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FROM THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
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Volume XXXVIII Number 3; For the week Jan 15-21, 2013, released from Friday onwards
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he overwhelming demand of those who took to the streets in the weeks after the brutal gang rape of a 23-year-old student was to reform laws related to crime against women, particularly rape. An agitated India demanded severe punishments, including the death penalty for rapists. The Government is now working on a new legislation to respond to the public outcry. What has got less attention is the urgent need to re-examine the laws that govern crimes committed by minors or juveniles. That is because while existing laws are enough to send five of the six brutal rapists to the gallows, they are sorely lacking in punishing the sixth rapist who has claimed that, at 17 years of age, he is a juvenile and must be tried under separate laws. Under the Juvenile Justice Act, the sixth rapist, whose identity is concealed because he is a minor, can only receive a maximum sentence of three years detention, that too in a remand home, not prison. After that the police are bound by the law to destroy his criminal record, ostensibly to ensure a complete rehabilitation in mainstream society. There are several reasons why this is deeply problematic. The reason that countries have a separate jurisprudence for minors is because crimes committed by juveniles may often be in innocence. However, most countries have provisions where even minors (usually those below 18 years) can be tried as adults depending on the severity of the crime committed. In the case of Delhis sixth rapist, it can hardly be argued that his was an innocent crime. Sexual assaults and murders are fundamentally different from petty robberies or even minor drug peddling. The 17-year-old Delhi rapist was old enough to know how to rape. According to some reports, he was also the most brutal in assaulting the girl. He had the sense to help destroy the evidence after the crime. In the US or UK, for a crime of this nature, he would have been tried as an adult in a regular court of law. In the US, juveniles as young as 14 can be sentenced to life in prison for rape and murOUR JANUARY der. In the UK, even 10-year-olds can be tried as adults in 1999 COVER regular courts in particularly heinous crimes. In the event that a juvenile convict gets parole when he reaches adulthood, he only gets it on conditional terms and is constantly monitored to prevent a repeat offence. Our cover story, written by Senior Editor Bhavna Vij-Aurora and Assistant Editor Amitabh Srivastava, is a chilling reminder of how the Indian juvenile justice system is in tatters. There are a total of 815 remand homes across India with a capacity of 35,000. According to government statistics, there are 1.7 million juvenile accused in India. The system is rotten because it lets off serious offenders easily and does little to rehabilitate even those who have been convicted of lesser offences. Curiously, the Government raised the threshold age of a juvenile in criminal law from 16 to 18 in 2000. In retrospect that seems a mistake. In any case, whether an individual should be tried as a juvenile or an adult should always depend on the nature of the crime. A reformed law must ensure such a provision rather than laying down a blanket age threshold, whether 18 or 16. The Government also needs to reform the remand homes convicted juveniles are sent to. On present evidence, these awfully-managed places are breeding grounds for future criminals. India has a burgeoning youth demographic. Surely, they need to be deterred from becoming a danger to society.

All disputes are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of competent courts and forums in Delhi/New Delhi only

(Aroon Purie)

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JANUARY 21, 2013 INDIA TODAY

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INSIDE

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N AT I O N
DMK

36

DMKReadies for Marshal Stalin

Karunanidhis succession plan for DMK puts the younger son at the forefront. Will siblings Alagiri and Kanimozhi stand in the way of generational change?

C OV E R STO RY D E A D LY T E E N S

N AT I O N
Delhi gang rape sparks nationwide debate on juvenile justice system as crimes by minors show alarming rise. Is reform better than retribution?
ASARAM BAPU

14 26

Y oung and Dangerous

Hate Mongers of Hyderabad

38
8 10 62

Guru from the Dark Ages

T H E B I G STO RY
OWAISIS

Asaram Bapu adds sexism to the already long list of charges against him from murder to sexual abuse. UP FRONT GLASS HOUSE GLOSSARY

A vast empire spanning education and media in their pockets, the Owaisi brothers are now eyeing Muslims beyond Andhra Pradesh for their political gain.

SPORT
CRICKET

Cover design by: DEV KABIR MALIK Cover photo by: VIVAN MEHRA

50

Survivor of the Storm

Despite defeats, Dhoni has quelled threats to his captaincy and purged seniors in his quest to get the team he wants for the 2015 World Cup.

Find the Right Job on

Page: 58-59

S P EC I A L R E P O R T
BORDER ATTACK

32

Pakistani Knives Draw Blood

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The beheading of two Indian Army soldiers threatens a shaky peace on the Line of Control.

02

INDIA TODAY JANUARY 21, 2013

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The Angry Indian

J A N U A R Y 7, 2 0 1 2

Inflation. Corruption. Ethnic Violence. Rape. An India disillusioned with a passive ruling Establishment erupted in moral rage in a year of multiple injustices.

The real battle is to change the way in which men relate to women and create a culture that does not involve subjugation of women. The Government must act wisely now or perish.
R A M E S H S.,
via email

Right to Protest
The large-scale protests following the brutal gang rape of a 23-year-old paramedic student in Delhi was absolutely justified (The Angry Indian, January 7). The nation-wide uproar and the outpour of anger was a natural reaction given the brutality of the crime and the callous manner in which authorities concerned continue to deal with the issue of womens safety. But in the name of security, the police sealed India Gate and Raisina Hill and also closed down 10 metro stations which was totally unnecessary. India Gate is the ideal place for martyrs of the nation and the young girl was no less than a brave soldier. Peaceful protest especially when its a nonpolitical oneat India Gate is a right.
M. KUMAR, Delhi

Police Must Buck Up

VIKRAM SHARMA/www.indiatodayimages.com

The Indian police forces inability in handling peaceful protesters at India Gate speaks volumes of their inefficiency and callousness (The Cost of Khaki Tape, January 7). The protesters were harassed by the very men who are supposed to be their protectors. It is high time that the police force across the country is trained adequately to handle different situations so that they do not use the lathi on peaceful citizens.
RITAM MUKHERJI, Pune

The atrocious ratio of police to public in India, along with the fact that they are mostly puppets in the hands of the corrupt political class, point to a very disturbing trend that raises questions about the security of common men in the country. Police reforms is the need of the hour. Among other things, they need to be gender-sensitised.
SOHAM BHATT, Mysore

When the state has failed in its most basic duty of protecting women, the rage beating down the barricade is understandable. But it is also the time for introspection. Can this anger be transformed into steely resolve? Firstly, would we resolve not to remain inert spectators when a girl is molested in public in broad daylight? Secondly, would we protest against and prevent gender discrimination within our families? Thirdly, would we refuse to offer or accept dowries? If we just protest and avoid bringing about changes in our homes and society around us, we will continue to get the administration we deserve.
ATANU MUKHERJEE, Kolkata

The UPA Government has been in the news for all the wrong reasons, ever since it was voted back to power

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JANUARY 21, 2013 INDIA TODAY

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police commissioner remained inactive and confused. They were clueless as to how to deal with spontaneous protests. All the top level authorities in Delhi should work in coordination while handling such issues. Psychologists, sociologists need to undertake a study of such protests and submit their recommendations to the Government as to how best the crowd could be handled. There is also an immediate need to set up fast-track courts to try rape cases with provisions in law even for death penalty.
R.D. DESHPANDE, Bangalore

35
YEARS AGO IN INDIA TO DAY

in 2009. It was criticised for economic mismanagement, high levels of inflation, corruption scams and policy paralysis. People were angry and this was reflected in the logjams in the Parliament. But the Government never realised the anger simmering in the hearts of people.The brutal gang rape in Delhi was the last nail in the coffin and the latent anger of people came out in full fury. Even that could not shake the Government which has set a new benchmark in non-governance. They deserve to be voted out.
A.S. BALANATHAN, Chennai

bearer of the common man. And if he succeeds, we may have a political star on the horizon that India has been starved of for a long time.
ANJUM M. SAMEL, Mumbai

J A N U A RY 1-1 5 , 1 9 7 8

Weathering the Storm

I must begin with the cinema not only because I know it best but also because its content is more liable to definitive interpretation than music or painting. The pattern has remained unchanged; the juggernaut of the commercial cinema rolls on and, like an advancing desert, nibbles at the edges of the regional film all the time. It is no longer possible to make anything but the run-of-themill Bengali cinema for instance. The bucket must descend deeper to draw any water from the drying well. Only the most intensive exploitation yields any profit, and few are prepared to risk their money on an unconven-

The raging campaign by the public against the Establishments ineffectiveness is unprecedented and reflects that people are sick of the Governments inability to address peoples problems promptly. Justice delayed is justice denied, and our system remains unchanged despite such public outrage. Its high time the Government responds to this public outcry and gears up to act.
K. CHIDANAND KUMAR, Chennai

Kejriwals Litmus Test

Arvind Kejriwal appears to have set the tone for citizens to take on the Establishment (The Arsonist, January 7). The fledgling Aam Aadmi Party honcho has certainly given a ray of hope to the aam aadmi who over the decades has been hopelessly subjugated by our political system and ironically, his own elected representatives. That Kejriwal chose to soil his hands by getting into the political cesspool with hopes of ridding it of corruption, misgovernance and nepotism is being perceived by many as a bold decision that requires a lot of self-belief and commitment. For Kejriwal, it shall now be a litmus test as to how he manages to sustain his own image as well as that of his party as a torch-

Arvind Kejriwals ploy to press allegations against public personalities without enough proof might keep him in the limelight, but will soon boomerang. His movement against corrupt politicians without concrete proof is a wasteful exercise, as the commissions of inquiry are helpless in the absence of evidence. Kejriwal is like any other politician whose eyes are fixed on the chair. The nation means nothing.
MAHESH KUMAR, via email

The Perfect Auditor

The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG), Vinod Rai, is the right man for the post of top auditors job in the country (The Sum of All Fears, January 7). The fact that he has not stopped calling a spade a spade despite controversies, points to an upright man who is willing to do his work honestly without being influenced by the political bigwigs. His scathing reports in 2012 kept the Government on its toes, so much so that it has made our politicians uncomfortable. Rai should continue with his good work and not give in to the Governments pressure.
MONA MATHUR, Chandigarh

Clueless and Callous

The UPA 2 Government has failed in handling the protesters in connection with the recent Delhi gang-rape case (They Have A Lot To Answer For, January 7). The top-level authorities of Delhi including the home minister, chief minister, lieutenant governor and

MRINAL SENTHE HINDI SCREEN BECKONS

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tional film in a shrinking market. Both Satyajit Ray and Mrinal Sen are working in Hindi and must use all the ingenuity in order to survive. The era of intelligent, smallbudget Bengali film in black and white is over. It has gone the way of Marathi cinema much earlier. In others regions, occasionally a wind rises and sparks fly, as in Karnataka beginning with Samskara and continuing with Chomana Dudi. by Chidananda Dasgupta

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INDIA TODAY JANUARY 21, 2013

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BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE. BEAUTIFUL PLACES.

UP FRONT

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TABISH KHAIR

CLASH OFTHE SUPERMEN

r India vs Shri Bharat. The battle of the usual super- damsels stopped wearing tight jeans they would not need to men. Rhetorical muscles being flexed. Pectoral and scream help. All Indian women need to do is to do nothing. spectorals. Biceps and precepts. All in the service of Or nothing new. Or at least live in those parts of India where the usual damsel in distress, this time desi, who has to be people do not speak English with a public school accent. Mr (Shri) Bharat forgets the long records of rape in Indian vilprotected from a fate-worse-than-death. Mr India, for instance, is convinced that rapes are lages and in spaces where people do not speak English at largely the consequence of the village mentality of many all; these facts do not exist for him because he refuses to see Indians. Mr India lives in metropolises; his costume has to them. He is a hard-headed mystic in this sense. Whats a be fashioned by designers of thought in places like London hope-trick or two to him? He can make more than a rabbit and New York (though it is mostly stitched by Indian vil- disappear, which he proved in Ayodhya some years ago. Mr India is convinced that basically what we need to do lagers), so I guess such conjectorals make senseto him. Mr Bharat, whose attire is meticulously designed at home is to learn from the rest of the world. As the only rest of but was mostly stitched in Berlin around 1940 (such miracles the world he knows lies in the West, he kind of feelsthough are routine to him), is convinced that rapes take place only in he may not say sothat a page or two (in English) out of the cosmopolitan spaces of India. It is the followers of Mr India Englandia will be a good idea. This page (in English or, at who are responsible for rapes, he claims. He is a bit uncer- times, any language) village India obviously lacks, alas, in tain whether he should blame Mr Indias male followers, Mr Indias view. Mr Bharat sees no need for all this. His dressed in tight jeans, or Mr Indias female followers, dressed hands often itch to burn a page of English as incense to in tight jeans; so he has decided, mostly, to blame tight jeans. his gods every morning, and there are only two reasons why The way Mr India sees the matter, village India, which he does not do so: 1. Because his son (but not his daughter) can be recognised easily as it does not speak English or does is studying in USA, and 2. Because his arch-enemy, not speak English with public school fluency, lurks in the Mussalmaan the Bearded, has turned the burning of books darker corners of the country, perpetually on the lookout for into his own personal trademark. So it goes on. And on. The flexing of muscles and women to rape. As Mr India has seldom been to villages, he feels justified in flexing his dicepts. He is used to such pub- bahscles, biceps and precepts, pectorals and spectorals. lic flexing of ideas in front of an admiring audience. It is a Women are either kept in place in the name of preventing class thing: He has been surrounded by people less edu- rapewhich of course is just another kind of rapeor cated than him and quite desperate to stay in his good women are freed to be marginalised producers and consumers in the capitalist market, where the production and books. Yes sir, wah sir, well said sir. The argumentative Indianas one of the very few argu- consumption of woman can lead to rape as well. Mr India mentative Indians around who is actually a genuine and and Shri Bharat both have a point or two right, but that is admirable intellectual once put itmight be the best thing not what they are after. Even the damsel in distress is just an excuse. Finally, they are engagabout our country, but unfortunately SAURABH SINGH/www.indiatodayimages.com ing in a very male act of flexing their Indian urban spaces are slowly filling muscles, joggling for space: after all, with simply (and loudly) opinionated they are super-yes!-men. middle class Indians who are convinced So, dear bewildered reader, do not that their privileges, education and narexpect a solution from either Mr India or row experiences make an unanswerShri Bharat. Look instead to less mythiable combination. If Mr India had really cal and more ordinary characters like gone around to the villages of India, he that obscured woman, Ma Hindustan. might have noticed that they vary as She does not talk much because her lanmuch as the cities do, and perhaps more guage does not exist, officially. It is not so: Some are safer for women than most Urdu, Hindi or English, and yet it is a bit Indian cities. Actually, at least until of each, and something else. Ma recently, in places like Jharkhand much Hindustan does not look for protection; of the actual raping was done by she can look after herself. She does not often sophisticated urban types, who generalise about villages or cities; she is saw no logic in stopping with just the rape of mineral riches. The way Mr India sees it, village part of all of it. She is not spoken; she is lived. Pay her some attention. Mr Bharat flexes a different set of bahscles; he believes that damsels are India lurks in the darker corners of the country, perpetually on not or have not been in distress in Tabish Khairs latest novel is How to Fight the lookout for women to rape. Indian villages. He implies that if Islamist Terror from the Missionary Position

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INDIA TODAY JANUARY 21, 2013

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