Hathras Rape Case: Mother India’s Questions
The brutal case of rape and murder that took place in Hatharas, Uttar Pradesh, is being compared to the ‘Nirbhaya’ incident in Delhi. But the Hathras incident appears more terrible and barbaric than the Nirbhaya case. The latter at least did not have any social or political dimensions and no attempt was made to shield the accused. When people all over the country hit the streets in protest against the Nirbhaya incident, the government did not curb the protests. The rape charge was proved in the court which sentenced them to death. For those who question the need to identify the victim in the Hatharas incident as a ‘Dalit woman’, the answer lies in the way the two incidents have played out. There was no political interference in the ‘Nirbhaya’ case as the perpetrators of the crime did not belong to upper caste or class. At the same time, the victim was not a Dalit. Instead, she was an urban educated woman. The perpetrators of the crime were migrant laborers without any influence to wield which helped the police investigate the case rather boldly. This is not how the incidents around the present case are unfolding. The reason being the victim here is from the Dalit community and the perpetrators of the crime belong to the upper castes.
Instead of getting the perpetrators punished, the Uttar Pradesh government has filed cases against those who are demanding the case to be investigated duly and the guilty punished. Cases have been filed against leaders such as Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka, and Chandrashekar Azad. Attempts are being made to project protests as part of an international conspiracy to defame the government. Dropping the investigations against the incident of rape, the police seem more interested in investigating the international conspiracy angle. The Uttar Pradesh government and the BJP leaders in Delhi are also dubbing the protest by the opposition leaders as ‘politics’. This is strange because the main role of Opposition parties is to protest the anti-people policies of the ruling party and to warn the government when the people suffer injustice in the hands of the powerful. It is the responsibility of the Opposition to raise its voice against injustice being done to the Hatharas rape victim. When Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka protest seeking justice, how does it become political? If this is the case, what would we have called the silence that could have allowed injustice to the victim? Isn’t such silence also political? The Uttar Pradesh government that sees ‘an international conspiracy to topple the government’ is silent over the conspiracy to hush up the truth in the case. Or, is it covertly a part of the conspiracy? The Hathras case is not merely an atrocity against a woman but an assault on ‘Mother India’. Today, she is posing uncomfortable questions to the government. The Uttar Pradesh Government should at least answer her questions to save its face.
Why didn’t the police file a complaint soon after the death of the victim and come forward to get the medical examination conducted to establish rape? The police filed a complaint only after people hit the streets and questioned them. The FIR did not refer to the act of rape. Who stopped the police from doing this? Why was the woman’s body burnt in haste? Do the police have the authority to cremate the body without taking the consent of the family? Were not the police preventing the possibility of a second post-mortem, which the investigation might demand, by cremating the body? Whose order was this? The police prevented anyone from even meeting the victim’s family. Was this done to protect the victim’s family or was the family kept forcibly confined to their home to protect the accused? It is the chief minister’s basic responsibility to meet the victim’s family and hear them out. In the Nirbhaya incident, many political leaders met the victim’s family and the government took care of the entire cost of the victim’s treatment. But in the Hathras incident, not even a single minister visited the family. Even as the case was being investigated, police officials issued a statement that the victim was not raped. But the medico-legal examination report of Aligarh’s Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College Hospital has denied the police version. Then, against whom has the conspiracy been hatched? Is it against the government? Or is it against the Dalit family that has been subject to injustice?
The government has filed cases against hundreds of protestors. At the same time, some people from the upper caste are protesting and demanding the release of the accused held by the police. So far, no cases have been filed against these protesters from the upper-castes. The demand to release the accused is a tactic to divert the investigation. Why has the police adopted a soft approach towards these protests in favour of the accused? An Uttar Pradesh BJP legislator has tried to portray the victim as the accused by giving a statement that ‘rapes can be prevented only if girls are taught good cultural values.’ He seems to be suggesting that the victim did not have good values. Why has the government not taken any action against this legislator? Another Uttar Pradesh leader has said that the ‘accused might not be guilty of all that is being alleged against them.’ Why doesn’t the rape and subsequent murder of a women seem serious enough to this leader? These are the questions that ‘Mother India’ is asking. When a government stands in support of the accused, such a government should not be allowed to continue in power in the interest of the country. In such a situation, even if the protests were to be part of a conspiracy to remove the government, this conspiracy is necessary in a democratic set up. Before Uttar Pradesh is named officially the ‘rape capital’, it is important that Adityanath is removed from the Chief Minister’s post and the dignity of women upheld. BJP leaders who worship India as ‘Mother’ should immediately pay attention to the plight of women in the country.
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Russian military hardware, spare parts for Indian military to be manufactured in India
New Delhi (PTI): Russia agreed to encourage joint manufacturing in India of military hardware and spare parts for maintenance of Russian-origin arms and defence equipment.
Ways to bolster overall bilateral defence cooperation figured prominently during summit talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday.
It has been a long-standing grievance of armed forces that the supply of critical spares and equipment from Russia takes a long time, affecting the maintenance of military systems procured from that country.
"Both sides agreed to encourage joint manufacturing in India of spare parts, components, aggregates and other products for maintenance of Russian origin arms and defence equipment under Make-in-India programme through transfer of technology," a joint statement said.
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It said both sides also agreed to set up joint ventures for meeting the needs of the Indian armed forces as well as subsequent export to mutually friendly third countries.
The joint statement said the India-Russia defence partnership is being reoriented to take up joint co-development and co-production of advanced defence technology and systems.
In their meeting on Thursday, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and his Russian counterpart Andrey Belousov resolved to expand bilateral defence cooperation.
In the meeting, the Indian side showed keen interest in procurement of additional batches of S-400 missile systems from Moscow to bolster its combat prowess.
In October 2018, India signed a USD 5 billion deal with Russia to buy five units of the S-400 air defence missile systems, notwithstanding a warning by the US that going ahead with the contract may invite US sanctions under the provisions of Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA).
Three squadrons have already been delivered.
The S-400 systems played a crucial role during Operation Sindoor. India may also look at procuring the S-500 missile systems from Russia.
In the Modi-Putin talks, the two sides also agreed to continue jointly developing systems of bilateral trade settlements through the use of national currencies.
Additionally, the two sides agreed to continue their consultations on enabling the interoperability of the national payment systems, financial messaging systems, as well as central bank digital currency platforms.
Modi and Putin appreciated the ongoing intensification of the joint work on a free trade agreement on goods between India and the Eurasian Economic Union, covering sectors of mutual interest, the joint statement said.
They also directed both sides to intensify efforts in negotiations on a mutually beneficial agreement on the promotion and protection of investment, it said.
India and Russia also welcomed steps to ensure long-term supply of fertilisers to India and discussed the potential establishment of joint ventures in this area.
