Skip to main content

Would cops ever care to agree? Eve teasing isn't (and wasn't) always a case of mistaken identity

Recently, there was some controversy (storm in a teacup?) around a photograph. A photo went viral on the social media following an unemployed youth demonstration in Lucknow, picked up by several Facebook and Twitter enthusiasts, including journalist Rohini Singh, who claimed in a tweet it was a clear case of sexual harassment of a female demonstrator at the hands of a UP cop. 
I couldn’t find the tweet, which I believe she must have deleted following a UP police “clarification” that, “since the crowd was huge, it was difficult to distinguish between the genders on the basis of their attire”, hence, by mistake, “the female protestor was taken away by the police personnel, after mistaking her for a man.” It added, “Even the female protestor has acknowledged the misunderstanding caused over the attire.”
A video simultaneously went viral where the female protestor is seen stating that she was indeed a protester near Gate No 1 of Lucknow University, but the cops mistook her “for a boy” due to her dress, hence the talk of “sexual harassment at the hands of the police personnel” does not stand. She targeted Rohini Singh for the tweet. Some commentators on the UP police “clarification”, carried on its twitter handle, suspected that the protesting girl must have given her denial “under duress”.
While the alleged sexual harassment took place on September 17, and the UP police clarification came on the next day, a concerned academic, who has authored several interesting blogs, which we published in Counterview, sent me a WhatsApp message a couple of days later, attaching the photograph, stating, “Hi Rajiv. I'm so upset with this event...”, adding, “If the present generation handles the future generation like this.... the situation is grave...”
The message, which was also shared as a “friends of friends” post on Facebook (one reason why I am not revealing this academic’s name), said, “We already moved from Siya-Ram to Shri Ram in the country”, wondering, “Will Sita be even required in this society?”, apparently suggesting how the misogynic atmosphere atmosphere has now gripped Indian society, which perhaps may not have been the case earlier.
While this academic insisted that the parents should start teaching “boys empathy and equality and when will men learn to behave like men...”, adding there should be “nationwide” condemnation with “necessary legal action on the police”, even as appealing to “friends” -- officials, activists, mediapersons and in those politics -- to take up women dignity as a priority, there was indeed nothing to disagree except one fact: That today the “present generation” is handling “future generation” like this.
Maybe the cop concerned acted the way he did because of the mistaken identity (or did the girl give the statement under duress?), yet, the fact is, it’s not a generational issue at all. Misogyny that prevails today existed in full force, at least in Delhi, where I spent all most of my early life. Travelling in a Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) bus, I remember, it was a norm when women, especially young college going girls, were teased. I personally saw this happening, with goons going so far as to pinch breast. Using abusive language was a normal.
While nobody ever protested for fear of being beaten up, I recall how once when we, as members of the left-wing All-India Students’ Federation (AISF), were travelling in a DTC bus, the eve teasers were confronted and silenced. We were all boys, except for for one – Amarjeet Kaur, who happened to be our leader. She was sitting while we all, standing next to her, were listening to what she had say about our activities.
Suddenly, a group entered the bus, and one one them said, “Hamse bhi kucch bate kar lo jee” (talk to us as well, my dear), and Amarjeet shouted at them: “Come here, I will teach you a lesson of your lifetime.” The eve teasers saw something may have gone wrong, jumped off the bus on the next stop. Amarjeet today is general secretary, All-India Trade Union Congress.
In another event, a classmates in BA (Hons) English, told us what happened when she was sitting alone in a University Special (they were called U-Specials, they were all DTC buses carrying students to the university and back).
The girl, usually quiet and sober, said, “Since the U-special had parked, I though of taking the best of the seat in the front row. Other students were yet to turn up. Suddenly, a young hatta-katta youth entered the U-special, took the seat next to me. He had a chana wrapped in paper in his hand, and tried teasing me: ‘Have some chana, my dear’. I decided to tell him who I was, took my brother’s name, who is a student leader. And this person quietly slipped out.”
I told this academic, who agreed with me, that the situation was and appears to have remained the same as far as eve teasing is concerned, except for one difference: That there is a lot of awareness today, which was the case those days. There was, in fact, lot of indifference towards eve teasing. Such movements like #MeToo and social media campaigns against misogyny have seem to have changed things. The UP police denial following tweets on the young girl a proof.
Let me add this as a post-script: I found, those days, and perhaps today too, eve teasing was common in Delhi (and perhaps other North Indian cities) as compared to Gujarat, where I haven’t found it happening on that scale. Someone must do some sociological analysis about the reason. Is is because most of the schools (and many colleges, too) in Delhi were only for boys and only for girls, which isn’t (and wasn’t) the case in Ahmedabad, where coeducation is a norm?

Comments

TRENDING

Dalit rights and political tensions: Why is Mevani at odds with Congress leadership?

While I have known Jignesh Mevani, one of the dozen-odd Congress MLAs from Gujarat, ever since my Gandhinagar days—when he was a young activist aligned with well-known human rights lawyer Mukul Sinha’s organisation, Jan Sangharsh Manch—he became famous following the July 2016 Una Dalit atrocity, in which seven members of a family were brutally assaulted by self-proclaimed cow vigilantes while skinning a dead cow, a traditional occupation among Dalits.  

Powering pollution, heating homes: Why are Delhi residents opposing incineration-based waste management

While going through the 50-odd-page report Burning Waste, Warming Cities? Waste-to-Energy (WTE) Incineration and Urban Heat in Delhi , authored by Chythenyen Devika Kulasekaran of the well-known advocacy group Centre for Financial Accountability, I came across a reference to Sukhdev Vihar — a place where I lived for almost a decade before moving to Moscow in 1986 as the foreign correspondent of the daily Patriot and weekly Link .

Boeing 787 under scrutiny again after Ahmedabad crash: Whistleblower warnings resurface

A heart-wrenching tragedy has taken place in Ahmedabad. As widely reported, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner plane crashed shortly after taking off from the city’s airport, currently operated by India’s top tycoon, Gautam Adani. The aircraft was carrying 230 passengers and 12 crew members.  As expected, the crash has led to an outpouring of grief across the country. At the same time, there have been demands for the resignation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and the Civil Aviation Minister.

Ahmedabad's civic chaos: Drainage woes, waterlogging, and the illusion of Olympic dreams

In response to my blog on overflowing gutter lines at several spots in Ahmedabad's Vejalpur, a heavily populated area, a close acquaintance informed me that it's not just the middle-class housing societies that are affected by the nuisance. Preeti Das, who lives in a posh locality in what is fashionably called the SoBo area, tells me, "Things are worse in our society, Applewood."

Global NGO slams India for media clampdown during conflict, downplays Pakistan

A global civil rights group, Civicus has taken strong exception to how critical commentaries during the “recent conflict” with Pakistan were censored in India, with journalists getting “targeted”. I have no quarrel with the Civicus view, as the facts mentioned in it are all true.

Remembering Vijay Rupani: A quiet BJP leader who listened beyond party lines

Late evening on June 12, a senior sociologist of Indian origin, who lives in Vienna, asked me a pointed question: Of the 241 persons who died as a result of the devastating plane crash in Ahmedabad the other day, did I know anyone? I had no hesitation in telling her: former Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani, whom I described to her as "one of the more sensible persons in the BJP leadership."

Whither SCOPE? Twelve years on, Gujarat’s official English remains frozen in time

While writing my previous blog on how and why Narendra Modi went out of his way to promote English when he was Gujarat chief minister — despite opposition from people in the Sangh Parivar — I came across an interesting write-up by Aakar Patel, a well-known name among journalists and civil society circles.

A conman, a demolition man: How 'prominent' scribes are defending Pritish Nandy

How to defend Pritish Nandy? That’s the big question some of his so-called fans seem to ponder, especially amidst sharp criticism of his alleged insensitivity during his journalistic career. One such incident involved the theft and publication of the birth certificate of Masaba Gupta, daughter of actor Neena Gupta, in the Illustrated Weekly of India, which Nandy was editing at the time. He reportedly did this to uncover the identity of Masaba’s father.

Why India’s renewable energy sector struggles under 2,735 compliance hurdles

Recently, during a conversation with an industry representative, I was told how easy it is to set up a startup in Singapore compared to India. This gentleman, who had recently visited Singapore, explained that one of the key reasons Indians living in the Southeast Asian nation prefer establishing startups there is because the government is “extremely supportive” when it comes to obtaining clearances. “They don’t want to shift operations to India due to the large number of bureaucratic hurdles,” he remarked.