Candle March pics published : Jagran City Plus

Candle March Pics Published in Dainik Jagran City Plus:

http://cityplusepaper.jagran.com/79891/East-Delhi/Vol-7-Issue-17-January-5-11-2013#page/5/1

Delhi gang-rape: look westward in disgust

The coverage of Damini's death strikes a particularly ironic note following recent media controversy over a rape in Ohio

There's something uncomfortably neocolonial about the way the Delhi gang-rape and subsequent death of the woman now known as Damini is being handled in the UK and US media. While India's civil and political spheres are alight with protest and demands for changes to the country's culture of sexual violence, commentators here are using the event to simultaneously demonise Indian society, lionise our own, and minimise the enormity of western rape culture.

A particularly blatant example of this is Libby Purves's piece for the Times. She says the Delhi bus rape should "shatter our Bollywood fantasies". For Purves, westerners enjoy a romanticised view of India, all heady spirituality and Marigold Hotels; and especially romantic in their views, for reasons Purves neglects to address, are the British. Thus, upright Europeans have sentimentally ignored the "murderous, hyena-like male contempt" that Purves says is an Indian cultural norm. Neatly excised from her account however is the relationship between poverty, lack of education and repressive attitudes towards women, and, by extension, the role of Europe in creating and sustaining poverty in its former colonies. Attitudes towards women in the east were once used by colonialists to, first, prop up the logic of cultural superiority that justified unequal power relations (the "white man's burden") and second, silence feminists working back in the west by telling them that, comparatively, they had nothing to complain about.

When it finishes calling Indian men hyenas, Purves's article states that westerners "have the luxury of fretting about frillier feminist issues such as magazine images, rude remarks and men not doing housework". Does anyone else see an unattractive historical pattern here?

Her article is not, by any means, the only one to report on this issue as if rape is something that only happens "over there" – something we civilised folk in the west have somehow put behind us. Elsewhere, the message is subtler, but a misplaced sense of cultural superiority shines through. For example, this BBC article states, as if shocking, the statistic that a woman is raped in Delhi every 14 hours. That equates to 625 a year. Yet in England and Wales, which has a population about 3.5 times that of Delhi, we find a figure for recorded rapes of women that is proportionately four times larger: 9,509. 

Similarly, the Wall Street Journal decries the fact that in India just over a quarter of alleged rapists are convicted; in the US only 24% of alleged rapes even result in an arrest, never mind a conviction. This is the strange kind of reportage you tend to get on the issue.

Owen Jones's excellent piece in the Independent is a breath of fresh air, asking people to acknowledge that rape, as well as gang rapes, happen in the west too. Similarly, Laura Bates's recent article on victim blaming should act as sufficient retort to anyone who thinks police chief KP Raghuvanshi's advice that women should carry chilli powder to prevent rape is symptomatic of a specifically Indian brand of misogyny.

The coverage of Damini's death strikes a particularly ironic note following recent media controversy over a rape, in Steubenville, Ohio, of a 16-year-old girl – allegedly by members of the high-school football team. The case is that the young woman was dragged, drunk and unresponsive, from party to party, where she was sexually abused. The brutal death of Damini has spurred Indian civil society to its feet, causing protest and unrest, bringing women and men into the streets, vocal in their demands for change. Sonia Gandhi has met the woman's parents. The army and the states of Punjab and Haryana have cancelled new year's celebrations. What happened in the US? In Steubenville, football-crazy townsfolk blamed the victim and it took a blogger – Alexandria Goddard, who is now being sued – and a follow-up article from the New York Times four months after the incident to get nationwide attention for the story.

Purves's article claims that we in the west are "looking eastward in disgust". I believe that disgusted parties would do well to turn their judgmental gazes on their own societies. Let's look east in solidarity and support for India's urgently necessary women's rights movement; let's keep talking about the social discrimination Indian women face, which affluent westerners do not. However, it is both prejudiced and completely fantastical to talk as though sexual violence is some kind of Indian preserve. We might have comparatively better women's rights in the UK, but this is due, in large part, to the social services that our wealth allows. Colonial history helped to create and global capital continues to sustain low standards of living in India. We would do well to be cognisant of our historically inscribed privilege before complaining that this horrific event has destroyed our pretty colonial fantasies.

With thanks : The Guardian : LINK

Is there none to care ?????

सर्दी बढ़ने के साथ बिजली की मांग भी बढ़ी

नई दिल्ली (एसएनबी)। राजधानी में जैसे-जैसे सर्दी बढ़ रही है बिजली की मांग भी बढ़ रही है। पिछले 24 घंटे में 62 मेगावाट की बढ़ोतरी हुई है। मंगलवार को राजधानी में बिजली की मांग 3705 मेगावाट पहुंच गई। इस मांग को पूरा करने के लिए राजधानी की बिजली वितरण कंपनियों ने उत्तरी ग्रिड से 1841 और राजधानी के ऊर्जा संयंत्रों से 1380 मेगावाट बिजली का आहरण किया, इसके बाद भी 584 मेगावाट बिजली की किल्लत बनी रही। बिजली की किल्लत के चलते राजधानी के पूर्वी दिल्ली, मध्य दिल्ली के अलावा उत्तर पूर्व और पश्चिम दिल्ली के कई इलाकों में अघोषित बिजली कटौती की गई। अघोषित कटौती सोमवार व मंगलवार की रात से शुरू हुई। जिन इलाकों में अघोषित कटौती सुबह से की गई वहां जलापूर्ति भी प्रभावित हुई। मौजपुर निवासी आरके शर्मा ने बताया कि एक सप्ताह से बिजली वितरण कंपनियां मनमाने तरीके से बिजली कटौती कर रही हैं। प्रभावित इलाकों के लोग यदि नियंतण्रकक्ष फोन कर कटौती के कारणों व बिजली आपूर्ति शुरू होने का समय जानना चाहें तो उन्हें कोई जानकारी नहीं दी जाती है।   पूर्वी दिल्ली आरडब्ल्यूए ज्वांइट फोरम के अध्यक्ष बीएस बोहरा ने कहा कि सर्दी शुरू होने के साथ ही पूर्वी दिल्ली समेत अन्य इलाकों में बिजली वितरण कंनियों ने मनमाने तरीके से कटौती शुरू कर दी है। बिजली वितरण कंपनियों के ग्रीवास फोरम से लेकर डीईआरसी अध्यक्ष तक से शिकायत करने के बाद भी निजात नहीं मिल रही है। with thanks : Rashtriy Sahara

Indian Media : please react !

These are the Excerpts from a Foreign news paper: 

 

There's something uncomfortably neocolonial about the way the Delhi gang-rape and subsequent death of the woman now known as Damini is being handled in the UK and US media. While India's civil and political spheres are alight with protest and demands for changes to the country's culture of sexual violence, commentators here are using the event to simultaneously demonise Indian society, lionise our own, and minimise the enormity of western rape culture.

 

with thanks

B S Vohra 

East Delhi RWAs Joint Front 

Another Gang Rape in Delhi ?

Another gangrape: Delhi girl sedated, raped, two held. The two accused, working in leading IT companies, were arrested after the girl approached the police. They live in Sarojini Nagar with their families. Both are in their late 20s. While one is a computer engineer with an IT company, the other works in the HR department of a consulting multinational. SHAME.



News With thanks : India TV, Delhi Aajtak

Happy New Year

We agreed to this spirit and pray the god with the hope that in coming years the men leave its brutality and sick  mentality and respect all the women.

RWA GTB ENCLAVE

Suggestions on Amendments to Criminal Laws relating to Safety and Security of Women.

Dated:  01/01/2013

 

To

Justice Verma Committee,

New Delhi.

Sub: Suggestions on Amendments to Criminal Laws relating to Safety and Security of Women.

Dear Members of the Committee,

Wishing you a NIRBHAYA year ahead .....

QUESTION: “WHEN PAY AND PLAY IS THE ONLY LAW PREVAILING” …….. What will change, by having another LAW with even Stricter Punishments?

1. THE LAW: We believe that until the Law has a Built in Clause of Fixing Accountability of the Civic Authority and the Law Enforcer for dereliction of Duty and booking them for ABETMENT to the crime, with punishments ranging from Fines, Suspensions and Terminations etc. and Compensation to the Victim/Family, the ends of Justice will not be met.

SUGGESTION: Every Court Order / Judgment should not only punish the Guilty but also punish the Civic/Enforcement Agency/Official for Abetment, in proportion to their negligence. No one in the country sues the Civic/Enforcement Agencies, leaving the Victim with only a Moral Sense of closure with no Monetary Compensation for the Ordeal/Suffering. The Compensation should be recovered from the Guilty Parties in proportion to their complicity.

EXAMPLE: In the current case the Guilty offenders ie the Rapists will get the Punishment that they deserve, while the Civic/Enforcement Agencies …… Transport Department / Delhi Police including Traffic Police, the Bus Operator/Owner, Auto Drivers who refused etc. should be by Law booked for Abetment, like in the case of Suicides.

Blatant Pay and Play was in operation right from the moment the two Victims left the Movie Theater ….

-           Auto Rickshaws do not form any Vote Bank as they are too few in numbers ...... yet the politicians keep quiet to their fleecing and misbehaviour ...... the police does not take any action ........ is it beyond them or is it that they do not wish to take any meaningful steps as it will block illegal payments (Hafta) running into crores. The rot does not stop at the home guard stage or SHO ...... the illegal collections must be going all the way to the TOP ...... why else no action despite public outcry ........ if the Autos had not refused to go on that fateful night, this incident would not have happened.

-          Every illegally moving vehicle allowed sends a message of invincibility/protection to hoodlums and to the entire police force, DO NOT CHECK at any barricade as the free passage Hafta has already been made. How else do these White Line buses and Call Centre Cabs pick up passengers. Many incidents of theft and molestation go unreported (actually un booked) as the, unwritten rule is "Do not bite the Hand that Feeds". Even in this case it is suspected these RAPISTS had robbed a passenger but the police did not file an FIR.

-          We all see in our areas the Yellow Patrol Bikes chasing trucks carrying Building Materials ...... but does that stop the trucks from moving around ...... NO ...... all the Patrol Bikes and Khakhi Clad Cops are only Collection Agents ....... if they had been out to stop these Trucks from moving around Delhi during no entry hours then no trucks would be seen ....... These Truck Drivers have become so fearless and the system is so will oiled that, they even opt for a Monthly fee, with different Stickers issued ....... can you believe it that the Police Commissioner or the Politicians and even the Media is unaware ...... if the problem was unknown the solution can be found ...... but how do you find a solution to a problem that is raking in Crorers of ill gotten wealth, while citizens die on roads every day and night.

-          Every Delhite burns expensive fuel at numerous barricades ....... with home guards checking papers of Motor Cyclists ...... whereas such vehicles are neither stopped nor checked ....... the tempo used in Dhaula Kuan Rape Case and this Bus ....... in both the cases the culprits were sure that they can drive around the city, with no checks ...... Police caught this bus with the help of the HAFTA DIARY (unofficial ofcourse) and police cracked the Dhaula Kuan case from the CLUE OF ROLLED UP CURRENCY NOTES TIED WITH A RUBBER BAND used for bribing by Tempo Drivers ..... these barricades are a false security blanket to show to the world that the Police is with you, for you, blah blah ........ in fact these barricades are collection points for haftas and to extract extra pocket money from Motor Cyclists.

-          The PCR vans are busy ferrying breakfast, lunch, dinner etc for the bosses or for family use ...... as also for collection of protection money from various illegal massage parlours, offices in residential areas, shops in non conforming zones, street hawkers and illegally run Taxis with private Numbers ...... SURPRISE ....... we know it .... but the Powers that be (Judiciary Included) do not have a clue ........ with so much to lose in this Multi Crore Parallel Economy ....... DO WE STAND A CHANCE, unless the Law itself fixes Accountability.

2. THE LAW: We believe that Juvenile Law was amended in 2006, increasing the legal age of Majority to 18 years from 16 years. The law also provides for Anonymity to the culprit and records are destroyed or not made public. This should be done away with. Maximum Punishment should also be increased to 10 years.

SUGGESTION: Studies show that today children are maturing faster and with easy availability of Porn these Children are indulging in acts of sex putting innocent Girls at great Risk. The Legal age of MAJORITY should be fixed at 15 years with a grace of six months either way, keeping the Gravity of Crime in mind. The NGOs dealing with Child Rights may pat themselves for unleashing such Delinquents back on to the streets, with no possible record of REPEAT OFFENDERS, society is at great Risk. As an RWA member we know how smugglers and black marketers use them …… Take a walk to Nehru Place and see them selling Porn CDs …. the police just does not touch them ..... no point. Juvenile Delinquents are a matter of great concern and needs a RETHINK

  

3. THE LAW: We must have a provision of a Victim and Witness Protection Programme enshrined in the Law. All cases should be heard by Gender Sensitive Lady Police and Judges.

SUGGESTION: All Victims and Witness statements should Compulsorily be Recorded IN CAMERA. Victims and Witnesses should be given protection. There should be no need for repeated appearances in Court. Judges and Police handling Rape cases should be made to Qualify a Two Year Masters Degree in Gender Sensitivity and Psychology. In the Corporate World specialised courses are created for corporate needs.  If we can open MBA Institutes to cater to Corporate Requirements, same can be done for society , its a question of supply and demand ........ we have to make a beginning and in a few years we shall have the required Talent Pool.

4. THE LAW: Speedy trials with no scope for Adjournments. Criminals purposely hire busier Lawyers so that Adjournments can be obtained to accommodate a Lawyers timing. The Lawyers should be debarred from taking more work load than they can handle. These BIG NAMES are only ADJOURNMENT SPECIALISTS, leading to travesty of Justice. Too bad if the Lawyer does not turn up, such non professionals should actually be debarred from practice. WILL JUDGES BE AS ACCOMODATING IF THE TENT WALLA DOES NOT TURN UP AT THEIR DAUGHTERS WEDDING citing another DATE ...... YES it is the SAME THING TO A VICTIM ..... time stands still only for Judges and Lawyers.

SUGGESTION: A person seeking Justice appears in Court even from his Death Bed, while the person avoiding Justice gets adjournments on a slight bout of Cold to the Lawyer. This not only delays justice but also GIVES A BAD NAME to the JUDICIARY ……. Too long has the fear of CONTEMPT kept the public in openly airing this Reality. If not checked ……. Judiciary may be next for Jantar Mantar treatment ..... unfortunate.

5. THE LAW: Enough safe guards should be there in place that the Law cannot be misused to settle personal enmity. Hostile witnesses should be tried for perjury.

SUGGESTION: Dowry Law has shown that Females can use the Law to their advantage also. Equal Punishment should be given to those misusing the Law to entrap/blackmail citizens on false or concocted charges. Such false witnesses should also be given the same punishment as is for the crime and heavy fines should be imposed with imprisonment.

6. THE LAW: Finally the PUNISHMENT. Three levels A) Minimum five years imprisonment with Chemical Castration. B) PHYSICAL CASTRATION and Imprisonment. C) PHYSICAL CASTRATION followed by HANGING after a few years.

SUGGESTION: Heinousness of the crime has to be kept in mind, though unacceptable keeping the current charged atmosphere. Physical CASTERATION will be the deterrent that will scare Rapists. Reversible Chemical Castration in some cases may be considered. Maximum Punishment must be PHYSICAL CASTRATION followed by HANGING after a few years will be the only option in Heinous Cases.

In conclusion, I wish to humbly submit, in earlier times people used to TRUST …… then came TRUST but VERIFY ……. today the Citizens do not know WHOM TO TRUST ……. we look to your Committee to RECLAIM TRUST.

These are preliminary submissions, I request you to give me an opportunity to elaborate in person .

Warm Regards,

s/d

Rajiv Kakria

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to all,

 

Since the Mayans did not have their way (21-12-2012) ....... we in India thinking that its going to be the end of the world, so to quicken the end we sank to the LOWEST on Kalyug Parameters ........ corruption, rape, crime etc.

Welcom 2013 ........... the only way is up ....... 

 

Love,

Rajiv Kakria

Happy New Year

Dear Sh. Vohra Ji,

Thank u very much for your New Year's greetings which we reciprocate you and other members of Joint Front with all sincerity, happiness, prosperity and good fortune. May the year 2013 bring more satisfaction level happiness in feeling better living conditions to those who have been fighting all along through different organisations for a long time. thanks and regards.

Ashok Bhatnagar

Delhi Jal Board puts on hold annual water tariff hike

New Delhi : Delhi Jal Board (DJB) has decided not to go ahead with the annual 10 per cent hike in water tariff for 2013. The tariff hike was to come into effect from January 1.

The move follows a directive from Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, who is also chairperson of DJB, to its CEO not to go ahead with the hike as customers across the city were facing problems in billing despite a new revenue management system being introduced.

According to an official statement from DJB, Dikshit has directed the DJB to make its "revenue management system smooth and settle issues related to billing". Dikshit has also stressed upon the need of immediate resolution of pending customer grievances.

"While we wait for the system to stabilize, it has been decided to buffer consumers from the annual hike," CEO Debashree Mukherjee said.

The DJB has waived off penalty on domestic water bills up to December 31. It has also allowed consumerss to make payment of dues in two easy instalments. 

with thanks : waterview  : LINK