In a country where people die of
families and feasts,
clear-sighted abouthersubject.She starvation and others are killed for
she is clear-sighted,
gratefully acknowledgestheenlight- what they eat, a human rights activ-
acknowledging the
ened, cosmopolitanvaluesthat ist writing about food is spoiled for
cosmopolitan
governed her growingup.Asagirl, choice. Nandita Haksar could have
values that
she was not forcedtolearntocook. made a better meal from this political
Her parents ateandservedallkinds governed her buffet if she had avoided the side-
of food. Her fatherandsheatebeef growing up dishes and stuck to her main course. ■
abroad (but notinDelhi,“because
the servants wouldn’thavecooked Amita Baviskar is professor
it”). But she alsowritesaboutlearn- of sociology, Institute of
ing the conceptofjhootha(unclean) Economic Growth