august 7, 2010

Kashmir’s Civil Disobedience

K
ashmir is on the boil. Again. the responsibility of parents, should consider what is driving
Just one and a half years after the conclusion of a the young of Kashmir to defy death and his security forces
  peaceful and high turn-out election to the state legisla- day after day.
ture, the people of Kashmir are out in the streets, angry and Unfortunately, from the home minister’s statement in Parlia-
unwilling to listen to the blandishments of the government ment and the prime minister’s deadly silence on the issue, it ap-
or their “leaders”. In the last two months of street protests, pears that the Government of India has no idea either of what is
at least 45 civilians have been killed in firing by security driving the protests or how to deal with them. At one level the
forces, most of them young adults and children. Initially, central government has further weakened Omar Abdullah’s posi-
­government spokespersons tried to pass off the protests and tion by dealing with him as a recalcitrant schoolboy and has
c­ivilian killings as the failure of an inept state adminis- made democratic solutions that much harder by its decision to
tration and a weak chief minister. Union Home Minister send more armed forces to Kashmir. At another level the Govern-
P Chidambaram lectured the state’s ­political leadership to­ ment of India is back to its wheeling-dealing attempts to “douse
“go out to the people”, as if that would have stopped the the flames” by working out some deal with Syed Ali Shah ­Geelani,
­protests. When the protests increased in intensity and spread, who represents the fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami and is well
the Government of India quoted its “intelligence” to suggest known for his pro-Pakistan stance on the Kashmir issue. The
that agents provocateurs from across the border were ­official narrative now claims that these protests are “leaderless”
­instigating them. Doctored phone taps in support of these theo- and there is no one the government can talk to and hence the
ries were released, which were obediently aired by a compliant ­coercive measures.
­media. Then a new ­balloon was floated, which claimed that The people of Kashmir had given themselves and the Govern-
these protests were confined to a few pockets of Srinagar and ment of India one of the best chances for a peaceful resolution
a few other towns, thereby implying that they did not have of the issues which have led to so much violence in the region.
mass ­appeal. It was claimed that by a show of force and an Unfortunately, New Delhi, instead of taking proactive measures
­increase in repressive measures like curfews and army flag to address the demands of the people, allowed matters to
marches, this “round” of protests would be stifled. As time goes drift. Simple measures could have reduced popular resent­
on and each day brings more protests and killings of children ment,  like the revocation or watering down of the Armed ­Forces
and young men, all these explanations and theories have fallen Special Powers Act which deprives citizens of their basic
by the wayside. rights but ­provides immunity to security forces to confine and
There could be some truth in each of the above-mentioned kill ­civilians. In fact, the present round of protests and
explanations for the current wave of protests. There is no killings is directly related to the cold-blooded murder of three
doubt that the present administration of Chief Minister Omar civilians in Machil ­earlier this year by army officers, who
Abdullah is bumbling along with allegations of corruption branded them falsely as terrorists and were looking for awards
and nepotism blighting its mediocre track record. Organisa- and promotions.
tions like the Lashkar-e-Taiba and other terrorists would This was not a one-off event and there is a long list of inci-
surely try to make use of these protests to further their­ dents of innocent people being picked up and killed by security
agendas. And it is true that these protests would have a specific forces who remain immune to any punishment. Chidambaram
class and ­regional spread, as all protests do. None of this, and his shrill army of television news anchors may have forgot-
­however, can take away from the fact that when thousands ten the 2000 fake encounter in Pathribal, where Indian army
of people are coming out every day to protest in the face of a soldiers murdered five civilians. But who in Kashmir can forget
clear danger to their lives, they are expressing a deep and that the Government of India has defended these killers against
widespread anger towards the authorities. The home minister, trial all the way up to the Supreme Court. For the people of
rather than ­delivering homilies on the safety of children and Kashmir, ­India has for far too long come to them only as the
Economic & Political Weekly  EPW   august 7, 2010  vol xlv no 32 7
EDITORIALS

­ arrel of a gun, even after they have voted decisively for demo-
b name, can only think in terms of increasing military personnel
cratic solutions. It is ironic that the people of Kashmir seem to be and cutting deals with the corrupt and the irrelevant. If the Indian
following the advice of that frail man from Gujarat who had state abandons its own democratic Constitution and insists on
once exhorted, “Civil disobedience becomes a sacred duty when treading the path of the colonial state, it is sure to meet a fate
the State becomes lawless and corrupt”, but the government led foretold. The solution does not lie in the streets of Srinagar, it has
by the Congress Party, which swears by Mahatma Gandhi’s to emerge from a change of policy and attitude in New Delhi.

Legislating for Children’s Welfare

A
ll children, no matter what their socio-economic back- of ­educational institutions or the members of care institutions,
ground, are affected by decisions that the adult world prisons and homes set up under ­Juvenile Justice Act”, the
takes and they are largely unable to intervene on their ­imprisonment can be for a year or a fine of Rs 5,000 and the
behalf. Children therefore need a committed state machinery second offence will attract imprisonment for up to three years
with an effective public watchdog to ensure their rights. The con- and a fine extending to Rs 25,000 or both.
stitutional safeguards, the many schemes in the five-year plans, The bill also has chapters on the “use of a child in armed con-
the National Policy for Children 1974 and a plethora of laws ap- flicts”, on “procedures relating to children” (that go into minute
pear to do just that and also provide for an improvement in the detail on safeguards for affected children including the proce-
welfare of India’s children. As in a number of areas of dure to be followed by the media and for creation of child-
government intervention, it is, however, in implementation that friendly courts and judicial procedures) and on the “obligation
the State has failed miserably. to report cases”. In short, the bill leaves hardly anything relating
Yet another legislation is now on the writing table. The draft to children out of its ambit. Reporting cases of child sexual
Prevention of Offences Against the Child Bill, 2009 is an abuse will be obligatory for the media and personnel of photo-
“umbrella” legislation that will cover sexual abuse, trafficking, graphic studios, and those providing accommodation and
child labour, economic exploitation, corporal punishment and ­transportation facilities in such cases. But strangely teachers
other offences against children. It is expected to be introduced in and ­doctors are not mentioned in this clause. Again, the
Parliament in the winter session. ­proposal to raise the age of consent from 16 to 18 has attracted
Ever since a government study in 2007 indicated that a large some critical comment for “criminalising” consensual sex at a
percentage of Indian children (below 18) undergo sexual victimi- time when ­sexual mores are becoming more liberal.
sation, the Ministry of Women and Child Development (WCD) has But there is a more crucial question that needs to be looked at.
been proposing a legislation to prevent such abuse. At a consulta- In the light of the tardy implementation of the existing laws per-
tion in New Delhi early this year on the draft bill, which was held taining to child trafficking and child labour, what is the guarantee
by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights that if passed into law this bill will not go the same way? In early July,
(NCPCR), the overall opinion was that instead of a general legisla- the Supreme Court opined that implementation of the Juvenile
tion, a law focusing on sexual offences against children was Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act (JJA) 2000 had
needed since existing laws cover the other offences. The draft bill been pathetic. Only three states and one union territory had
has comprehensive chapters and sections covering “sexual ­implemented the Act in full. All children in need of protection or
­offences against a child”, “offences relating to trafficking and in conflict with the law come under the JJA’s cover and the legis-
commercial sexual exploitation”, “offences relating to economic lation too contains elaborately described mechanisms. But as
exploitation of a child and child labour” and “offences ­relating child rights activists have been pointing out for some time now,
to pornography”. the law looks good only on paper.
A unique feature of the bill, however, is the section on corpo- It is a matter of shame that despite the profusion of laws and
ral punishment, which the NCPCR has been campaigning for. rules, street children continue to be abused by the police and the
The NCPCR recently recommended the removal of the principal ­inmates of remand institutions and children’s homes by the staff
of the La Martiniere school in Kolkata and punitive action therein. The discourse on child rights in India is replete with
against three teachers. The commission’s inquiry held these ­statistics on child malnutrition, and description of the plight of
teachers guilty of caning a 14-year old student and “harassing” disabled children and those in ­migrant labour families.
him, pushing him to taking his life. The school authorities, how- The preamble to the bill says that the Constitution puts the
ever, hold that the recommendations are not legally binding. primary responsibility on “the State to ensure that all needs of
Now, Section 21 of the bill says that for “violence, cruelty, children are met and their human rights are fully protected”. If
inhuman and degrading treatment by any person including only this was possible by enacting laws, India would be a ­paradise
his/her family, school, relatives, neighbours, friends, members for its children.
8 august 7, 2010  vol xlv no 32  EPW   Economic & Political Weekly