Wednesday, October 7, 2020

CC News Letter 07 Oct - Attack on Journalists in India

 


Dear Friend,

Today we are reporting three incidents of attack on journalists in India. It clearly shows the dark hole into which India has fallen.

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In Solidarity

Binu Mathew
Editor
Countercurrents.org



Hathras Reporting: Journalist Siddique Kappan And Others Charged With UAPA And Sedition
by Countercurrents Collective


Journalist Siddique Kappan who is working with the popular Malayalam website Azhimukham.com and three others who were
arrested by the UP police on Monday in Mathura while on their way to Hathras have been booked under provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and sedition. On Tuesday, they were remanded to 14 days’ judicial custody by a local court in Mathura. The three others arrested are Atiq-ur Rehman, Masood Ahmed and Alam.

Journalist Siddique Kappan who is working with the popular Malayalam website Azhimukham.com and three others who were arrested by the UP police on Monday in Mathura while on their way to Hathras have been booked under provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and sedition. On Tuesday, they were remanded to 14 days’ judicial custody by a local court in Mathura. The three others arrested are Atiq-ur Rehman, Masood Ahmed and Alam.

An FIR has been lodged against them in the Mant police station, charging them under sections 124A (sedition), 153A (for promoting enmity between groups) and 295A (outraging religious feelings) of the IPC, sections 14 and 17 of UAPA, sections 65, 72 and 76 of the Information Technology Act.

They were arrested near Mathura on Monday, with Siddique Kappan heading to Hathras to cover the present situation in the area in light of the death of the 20-year-old woman who was allegedly gang-raped by four Thakur men.

The UP police claimed that the four men were stopped at a toll after they received information that some “suspicious people were on their way to Hathras from Delhi”. According to a statement by the police, a laptop, their mobile phones and some literature, which ‘could have an impact on peace, and law and order in the state’, have been seized from them.

The Kerala Union of Working Journalists (KUWJ) in its letter to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chief minister of UP Yogi Adityanath has said that Kappan is a senior journalist working for several Malayalam media houses, including Azhimukham.com, and had gone to Hathras on Monday morning to cover the present situation in the area.

“We understand that he was taken into police custody by Uttar Pradesh police from Hathras toll plaza. Our efforts and the efforts by some advocates based in Delhi to contact him were not successful,” read the letter sent on Tuesday. Demanding Kappan’s “earliest release”, the journalists union maintained that “Kappan was trying to do his duty as a reporter”.

The KUWJ has also filled a petition in the Supreme Court of India, asking it to “Issue a writ in the nature of Habeas corpus or any other appropriate writ, or orders directing the respondent…produce Mr. Siddique Kappan before this Hon’ble court, and release him from illegal detention.” The Union, in its petition, has alleged that Kappan’s arrest was in violation of the D.K. Basu guidelines of the Supreme Court regarding arrest and it was done “to obstruct the discharge of (his) duty in the capacity as journalist”.

The Delhi Union of Journalists (DUJ) has also demanded Kappan’s immediate release. “The Delhi Union of Journalists is alarmed at the arrest of Siddique Kappan, secretary of the Kerala Union of Working Journalists Delhi Unit, at Mathura yesterday while on his way to Hathras to cover the fallout of the gangrape. He is a professional journalist who works for several Malayalam media houses including azhimukham.com and was on an official assignment when he was arrested. We urge his immediate release,” read a statement released by them on Tuesday.

The Press Club of India (PCI) has demanded that Kappan be released without delay. “It is our apprehension that the Yogi Adityanath government, in line with its clearly stated conspiracy theory as an explanation for the tragic Hathras incident, will employ diversionary tactics to take the focus away from the many suspicious, possibly criminal, actions of its police and administration and the virtual silence of the political leadership on the Hathras tragedy.”

“The arrest of the Kerala journalist is a pointer that the regime in UP is a further illustration of the ham-handed methods used to stop the media from doing its work. Inhibiting the media is evidently directed toward stopping facts from being known in the public sphere,” it added.


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‘I am Too Strong to be Cowed Down’: Kashmir Times Editor after ‘Goons’ Ransack Her Flat
by Sagrika Kissu


Senior journalist and executive editor of Kashmir Times, Anuradha Bhasin has alleged that her government-allotted flat in Jammu was ransacked by few “goons” at around 3 pm on October 4.

Senior journalist and executive editor of Kashmir Times, Anuradha Bhasin has alleged that her government-allotted flat in Jammu was ransacked by few “goons” at around 3 pm on October 4.

The alleged intruders were identified by Bhasin as Imran Ganai, brother of former Member of the Legislative Council (MLC) Shehnaz Ganai, along with some Personal Security Officers (PSO) in civil dress, who had barged into her house without giving any explanation.

Recalling the incident, Bhasin said that following her daily routine, she visited the flat and found that the lock was broken. Perplexed, she called few of her colleagues who helped her get inside the house.

“I kept asking them questions and they ignored me as if I don’t exist. While they were dumping my belongings into one room, breakable items were thrown around. We were being shoved, pushed and had to fight back in self-defence while one of them sprawled on my bed,” Bhasin told NewsClick. The journalist said that she called the police regarding the incident but they were reluctant to lodge a complaint.

According to Bhasin, she has been an authorised occupant of the government flat since 1999-2000. “Before me, the flat was allotted to my father in 1969. Both the allotments were done under the journalist category. I have not been served any show-cause notice or allotment cancellation notice till date.”

The senior journalist said that she had heard rumours from Estates Department insiders that the allotment of the government flat has been cancelled but no eviction notice or official order was sent to her. “I sent a legal notice to know about the status of the allotment and seek the grounds on which the allotment was being cancelled through speed-post. There has been no response till date,” said Bhasin.

Bhasin said that she had heard similar rumours from the inside sources regarding the government accommodation in which the Kashmir Times office is located in Srinagar’s Press Enclave. “I have not received any cancellation notice or any sort of notice yet. I have, again, sent a legal notice, but there has been no response. They refuse to serve us official orders but are sending in goons,” she said.

Kashmir Times had last year filed a petition in the Supreme Court through executive editor Anuradha Bhasin against the media blockade and internet shutdown in Jammu and Kashmir after the abrogation Article 370. In the petition, Kashmir Times had asked the SC to direct the central government to relax the restrictions in order to ensure freedom of movement of journalists and media personnel in Kashmir and some districts of Jammu.

Bhasin said she saw the break-in incident as an attempt to silence her as she has been critical of the Centre and the policies of the state administration. “There is clearly a pattern. This is an open harassment but I want to say one thing – I am too strong to be cowed down,” she said.

Originally  published in NewsClick


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Statement Condemning the Arrest of Bahujan Journalist Prashant Kanojia
Press Release


On 18 August 2020, Bahujan
journalist Prashant Kanojia was arrested by Uttar Pradesh police. He is being held in custody over a tweet he had forwarded, which he had immediately deleted upon learning that it contained fake news. This is a routine social media behaviour that one observes on the platform almost every day.



Trump orders total declassification of all Russiagate and Clinton email probe documents
by Countercurrents Collective


President Donald Trump says he has authorized the release of “any and all” documents related to the Russiagate conspiracy theory and the Hillary Clinton email scandal, noting the material would be completely free of redactions.

 

Media reports from the U.S. said:

President Donald Trump says he has authorized the release of “any and all” documents related to the Russiagate conspiracy theory and the Hillary Clinton email scandal, noting the material would be completely free of redactions.

“I have fully authorized the total Declassification of any and all documents pertaining to the single greatest political CRIME in American history, the Russia Hoax,” said the U.S. president in a tweet on Tuesday night.

Trump followed up his first post with another missive stating he had declassified all information on Russiagate “long ago,” lamenting that his own personnel have “acted very slowly” to release new material.

The announcement came hours after Director of National Intelligence (DNI) John Ratcliffe authorized the release of a number of documents linked to the Trump-Russia scandal, including hand-written notes from former CIA Director John Brennan, who served during the latter half of the Barack Obama administration.

The declassified notes suggest that Brennan had briefed Obama on a “plan” by then-Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton to smear Trump with allegations of ‘Russian collusion’ as a means of “distancing the public from her use of a private email server” before the 2016 election.

Ratcliffe originally declassified the notes – as well as a 2016 CIA memo addressed to then-FBI Director James Comey and a Russian intelligence assessment obtained by US agencies – in late September.

Ratcliffe mentioned all three documents in a letter to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina).

The documents indicated that Clinton worked to fabricate the Russiagate scandal in order to vilify her electoral rival and deflect negative media coverage. None of them was released to a broader public at the time.

Though Ratcliffe initially cautioned that the Russian assessment – which was declassified but not published – “may reflect exaggeration or fabrication,” he has clarified that US intelligence does not consider the material “disinformation.”

The CIA memo, also released on Tuesday, meanwhile, reflects similar information to Brennan’s notes, discussing Clinton’s “approval of a plan concerning U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump and Russian hackers hampering U.S. elections” as a way to distract from the private email server scandal, which dogged the Democrat’s campaign at the time.

Clinton’s spokesperson, Nick Merrill, has deemed all of the allegations contained in the documents “baseless bulls**t.”

The new release on Tuesday comes on the heels of a number of similar publications, such as a trove of documents unsealed last month revealing FBI agents on the Trump-Russia probe had purchased professional liability insurance amid fears the investigation ran afoul of the law, which Trump has touted as proof of an attempted “coup” against him.

Allegations of Trump-Russia collusion emerged before the 2016 race concluded, with the Clinton team advancing the theory that the president-to-be worked with Moscow to throw the election, coordinating a series of hacks on Democratic computers and Clinton campaign staff while Russian operatives spread disinformation with online “troll farms.” A special counsel probe led by US Attorney Robert Mueller failed to turn up any evidence of collusion, however, resulting in no indictments directly linked to the conspiracy.

Last year, the president gave Attorney General Bill Barr authority to declassify any documents related to surveillance of the Trump campaign in 2016. Trump, at the time, also ordered members of the intelligence community to cooperate with Barr’s probe.

Allies of the president, including Republicans on Capitol Hill leading their own investigations into the origins of the Trump-Russia probe, have criticized officials like FBI Director Christopher Wray and CIA Director Gina Haspel, claiming that the directors have been blocking the release of documents.

“Today, at the direction of President Trump, I declassified additional documents relevant to ongoing Congressional oversight and investigative activities,” Ratcliffe said in a statement to Fox News Tuesday.

A source familiar with the documents explained that Brennan’s handwritten notes were taken after briefing Obama on the matter.

“We’re getting additional insight into Russian activities from [REDACTED],” Brennan notes read. “CITE [summarizing] alleged approved by Hillary Clinton a proposal from one of her foreign policy advisers to vilify Donald Trump by stirring up a scandal claiming interference by the Russian security service,” Brennan’s notes read.

The notes state “on 28 of July.” In the margin, Brennan writes “POTUS,” but that section of the notes is redacted.

“Any evidence of collaboration between Trump campaign + Russia,” the notes read.

The remainder of the notes are redacted, except in the margins, which reads:  “JC,” “Denis,” and “Susan.”

The notes do not spell out the full names but “JC” could be referring to then-FBI Director James Comey, “Susan” could refer to National Security Adviser Susan Rice, and “Denis” could refer to then-Obama chief of staff Denis McDonough.

The declassification comes after Ratcliffe, last week, shared newly-declassified information with the Senate Judiciary Committee which revealed that in September 2016, U.S. intelligence officials forwarded an investigative referral on Hillary Clinton purportedly approving “a plan concerning U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump and Russian hackers hampering U.S. elections” in order to distract the public from her email scandal.

That referral was sent to Comey and then-Deputy Assistant Director of Counterintelligence Peter Strzok.

“The following information is provided for the exclusive use of your bureau for background investigative action or lead purposes as appropriate,” the CIA memo to Comey and Strzok stated.

“This memorandum contains sensitive information that could be source revealing. It should be handled with particular attention to compartmentation and need-to-know. To avoid the possible compromise of the source, any investigative action taken in response to the information below should be coordinated in advance with Chief Counterintelligence Mission Center, Legal,” the memo, which was sent to Comey and Strzok, read. “It may not be used in any legal proceeding — including FISA applications—without prior approval…”

“Per FBI verbal request, CIA provides the below examples of information the CROSSFIRE HURRICANE fusion cell has gleaned to date,” the memo continued. ““An exchange [REDACTED] discussing US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s approval of a plan concerning US presidential candidate Donald Trump and Russian hackers hampering US elections as a means of distracting the public from her use of a private email server.”

The memo is heavily redacted.

Ratcliffe informed the committee last week that the Obama administration obtained Russian intelligence in July 2016 with allegations against Clinton, but cautioned that the intelligence community “does not know the accuracy of this allegation or the text to which the Russian intelligence analysis may reflect exaggeration or fabrication.”

According to Ratcliffe’s letter, the intelligence included the “alleged approval by Hillary Clinton on July 26, 2016, of a proposal from one of her foreign policy advisers to vilify Donald Trump by stirring up a scandal claiming interference by Russian security services.”

But Ratcliffe, in a statement released after the information was made public, pushed back on the idea he was advancing “Russian disinformation.”

“To be clear, this is not Russian disinformation and has not been assessed as such by the Intelligence Community,” Ratcliffe said in a statement to Fox News. “I’ll be briefing Congress on the sensitive sources and methods by which it was obtained in the coming days.”

Another source familiar with the documents told Fox News “this information has been sought by hundreds of congressional requests for legitimate oversight purposes and was withheld for political spite — and the belief that they’d never get caught.”

The source added that the Brennan notes are significant because it is “their own words, written and memorialized in real time.”

Meanwhile, last week, during a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Comey was asked whether he received an investigative referral on Clinton from 2016, but he said it did not “ring any bells.”

“You don’t remember getting an investigatory lead from the intelligence community? Sept. 7, 2016, U.S. intelligence officials forwarded an investigative referral to James Comey and Strzok regarding Clinton’s approval of a plan [about] Trump…as a means of distraction?” Graham asked Comey.

“That doesn’t ring any bells with me,” Comey said.

Graham questioned “how far-fetched is that,” citing the fact that Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee, through law firm Perkins Coie, hired Fusion GPS and ex-British intelligence officer Christopher Steele to author and compile information for the controversial and unverified anti-Trump dossier.

The Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee, through law firm Perkins Coie, hired Fusion GPS and ex-British intelligence officer Christopher Steele to author and compile information for the controversial and unverified anti-Trump dossier.

The dossier contains claims about alleged ties between Donald Trump and Russia that served as the basis for Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrants obtained against former Trump campaign aide Carter Page.

Attorney General Bill Barr last year appointed U.S. Attorney of Connecticut John Durham to investigate the origins of the FBI’s Russia probe shortly after special counsel Robert Mueller completed his years-long investigation into whether the campaign colluded with the Russians to influence the 2016 presidential election.

It is unclear whether this information will be considered part of Durham’s investigation, or whether the president’s declassification will affect Durham’s investigation.

A source familiar with Durham’s investigation told Fox News last month that parts of what Huber was investigating in 2017 — involving the Clinton Foundation — have been incorporated in Durham’s investigation.

In November 2017, then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions directed Huber, the U.S. attorney for Utah, and other senior prosecutors to evaluate “certain issues” involving the sale of Uranium One, and other dealings related to the Clinton Foundation. Sessions tapped Huber after requests by congressional Republicans, who had been calling for the appointment of a special counsel to review the matters.

Huber was also tasked with reviewing the FBI’s handling of the Clinton email probe, including allegations that the Justice Department and FBI “policies or procedures” were not followed.

It has been unclear, for years, the status of Huber’s investigation, but another source told Fox News Thursday that Huber has faced mounting criticism from the Justice Department and White House over his progress.

It is unclear whether any aspects of the Clinton email investigation were included in Huber’s review.


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Perplexing Extremes: The Chauvinistic Audacity To Rape And The Matrimonial Propensity To Discriminate
by A B Karl Marx Siddharthar


Hathras rape incident is not new to us and for the greater society it might not be shocking either. In India, the cold-blooded reality is the occurrence of rape every 15 minutes. This is as per the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data. What is usually overlooked in the statistics is the Dalit Women who are usually considered as the Untouchables by the Indian society are preferred to be raped by its men. It seems the taboo not to touch the Dalits thereby ensuring Untouchability momentarily fades when the lust of the Indian men ascends.

Hathras rape incident is not new to us and for the greater society it might not be shocking either. In India, the cold-blooded reality is the occurrence of rape every 15 minutes. This is as per the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data. What is usually overlooked in the statistics is the Dalit Women who are usually considered as the Untouchables by the Indian society are preferred to be raped by its men. It seems the taboo not to touch the Dalits thereby ensuring Untouchability momentarily fades when the lust of the Indian men ascends.

There were 107 cases in which 108 women of SC/ST communities were allegedly raped in Gujarat alone in 2019. Of these 41 victims were adults while 67 were minor girls. While Dalit women are the easy victims of Rape, in the matters of marriage this society is acutely dictated by the strange stigma called Unmarriageability which is nothing but the conjugal expression of Untouchability. While the violation of this custom is attracting gruesome Dishonour killings the struggle to lead a normal life by the inter-caste couples is even more daunting:

Ravindra and and Shilpa Bhartiya, an inter-caste couple from Saurashtra, have been on the run since they got married five years ago. Ravindra, a Dalit from Surendranagar, who married Shilpa, an upper caste woman from Bhavnagar, does not have a stable job – not because he cannot get one. Rather, it is to avoid a predictable routine which could lead them to being lynched, say the Bhartiyas. Equating their vagabond lives with those of gypsies, the couple say they live in constant fear of being located, and shudder to think of what would happen if they were ever found. In 5 years, the inter-caste couple has changed 25 homes in 5 cities.[1]

The caste system is not treated contrary to law. The refuters undoubtedly can be classified as ill-equipped.  It is not at all a hard task to evince that the law does not prevent the propagation of caste system. The national newspapers in English and the vernacular languages serve adequate to show this. In no other societies, the Press has internalized the religious dictates and is maniacally obsessed in cherishing the differences existing among its people. Indian Press incubates the barbarian residues of the Hindu civilization. Even the open support the Press gives to the caste system mirages like a clandestine act because of the attitudinal inertness of the Indians against the caste system. The Indians are caste addicted and the Indian press never will rip them off it. All it is doing and will be doing is to meet and promote the caste requirements of its caste minded people.

Glance at the matrimonial classifieds. The vulgarity of a casteist society could not be pointed out better than this. In no other societies, such kind of overt vulgar prejudices is thoroughly ingrained in the social behaviour of its people and is remorselessly being advertised in the national newspapers and other dailies without facing the slightest objection. In the times ahead, the present caste matrimonial columns supported by the Indian Press would be censored. Time, not just will pass but will progress and the unacceptable prejudices of caste system are bound to be left behind. The course would not be a natural one, though.

The Young Generation should be very conscious of the Indian Press as the trumpet of stigma of Unmarriageability alias endogamy on caste line so long as the matrimonial advertisements are printed in it. Here and there, the Press brings into light the caste atrocities that includes humanity-sucking rape incidents- the recent one being the Hathras case and accommodates editorial articles offering a critique on the system of caste. Eyewash they are and it should be understood that the Press is the breeding platform of the endogamous practices. Mind you, marriages are the genes transmitting the caste from one generation to another. And the Indian Press incubates these genes to sustain the status quo that favours the instinctive psyche of the Indians to opt for endogamous marriages and resisting the emerging inter-caste marriages.

The Indian press may not be the reason for the endogamy to exist. But definitely they are the prime factor in the better facilitation of endogamous marriages. They shamelessly tabulate the men and women jati and gotra wise and favour match-making of the brides with the bridegrooms of same caste categories. Indian Press is a realm of contradictions and double standards. And its Pressmen are the fraudulent hypocrites. In the news columns, they report of honour killings happening because of exogamous marriages and inside in their matrimonial classifieds they breed for the endogamous marriages. They are alarmingly apathetic towards caste atrocities and shamelessly generate income through matrimonial classifieds. With no hold in the news media, the Unmarriageables should be very watchful in chiselling their destiny. It would have had been a favourable ambience for them if the caste matrimonies had been outrightly perceived as the menace against the sanctity of human equality. Unfortunately, they thrive devoid of constraints not merely as any other advertisements or classifieds for profit-making purposes but also without being interpreted against the law. Under the pretext of an individual’s personal liberty to choose her/his own spouse, a hardcore caste Hindu succeeds in shadowing and subduing her/his ulterior motive of caste prejudice safely and securely.

While the rape incidents are outrageous, the caste matrimonies are obnoxious. In the former, the cause of concern is the inefficiency of law and in the latter the cause for despair being the immoral custom.

A.B.Karl Marx Siddharthar,  Author of ‘UNCASTE’ subtitled as ‘Understanding Unmarriageability: The Way Forward To Annihilate Caste’. The Book is available worldwide and the author’s email id is karlmarxsiddharthar@gmail.com.

[1]Source:  Ahmedabad mirror


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Exposing the Double Standards of India’s Upper and Middle Class: Perspective of Justice for Hathras victim
by Dr Ahmed Raza


Again, the inhuman and horrible
incident of Hathras has put the entire society ashamed as it has been the second occurrence of such cruelty and brutality against women in the last eight years after Nirbhaya 2012, sparking a huge resentment and anguish against the governments exposing the concern of safety and security of the women.

Introduction

Again, the inhuman and horrible incident of Hathras has put the entire society ashamed as it has been the second occurrence of such cruelty and brutality against women in the last eight years after Nirbhaya 2012, sparking a huge resentment and anguish against the governments exposing the concern of safety and security of the women. Although, the Hathras incidence acted as an open invitation for showing their condemnation against the BJP led governments as opposition parties, NGOs, CSOs and activists tried to feel the pain from the caste perspective which always acts as a catalyst and fueling for politics. Experiencing a huge resentment against Congress-led UPA Government on account of Nirbhaya incident 2012 could be remembered one of the leading causes for the defeat of the government in the 2014 general election. Unfortunately, crime against women did not find a universal definition of Indian politics as resentments against the inhuman, cruel and brutality of women always happen to be a selective, politically motivated and caste-angle. Therefore, experiencing only one huge protest and resentment against the BJP led governments for the last six years on account of Hathras incident amounts to be politically motivated as victim belonged to scheduled caste leading to defame the BJP as anti-Dalit. Whereas, the latest National Crime Records Bureau, (NCRB) report reveals that a woman is raped every 16 minutes, and a woman is gang-raped and murdered every 30 hours in India. Insisting for strict actions against the culprits, sensitizing the issues as a caste angle, and exposing the mal-administration through protests, marches and social media campaigns can never be the only way out of the crimes against women rather than identifying the root-causes of the crimes exist in our society. Laws alone can not prevent the crimes against women if gender-biased ideology, patriarchal attitudes, and gender biased hierarchies will exist in our society as a form of conventions, tradition, culture, customs and modernization. This piece of writing draws few of the gender biased attitudes of the middle class, upper class and elite class people which must be addressed if genuinely we are concerned for safety, security and dignities of women.

Girls as an unwelcome guest in society 

Despite of the existence of Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act, 1994 (PCPNDT Act) as a means to outlaw and reduce the number of sex-selective abortions and female foeticide, India has an alarming gender imbalance as female foeticides is also being practiced by educated and prosperous families as against the popular perception that illiterate and working-class people in rural areas prefer male boy. In 2011, for every 1,000 boys aged 0-6 years, there were 852 girls in Mumbai, 832 girls in Delhi and 942 girls in Hyderabad. Therefore, the preference for male children among Indian families has resulted in about 63 million women statistically “missing” from the India’s population.

Women’s identity: non-acceptance in society

Plenty of women in India belonging to upper class change their second names after they get married; it could be a surname or the husband’s first name. Whereas no law of the land requires Indian women to change their names after they get married, but social convention or customary practices make society male-dominated sidelining the original identity of the mother. Patriarchal social rules always happen to be sweat poison for killing the original identity of the women after their marriage as children get titles from their fathers’ names. Though, Bombay High Court deserves to be applauded as it had amended in 2011 a crucial rule under the Family Courts Act to prevent a woman from being compelled to file any marriage-related proceedings only in her husband’s surname so as to enable transparency in the law on a woman’s name after her marriage.

Women as an underperformer in society

Another chronic gender biased attitudes have been continuing in society as a form of gender biased disparities spanning across leading industries including film industries, sports, advertisement, IT industries, daily wagers etc. Although, the constitution of India does not expressly guarantees the right to receive equal pay for equal work as a fundamental or a constitutional right of the workers or employees. But, it can though be read through the interpretations of Article 14, 15 and 16 along with numbers of statutory provisions namely Equal Remuneration Act, 1976; Minimum Wages Act, 1948; Workmen’s Compensation Act, 1923 etc which guarantees the fundamental rights of equality before law. According to the Monster Salary Index (MSI) published in March 2019, women in the India earn 19% less than men. According to the latest World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Global Gender Gap Report 2018, India ranked 108th out of 149 countries on the gender gap index. Therefore, gender biased attitudes must be eradicated from the society itself before raising the questions of safety and security of the women.

Women as a second-class citizen in society

Other issues of women with regard to equal status and positions are deeply rooted in our arts, literatures, theaters, and films etc. which need to be broadly interpreted as they act as mirror of society. In India, women as a second class citizen are being portrayed through arts, literature and filming. For instance, the names of the female lead actor appear after the name of the male actor during casting of the movies or televisions program except for a few of the women centric movies like Mother India, Queen etc. Engaging women on the low pay basis as cheerleaders for Indian Premier League (IPL) with the purposes of glamorizing the game so as to get high TRP, business and advertisements, expose the gender biased ideologies of the elite classes. Indian advertisements industries turn around sexism as a number of the deodorant ad implies to attract a woman by showing ad “just spray it on and turn her on”. Naming a company as ‘Manforce’ itself indicates an indepth gender biased attitudes prevalent in our society as people at large level accommodate such products of the company ignoring women’s dignities. In 2009, imposition of a strict dress code by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) requires female badminton players to wear skirts on court with a justification of glamorizing sport’s profile among viewers and sponsors again expose the male-dominated attitudes, and even, a few of the reactions from Indian sports fraternities appeared as disapproval steps of federation.

Conclusion

Public resentments and anguish against the government would be inherent in any civilized society if horrible incidents like Nirbhaya and Hathras occur frequently despite of existence of strict laws namely POSCO Act and IPC, CrPC. But, condemnations as a form of protests, rallies and social media against such kind of inhuman and horrible crimes may provide immediate reliefs rather than reach at ultimate root-cause of the societal evils. On one hand, a huge fight and competition for condemnation of the Hathras incident among the political parties, activists and peoples have been hitting the news headline; on the other hand, people kept on maintaining silence while an attack on famous actress’s dignity by giving an abusive and derogatory remarks. Therefore, there must be a mental revolution among the people against gender-biased attitudes if genuinely we are concerned for safety, security and dignities of women.

Dr Ahmed Raza, Assistant Professor, (MANUU, Hyderabad). Project Director,Minor Research Project ICSSR sponsored, Ministry of Education, Govt. of India


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As Lockdowns Ease, Accountability does not; Questions & Apprehensions from a Rights based Campaign in West Bengal
by Mrinalini Paul


As those in power will continue to use Covid 19 as a tool and excuse to further deprive the already deprived, there is an urgent appeal to use the Covid 19 crisis to highlight the crisis of our democracy.



Gujarat Mazdoor Sabha & Anr. V The State of Gujarat: A reminder by Supreme Court that Workers Right Matters
by Research Scholar Amit Kumar


The judgment is significant keeping in mind the problems that workers have gone through during this pandemic. So many have lost their lives, livelihood, shelter, etc. the court has struck down the Gujarat government’s notification only. Still, there is a long list of states which have exempted the application of labour laws. The court also recognizes that the worst-hit people during this lockdown is the workers. The state as a welfare state has a duty to balance workers’ welfare and the economy’s revival. The state can not violate or take away the basic rights guaranteed to them either under labour laws or under the constitution in the name of economic hardships.



Rabindranath Tagore’s “Viswa Bharati” university exposed to the saffron peril
by Dr Aurobindo Ghose


A century after being founded in 1921, Tagore’s life’s treasure – the Visva-Bharati University – may now be in peril. Far from being preserved, that vessel – which will begin its centenary celebrations in December – is rocking.



New possibilities in  pedagogy: Some meandered musings
by Kesavan Rajasekharan Nayar


During this pandemic period, virtuality has taken over many facets of our life and especially education although it could be a temporary phase. But the academic world may be realizing the immense potential as well as drawbacks of the virtual medium in the ‘give and take’ process of education





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POLITICO Nightly: The next four years

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