Wednesday 27 May 2015

Gang Rapes in Delhi and Jaffna

Incidents:  In Dec 2012, a Physiotherapy student was raped in a bus roaming across Delhi.  Her body was penetrated with an iron rod, she and her boyfriend were thrown onto the street.  She developed various complications in multiple organs, and despite attempts to save her, she died after a month.  On the 13th of May 2015, a teenage girl was gang-raped and murdered in Jaffna, my home town.

The response of Police:  Delhi Police acted swiftly.  First, the bus was identified from CCTV records, then the owner, then the driver, and then three more.  Statements provided by the victim's boyfriend were very helpful to the Police.  One of the four was an adolescent.  Another was arrested in his hometown in Bihar, about 1000 Km away from the incident.  Police in Jaffna did not take the incident seriously when the girl was reported missing on the same day.  It dismissed the complaint as if the girl has eloped with her boyfriend.  But, it acted swiftly when the brother found the girl's body at a remote site.  Three were arrested immediately.  Following an inquiry, another six were arrested. One was a foreign national of 19 years of age.  He managed to leave Police custody in Jaffna and traveled to Colombo, 400 km away. But again arrested in Colombo.  Police who had mishandled his arrest in Jaffna are being transferred.

The response of the Society:  In both cases, there was an outrage, differed only in proportion to the size of the cities.  Delhi with 21 million people was no comparison to Jaffna, where a few hundred thousand lives.  Delhi saw massive demonstrations for weeks - barricades everywhere, tires were burnt 24X7, water cannons and tear gas were brought to disperse crowds and public property was damaged.  Scores were arrested, charged, prosecuted or released.  The protests went beyond Delhi to other states, speaking different languages, but sharing similar pains.  Civil society was out on the street demanding Justice, not just for the victim, but for all victims of similar crime. A Policeman died during protests.  Jaffna too responded in a similar manner, schools went on strike, markets were closed etc.  There were similar protests in other Tamil speaking districts of North and East.  130 demonstrators were arrested, and two Policemen suffered minor injuries.  The Police were determined not to seek the Army's help, A very wise decision.  The army is not a trusted institution in Jaffna.  Police's inability to communicate in Tamil well with locals was a disadvantage.  The rest of the country remained aloof to the plight for almost two weeks, until a Female Attorney at Law, Shamila Daluwatte called for a protest in Colombo (https://www.facebook.com/shamila.daluwatte).  A muted response at the end, still a welcome one.

The response of the Politicians:  In Delhi, all political parties condemned the violence.  The Parliament acted expeditiously and enacted laws to punish criminals quickly.  One of the four accused hung himself in his cell, the adolescent was sent to Juvenile Detention, and the other two are sentenced to death.  None of the parties wanted to score political points on a tragedy.  In Sri Lanka, a party pride itself as the party of heritage (JHU) showed its ugly face once more.  It accused the demonstrators that their objective was to intimidate Sinhalese living in Jaffna. Maybe it should call itself the party for Sinhalese, not for all Sri Lankans.  The former President MR insinuated that extreme elements akin to LTTE were behind demonstrations.  He must have a poor memory of history.  Comparing the reasons for the formation of LTTE to a gang-rape shows how little he understood the reasons for the formation of LTTE, and the price paid by millions over three decades. Shame on him.  The NPC Chief Minister C Wigneswaran made the right call.  He appealed the masses to refrain from damaging public property, and demonstrate peacefully. I wish the politicians of 1970s and 1980s had his wisdom. Both, Tamil and Sinhala politicians fanned violence on innocent people then.  Further investigations reveal that pro-MR Tamil groups were behind the violence in Jaffna.  They still feel loyal to MR, and want to show the current Government in poor light.  A CID group in Jaffna was pursuing investigations. Finally, the President himself had gone to Jaffna, assuring Justice to victim's parents.

My Take:  Tragic events like these could be game-changers.  There had been gang-rapes in India & Sri Lanka before and after these incidents.  India has legislated in such a way that the criminals will be pursued and punished vigorously. In the case of Sri Lanka, I have always felt that the main reason for the conflict in was the disrespect of ethnic groups for other ethnic groups.  Tamils by-and-large had no respect for the Sinhalese, and so were the Sinhalese towards Tamils.  If you do not respect the other group, it really does not matter whatever happens to them, isn't it?  This is what Hitler did to Jews, Israelis do to Palestinians, ISIS do to non-Muslims.  But a small group of people like Shamila Daluwatte is looking at these problems as crimes against women rather than an ethnic issue.  We need more people like Daluwatte & Friends.  We also need to eliminate politicians who use every tragedy for their gains. True reconciliation in Sri Lanka will come only when both groups appreciate and treat each other with dignity. Can this tragedy sow the seeds for true reconciliation?


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