Not so safe on Delhi streets
As a thriving metropolis, New Delhi is taking steps towards becoming a world-class city but the safety of its residents remains a concern — especially if you are a woman.
A Thomson Reuters survey ranks India as the fourth most unsafe place for women in the world. And its capital is no safe haven for its female residents.
But what makes New Delhi so unsafe? Experts differ on whether it’s the deep seated psyche of a male-dominated society, its socio-economic diversity or perhaps both.
Molestation, sexual harassment and even rape have become so common that staying safe is often seen as the woman’s responsibility.
Earlier this month, a woman travelling in an auto-rickshaw barely escaped when two men in a passing van tried to grab her. The auto-rickshaw driver was in cahoots with the kidnappers but the woman managed to evade them and jump out, leaving her bag behind. The woman, whose T-shirt was torn during her escape, sought refuge with a policeman who started questioning her, inadvertently letting the would-be rapists escape.
The woman was dressed in a T-shirt and jeans. The incident took place around 8 in the evening. And there were many witnesses, who watched apathetically.
In such cases, officials often blame the woman’s attire. Would the men not have attempted kidnapping the woman if she was wearing a saree, salwar-kameez or a burqa? The latter would probably lessen the chances.
The bitter truth behind BJP’s deafening budget silence
To some, the parliamentary walkout by India’s opposition prior to the vote on the country’s annual budget motion marked the failure of India’s ruling Congress party to engage with its primary adversary, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), over its claims that the Prime Minister had lied to parliament to protect his own reputation.
To others, the sight of BJP leader Sushma Swaraj leading her MPs out of the chamber as Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee prepared to deliver the most important parliamentary bill of the year encapsulated the sorry state of India’s increasingly bitter partisan politics that show no signs of repair since trumpeting corruption became the opposition’s raison d’etre. Swaraj would later tell The Hindu that her walkout was to avoid disrupting the passage of the bill, but the damning point rang out loud and clear: the opposition had decided the corruption drumbeat was more important than the budget.
Mukherjee had earlier pleaded with senior BJP leaders to allow the budget to be debated prior to any discussion on a parliamentary privilege motion submitted against Prime Minister Manmohan Singh by Swaraj, promising a two-and-a-half hour debate on the issue after the budget had passed.
But as the budget was given precedent over the privilege motion, out trooped the opposition in protest, leaving a half-empty chamber to pass the bill that will keep the country financed on April 1.
India’s parliament was paralysed in November by opposition protests demanding an inquiry into allegations a minister had lost the exchequer up to $39 billion in a telecom spectrum scam, which eventually resulted in the entire winter session being abandoned. Since it reopened in February, after extensive negotiations between Congress and the BJP, various protests from the opposition over other corruption charges have resulted in adjournments and cancellation of parliamentary business.
With a slew of economic reforms seen crucial to India’s continued growth momentum gathering dust as MPs exchange insults and chants across the floor of both houses of parliament, the partisan politics that have turned India’s much-vaunted parliamentary democracy into a slanging match between government and opposition risk ruining far more than just the reputation of the primary belligerents.
India is witnessing the most corrupt and arrogant government meeting the most week and divided opposition. The prime minister says on the floor of parliament that he is not aware of most of corruption charges and opposition has not been able to put enough pressure on president to get the governmnent adjourned or at least sack the current PM. Soniya has broken all records in corruption that were set by her mother in law back then. God save us!!
Should forces responsible for over 100 killings be praised for restraint?
India’s Prime Minister praised the work of security forces in disputed Kashmir on Tuesday, in a show of support for troops that killed over 100 separatist protesters last year that risks angering those that resent India’s large military presence in the state.
The remarks represent a seal of approval for security forces that are cited by many Kashmiris as an element of the violence, rather than the preventers of it, and come as a team of interlocutors enters its fifth month of talks in the troubled region, and almost two months after Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram said that a political solution to the troubles was likely to emerge “in the next few months.”
But can Manmohan Singh’s praise for the “tremendous restraint” of Indian forces in Kashmir be applauded considering they have been responsible for the death of over 100 separatist protesters in months of violent clashes since last summer?
“It is really unfortunate and sad that despite tremendous restraint shown by the security forces, many young people died,” Singh told a conference of state chief ministers in New Delhi on Tuesday. “As we meet today, the situation in the valley has improved.”
Such rhetoric — regularly trotted out by New Delhi and military leaders — is reviled by many in Kashmir by those who resent the perceived heavy-handed treatment by India’s security forces.
Last month, India appeared to be moving towards a reduction in ground forces in the state, while discussions roll on regarding the removal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act — much-maligned by Kashmiri citizens.
@Oppressed 1947
***I am curious why kidnapping and killing two teenage sisters by militants did not raise as much hue and cry as the rape and killing in Shopian case where people in the valley were protesting.
Why not protest like that now?
U.S. questions India’s military response abilities
WikiLeaks’ secret U.S. cable dump exposed the first controversial remarks about India on Wednesday, when a cable published by the Guardian described American belittling of India’s ‘Cold Start’ military retaliation plan against Pakistan. The Cold Start is a much vaunted doctrine to rebuff any Pakistani aggression by a massive military attack across the border within 72 hours of any attack from its neighbour.
After India and the U.S. were spared any serious embarrassment in the first two days of WikiLeak’s staggered release of secret U.S. cables, save an outspoken remark from Hillary Clinton about India’s inflated global ambitions, the secret cable from U.S. Ambassador Tim Roemer states that it is unlikely that India would ever enact the planned retribution strategy, and the chances of success would be questionable if so, in a cutting critique of New Delhi’s military might.
The February 16, 2010 cable from the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi, classified by Roemer and released by WikiLeaks, describes India’s ‘Cold Start Doctrine’ as “a mixture of myth and reality.”
“The GOI (Government of India) refrained from implementing Cold Start even after an attack as audacious and bloody as the Mumbai attack, which calls into serious question the GOI’s willingness to actually adopt the Cold Start option,” Roemer states.
But in perhaps the most damning of remarks regarding its effectiveness, even purely as a deterrent, Roemer states that Pakistan appears to be unfazed by Cold Start’s potential application:
“The Pakistanis have known about Cold Start since 2004, but this knowledge does not seem to have prompted them to prevent terror attacks against India to extent such attacks could be controlled. This fact calls into question Cold Start’s ability to deter Pakistani mischief inside India. Even more so, it calls into question the degree of sincerity of fear over Cold Start as expressed by Pakistani military leaders to USG (United States Government) officials.”
New Delhi has said it was already warned by the U.S. about possible leaks, and has restated its close relationship with Washington.
Where did it go wrong between the Delhi Games and the media?
Delhi closed the 19th Commonwealth Games in spectacular style on Thursday — a Bollywood finale during which not only the crowd but athletes on the field, TV crews and young helpers swung and shook to the best-of-Bollywood medley.
Best of all, some journalists who perhaps had spent weeks cataloguing corruption allegations, filthy athletes’ flats and half-empty stadiums that hobbled the Games, clapped along and jigged their shoulders in between typing their story for the night on laptops. Others, though not all, smiled and clapped and the mood felt good.
The media’s relationship with the Games and its organisers, especially its pantomime villain and chief local organiser Suresh Kalmadi, has see-sawed. Violent swings in how the Games were portrayed tested Indian authorities’ patience.
“Whatever small amount of credibility you the media had left before the Games has gone,” a top Indian bureaucrat said to me, as we were preparing for me to interview him.
“First you decide India is a shithole, and then suddenly it’s not a shithole.” Did he mean foreign media or Indian media? Both, he said.
Every day has seen Indian commentators soul-searching in articles, editorials and TV panel discussions. They questioned what the event said about India, what image was projected to the world and whether the Games were even worth hosting in the first place. Then pride swelled after a widely praised opening ceremony and as India’s medal count soared.
Aside from the Games’ many problems, from snakes in the Games Village to a collapsed footbridge, the organisers did not help themselves when it came to hosting the media.
I think there are two different issues here.
The media expose of corruption and gross inefficiency.
The conduct of the games themselves.
Naturally the bureaucrat would like to combine the two – what he is implying is that by exposing corruption and corrupt officials, the media portrayed the games would be a flop. Not tue at6 all. That is also the same ploy Sheila Dixit used – don’t slam the organisers it is unpatriotic, the Games belong to the Nation – plain Gobbledogook.
The media never tried to make out the games would be a flop. They demanded accountability and exposed kalmadi, Dixit, Reddy, Gill and their minions who had been entrusted with managing the preparations. Does the bureaucrat imply that there was no mismanagement or corruption? No he doesn’t, he is however trying to deflect the blame for the corruption behind the success of the Games. This time though the man in the street is saying “Sorry, we don’t buy this BS anymore.”
Privatise the Commonwealth Games?
There are two reports today that say everything about the fiasco of the Commonwealth Games. On the one hand, while Delhi government cleaners are apparently refusing to clean the toilets at the Games village because they were so “nauseating”, the Games organisers are calling in the help of some luxury private hotels, including the Taj and Oberoi, to help with hygiene.
There you have it. After nearly four years in India, most of the positive headlines I have read have come from the can-do attitude of Indian business or the energy of non-government grassroots organisations. The negative has mostly come from rafts of stories of the Indian state – the skimming of billions of dollars, the failure of basic health and education services.
For all the criticism that is being levelled at India, the most unfair somehow is that this country cannot organise events to the standard of the globalised 21st century. False. Just look at how one businessman, Lalit Modi, set up the Indian Premier League (IPL), which revolutionised cricket with its 20-over format and imported cheerleaders. After security concerns in 2008, organisers moved the IPL — in many ways more complex than the Games because it takes place over nearly two months in different cities — to South Africa within weeks, a huge feat of logistics.
While Modi is now being investigated now for irregularities, the fact is that many Indian executives would probably be happy to organise an event like the Commonwealth Games, just as they have been adventurous enough to extend their global reach to buy up firms like Jaguar or stakes in Hollywood. They must be shaking their heads in frustration when the international media focuses on one organising official who says the problem about the Games village is that foreigners do not realise that India and the West have different standards of hygiene.
The problem is more lack of entrepreneurial prowess. The Commonwealth Games need infusing with India’s Bangalore and Hyderabad IT spirit. Next time around, perhaps we should privatise the Games.
(Click here for Commonwealth Games LIVE Blog)
Interesting article. I agree with you on many levels. Hosting major sports events is very important for emerging economies as they can demonstrate an improved image of the country. The article on included link covers the same topic.
http://point-consulting.blogspot.com/
Commonwealth Games 2010 – LIVE Blog
News, views and updates from the Oct 3 – 14 Games in New Delhi. Share your views.
Full coverage of the 2010 Commonwealth Games here
I was there in Feb/Mar 2010 and said “there’s no way this’ll all come together in time”
Adviser’s attack on Congress shows party tensions
Appearing to signal dissent in the ranks of India’s ruling Congress party, the Prime Minister’s media adviser told reporters last night that the “status-quoist” party was only concerned with winning elections.
“The Congress is by nature a status-quoist, pragmatic party,” Harish Khare, media adviser to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, was reported by the Hindustan Times as saying on Tuesday.
“It does not believe in any conviction. (Its) only conviction is to win elections,” the Indian Express added.
The implications of Khare’s remarks are complicated. As the PM’s spokesperson, he’s distanced from the political powerhouse of Sonia Gandhi, the real puller of Congress party strings but privy to the opinions of ruling policymakers.
Indeed, one argument says there’s nothing inherently scandalous in his words. Winning elections is the raison d’etre of political parties and “status-quoist, pragmatic” – perhaps not the exact words party chiefs would use – aligns with the party’s goal of poverty alleviation and social development.
Yet it will surely add to the ripples of discontent that appear to be spreading through the party. A few weeks ago, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul, regarded as a prime-minister-in-waiting, appeared to criticise Singh for his approach to land ownership reforms, and forced him to ensure the party would work toward greater rights for India’s farmers.
Congress, the largest party in India’s parliament and the head of a ruling alliance with some local and state parties, is effectively run by Gandhi. Former finance minister and technocrat Singh was appointed prime minister after she led the party to election success in 2004 and is only involved in government business. The need to appease key coalition partners such as Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Conference has stalled crucial reforms, and crippled the ability of the party to utilise its second consecutive term in power — so far.
Judgement day looms for Kalmadi
The reckoning has come for Suresh Kalmadi, the head of the Commonwealth Games in India.
Leading members of the press around various Commonwealth Games venues on a tour on Thursday, Kalmadi appeared unable to see, or hear, the construction work going on around him as he talked of “100% complete” stadia and accommodation.
Much has been made of the comparison between the upcoming event and a traditional Indian wedding, in which the chaos of preparation transforms into a glorious spectacle at the last minute. The problem is that Kalmadi and his committee are running out of last minutes.
“India is the flavour of the month. The Games will be a success. All the negative publicity will stop when the event is a success,” Kalmadi told reporters when pressed about the deluge of negative media coverage that has dogged the event’s preparation.
Assuming success, Kalmadi is right. But with the opening ceremony only 17 days away, and with the hammering and drilling clear for all – except him to see – he should be getting nervous.
I was told that some TV news channel India had it bang on a few days ago when the reporter and cameraman caught up with a contractor in charge of a swimming stadium in Delhi. His men were fixing tiles on the floor and walls were still bare. And it was pretty obvious to anyone who cared that this was not the job that could be finished in 17 days or this was not the guy who could deliver the job anyway.
When asked how was he going to finish the job he had the same Indian wedding answer. “Besides”, he said, “We could have done the job in time had it not been for the rains last few days”. The reporter answered “What you are trying to say here sounds like the school boy who did not read a thing through the whole year and said he failed because there was no electricity the night before the examination date.”
With the Games to come, 2010 looking rosy for India tourism
Tourism is big business in India and according to new figures released on Wednesday, business is booming.
Despite continued warnings of the threat of militant attacks in the country and sluggish growth in international traveller numbers following the global downturn, India’s tourism numbers bucked a downfall last year to post close to double-digit growth last month, resulting in an almost $1 billion windfall for the industry.
Foreign visitors jumped 9 percent during August compared to last year, with 382,000 entries during the month. A cumulative total since January of 3,467,000 is up 9.7 percent on 2009, according to India’s Ministry for External Affairs.
(Full coverage of the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games)
For India’s hotels, restaurants, tourist sites and shops, higher visitor numbers means higher revenues — in August, revenues touched $992 million, an increase of $70 million from the same period last year.
Perhaps most encouraging for industry players, and the government’s Incredible India tourism campaign, the rise in visitors comes during a year that has seen bomb attacks and civil unrest.
Does anyone have statistics for the number of tourists who visit Delhi more than once? Surely that is a sign of whether or not tourism in the area is going to continue growing.
Learning techniques for defending yourself and others against attackers and eve-teasers can be one solution to this problem. Free self-defence demonstration classes are available such as this one in North Delhi: http://www.skillkindle.com/guestuser_cla ssdetails_preevent.aspx?classID=34