'Taliban' aadmis at large on Delhi's streets

WITH the increasing incidences of crime in the Capital, the only solution which the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) could come up with was turning its members into vigilantes, unleashing them on the streets of Delhi.

In a recent incident, Delhi Law Minister Somnath Bharti, accompanied by television crews and AAP volunteers, landed in Khirki Extension alleging that he received 'information' about a sex-drug cartel running from the area. 

He demanded raids be conducted in the houses and all those involved be arrested immediately. 

When the Delhi Police refused, saying they must adhere to due procedure, the politician had a public spat with the police officer. 

An inquiry was also ordered against alleged police inaction. 

In India, as in any civilised country, there are procedures for raiding houses or arresting people. But with Arvind Kejriwal as the Chief Minister, AAP supporters believe they have the power to barge into people's homes and demand arrest, and violate rights of other people. 

In another incident, AAP supporters stopped a car with African women in the night and accused them of prostitution, and demanded they be arrested. 

It is a rule of law that a woman can't be arrested after sunset without prior approval. My question, therefore, to AAP folks: Is this how you protect women in the city? Maybe AAP members have forgotten that reckless vigilantism is dangerous.

AAP volunteers have been feeling that they are morally superior, and they are adopting a 'my way' policy. And everything they do is 'right' to them. 

The AAP's behaviour reminds one of the Taliban, where the so-called supporters and protectors of the people can accuse anyone according to their will. 

The time may not be far off when AAP activists would want to punish people their way. Kejriwal should remember that with great power comes great responsibility - and if this power is not balanced, it may prove fatal for both the party and the people.

© 2014 Nasreen Ghani

Published in Daily Mail and Mail Today:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/indiahome/indianews/article-2542851/WHIPLASH-Taliban-aadmis-large-Delhis-streets.html

The same old message won't stop smokers

(Source: YouTube)

CIGARETTE smoking is injurious to health and may lead to various life-threatening ailments. But do you know what's actually killing and life-threatening at the moment? The anti-smoking advertisements that the audience is forced to watch every time you turn on the television or step into a movie hall.

Every movie - Hollywood or Bollywood - starts with a short film where a very ill Mukesh, "a chain smoker," is dying of oral cancer while the voice in the background talks of how the deadly, black tar gets accumulated in your lungs which "will make you sick… very sick". 

Every time one looks at one of these ads she feels sick, so sick that someday someone might puke on the person sitting next to her.

The situation is no different at home. Whether it is a serial or a feature film, half of the screen is taken up by anti-smoking warnings. This is even more absurd, especially since each film is also preceded by an anti-smoking message with the same information. 

And if, by chance, you are watching a horror flick, then beware! You never know when the next warning might pop up on the screen and give you a heart attack. 

Somehow, the Information & Broadcasting Ministry and the Health Ministry are under the impression that these messages deter youngsters from smoking. 

The day is not far off when warnings will cover the entire screen whenever there is a love-making scene or one featuring alcohol. 

And what about eating junk food? Using abusive language? Fighting random goons? Wielding weapons? Shouldn't we have warnings for these too?

If warnings had stopped people from smoking, those gory visuals on cigarette packs would have done the job.

Instead, all the government is doing with these disclaimers is encouraging people to pirate movies so they don't have to be lectured at while being entertained.

© 2014 Nasreen Ghani

Published in Daily Mail and Mail Today:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/indiahome/indianews/article-2535464/WHIPLASH-The-old-message-wont-stop-smokers.html

Unequal in the eyes of the law

AS the New Year approaches, the shock of the Section 377 judgment might recede into the background - but not for everybody. 

A friend of mine, a man, has been in a live-in relationship with his boyfriend for the past year-and-a-half at a rented south Delhi apartment. 

But, following the judgment, they were asked by the landlord to either move out before he complains to the police, or pay double the rent that they have been paying.

It's important to remember: the debate over 377 isn't just an academic one.

It wouldn't be wrong to say that the Supreme Court's verdict criminalising gay sex has erased the basic human rights of thousands of Indian citizens, and in the process given thousands of others the right to harass the LGBT community. 

We live in a country where love - real, normal love, not the syrupy Bollywood kind - is looked down upon by the masses. 

When lovers from different religious backgrounds elope, that becomes the pretext for a communal riots. Inter-caste marriages often result in cold-blooded murder. 

As if these all-too-common examples of society cracking its regressive whip weren't enough, now the court and cops have the power to prosecute people having consensual sex. 

The Supreme Court might be the highest authority in the land, but nobody should be allowed to brand someone a criminal because the person is in love or having sex. 

And claims that the law is barely used are no excuse - as my friend's case shows, simply having something like this on the books is enough to have a serious impact on the rights and liberties of ordinary people. 

The headlines will change and most people - even those who agitated on behalf of the LGBT community - will move on, but as we enter 2014, we must remember that an entire section of ordinary Indians have been rendered criminals for no fault of their own.

© 2013 Nasreen Ghani

Published in Daily Mail and Mail Today

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/indiahome/indianews/article-2531434/WHIPLASH-Unequal-eyes-law.html

The acid scar on our system

The attacker entering a salon with a jar full of acid.
(Source: Google)

IT wouldn't be wrong to say that India is one of those countries where women are tortured in the worst possible ways. 

They are killed in the womb, or after their birth; if they manage to survive and grow up, many of them are abducted and sexually assaulted and then tossed aside like cigarette butts on the road. 

As if this was not enough, jilted lovers and sexual predators are now increasingly hurling acid at their victims.

A bride-to-be in Ludhiana, who was getting ready for her wedding in a parlour, was scarred for life when a boy threw acid on her face on Saturday. 

The girl was 'punished' for reportedly turning down her tormentor's marriage proposal.

I wonder, from where did he, and many like him, get the courage to attack women so violently? Maybe it's because these men firmly believe in the weaknesses of the law. They probably assume they will never have to go to jail for such crimes, and in case they get caught they would be out on bail. 

The perpetrators seem to think: 'Death would be too easy for her (the victim); I'll give her a life that would be worse than hell.' 

After ruining the life of their 'targets', most culprits continue to live as usual. 

Remember what happened to those who threw acid on Sonali Mukherjee from Jharkhand? While she is still running from pillar to post for financial assistance, her attackers are free (out on bail) to attack their next victim. 

In such cases, if the girl's family doesn't desert her, they go broke financing her infinite number of surgeries and other medical requirements.

The Indian judiciary has failed time and again to ensure justice for acid attack victims and its failures are taking a toll on the defenceless women.

If a country like Bangladesh can significantly bring down the number of acid attacks by taking various measures, why can't India? It's time the law turned an iron hand on these monsters in the skin of men.

© 2013 Nasreen Ghani

Published in Daily Mail and Mail Today:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/indiahome/indianews/article-2520432/WHIPLASH-The-acid-scar-system.html

Certificate to dish out crap movies

A still from Goliyon Ki Rasleele: Ram-Leela (Source: Google)

THE Censor Board, which at times behaves like a moral guardian, pretends to pay close attention to all the schlock that Bollywood manages to churn out every year. 

However, it doesn't take more than a close look at our movies to realise that there is something seriously wrong with the film certification process and its implementation. 

Consider Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Ram-Leela, which is said to be inspired by William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. The pretentious, clichéd film would have made even the Bard turn in his grave.

Also, with the film rated U/A (parental guidance required), many were left wondering how the parents could have guided their children through the intense kissing scenes (which popped up after every few minutes) and the double entendres – and those don't even include the attempted-rape sequences. 

Certainly, the audience would not have missed the fact – if you ever have to get back at someone, then go and rape women from the community. 

Violence, cheap dialogues and semi-clad women are the essential factors in such equation, with a pinch of Honey Singh's retrogressive item numbers simply the 'cherries' on top. 

Don't even think about films where women have to do something more than shed their clothes or be protected from being raped. 

In typical Indian fashion, of course, hypocrisy is not far behind. What's allowed for 'us' is not permitted for 'them'. 

Movies such as Ram-Leela, Boss (with item numbers that have bikini-clad women indulging in pillow-fights) or Agneepath (full of gory fights) pass with a U/A rating with no cuts while movies like The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo aren't even permitted to release in the country under 'A' rating.

It's hard not to blame the Censor Board for encouraging terrible work and being staggeringly hypocritical.

© 2013 Nasreen Ghani

Published in Daily Mail and Mail Today:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/indiahome/indianews/article-2516539/WHIPLASH-Certificate-dish-crap-movies.html