This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jan/15/india-gang-rape-women-attitudes
The article has changed 8 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 5 | Version 6 |
|---|---|
| Indian culture war breaks out over Delhi gang rape | Indian culture war breaks out over Delhi gang rape |
| (4 months later) | |
| Standing outside the arts faculty of Delhi University, the young men and women drink tea and ready themselves for the protest. | Standing outside the arts faculty of Delhi University, the young men and women drink tea and ready themselves for the protest. |
| They are from the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), a student organisation that claims more than 2 million members in India and supports a strongly conservative, nationalist agenda. "We want to make our country and its traditions and morals stronger … and through that make our sisters and mothers safe," said Sachin Chandela, 21, who joined the ABVP shortly after the gang rape and murder of a 23-year-old physiotherapy student last month. | They are from the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), a student organisation that claims more than 2 million members in India and supports a strongly conservative, nationalist agenda. "We want to make our country and its traditions and morals stronger … and through that make our sisters and mothers safe," said Sachin Chandela, 21, who joined the ABVP shortly after the gang rape and murder of a 23-year-old physiotherapy student last month. |
| The case has provoked outrage and anger, coming against a background of rising violence to women in India. Reported cases of rape have more than doubled in the past 20 years, according to official data, with women being a high proportion of victims of soaring violent crime too. | The case has provoked outrage and anger, coming against a background of rising violence to women in India. Reported cases of rape have more than doubled in the past 20 years, according to official data, with women being a high proportion of victims of soaring violent crime too. |
| India's supreme court last week declared Delhi "unsafe" for women. But the gang rape case has also led to a fierce and unprecedented debate on attitudes to women in India. Those who say radical social change is essential to make women safer are clashing with conservatives who say the opposite. Some characterise the confrontation as a "culture war". | India's supreme court last week declared Delhi "unsafe" for women. But the gang rape case has also led to a fierce and unprecedented debate on attitudes to women in India. Those who say radical social change is essential to make women safer are clashing with conservatives who say the opposite. Some characterise the confrontation as a "culture war". |
| "There is a conflict and its location is what women can do and not do," said Shoma Chaudhury, managing editor of news magazine Tehelka. Many conservatives maintain "capitalism and consumerism and growing individualism" have led to "decay in the society". Often "westernisation" is blamed. | "There is a conflict and its location is what women can do and not do," said Shoma Chaudhury, managing editor of news magazine Tehelka. Many conservatives maintain "capitalism and consumerism and growing individualism" have led to "decay in the society". Often "westernisation" is blamed. |
| "We must save our culture not just embrace another. These kind of incidents never happened in India 200 or 300 years ago … Back then there was pride in the soil of our country" said Mamata Yadav, a senior ABVP official. The ABVP has seen a surge in membership since the gang rape on 16 December, said ABVP activist Monika Choudhury, 20. "There are so many coming. They are aware of our ideology and so want to join us. They agree there has been a decline in moral values and this encourages problems [such as rape]." | "We must save our culture not just embrace another. These kind of incidents never happened in India 200 or 300 years ago … Back then there was pride in the soil of our country" said Mamata Yadav, a senior ABVP official. The ABVP has seen a surge in membership since the gang rape on 16 December, said ABVP activist Monika Choudhury, 20. "There are so many coming. They are aware of our ideology and so want to join us. They agree there has been a decline in moral values and this encourages problems [such as rape]." |
| Such views expose cultural and social tensions created by the rapid pace of economic changes in India over recent decades. "Almost as shocking as the Delhi gang rape has been the range of voices that have sounded after it. Patriarchy is chillingly omnipresent and kicking harder than ever before," wrote Sagarika Ghose, a TV journalist and commentator. | Such views expose cultural and social tensions created by the rapid pace of economic changes in India over recent decades. "Almost as shocking as the Delhi gang rape has been the range of voices that have sounded after it. Patriarchy is chillingly omnipresent and kicking harder than ever before," wrote Sagarika Ghose, a TV journalist and commentator. |
| There are fears the gang rape could lead to further restrictions on women, rather than greater emancipation. Students at Delhi University spoke of a new pressure from family to avoid public places or "going out". The government of the union territory of Puducherry in the south was set to order all schoolgirls to wear overcoats to "protect them" until a public outry forced a U-turn. Delhi police advised women students to "go straight home after college". | There are fears the gang rape could lead to further restrictions on women, rather than greater emancipation. Students at Delhi University spoke of a new pressure from family to avoid public places or "going out". The government of the union territory of Puducherry in the south was set to order all schoolgirls to wear overcoats to "protect them" until a public outry forced a U-turn. Delhi police advised women students to "go straight home after college". |
| Since the rape, a series of village councils in northern India have banned girls from using mobile phones, wearing "decadent" dress or dancing at weddings. "Almost every villager pressed us to ban the mobile phones use by the schoolgirls saying they are … dangerous for the society and corrupting local cultures," said Sushma Singh, the local village council head in Matapa, Bihar. | Since the rape, a series of village councils in northern India have banned girls from using mobile phones, wearing "decadent" dress or dancing at weddings. "Almost every villager pressed us to ban the mobile phones use by the schoolgirls saying they are … dangerous for the society and corrupting local cultures," said Sushma Singh, the local village council head in Matapa, Bihar. |
| Such attempts to control women's behaviour are rooted in anxiety and the weakness of the Indian state to protect its citizens, said Reicha Tanwar, of Kurukshetra University, in the northern state of Haryana, where sex ratios are among the most skewed in India and there has been a spate of attacks on women. | Such attempts to control women's behaviour are rooted in anxiety and the weakness of the Indian state to protect its citizens, said Reicha Tanwar, of Kurukshetra University, in the northern state of Haryana, where sex ratios are among the most skewed in India and there has been a spate of attacks on women. |
| "When female foetuses are routinely killed, it is not surprising adult women are also viewed as disposable," Tanwar said. "Women cannot be protected by the state so it is understandable people are looking for other solutions." | "When female foetuses are routinely killed, it is not surprising adult women are also viewed as disposable," Tanwar said. "Women cannot be protected by the state so it is understandable people are looking for other solutions." |
| Governance is weak and policing patchy in much of rural India, where 70% of the population live. All of the six on trial for the gang rape and murder were born in poor, deeply conservative, lawless rural areas before going to Delhi. But the ABVP and other rightwing organisations, such as the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) which claims between 4 and 5 million members, see rural India in a different light. | Governance is weak and policing patchy in much of rural India, where 70% of the population live. All of the six on trial for the gang rape and murder were born in poor, deeply conservative, lawless rural areas before going to Delhi. But the ABVP and other rightwing organisations, such as the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) which claims between 4 and 5 million members, see rural India in a different light. |
| RSS leader Mohan Bhagawat provoked an outcry when he said recently that rapes were extremely rare in "Bharat", a Sanscrit-origin word which, in this context, evoked a nostalgic vision of a sub-continent supposedly untouched by foreign influences. | RSS leader Mohan Bhagawat provoked an outcry when he said recently that rapes were extremely rare in "Bharat", a Sanscrit-origin word which, in this context, evoked a nostalgic vision of a sub-continent supposedly untouched by foreign influences. |
| "Bharat means … those who kept their original culture … The [recent gang rape] was a heinous crime. Severe punishment and stringent laws are required … but also we have to go to the roots. Rape in traditional India was never heard of, certainly not gang rape, it is an imported concept," said Manmohan Vaidya, a top RSS official. | "Bharat means … those who kept their original culture … The [recent gang rape] was a heinous crime. Severe punishment and stringent laws are required … but also we have to go to the roots. Rape in traditional India was never heard of, certainly not gang rape, it is an imported concept," said Manmohan Vaidya, a top RSS official. |
| The opposition of a broadly rural "Bharat" and an increasingly urban, globalised "India" touches a deep nerve among many who are disorientated by the pace of change or sense they have much to lose. Many of the increasingly frequent gang rapes have been perpetrated by young, poor, unskilled, often semi-literate men who are low in the tenacious Indian caste system and find little place in new Indian cities, some commentators have argued. Others blame "the values of liberal consumerism". | The opposition of a broadly rural "Bharat" and an increasingly urban, globalised "India" touches a deep nerve among many who are disorientated by the pace of change or sense they have much to lose. Many of the increasingly frequent gang rapes have been perpetrated by young, poor, unskilled, often semi-literate men who are low in the tenacious Indian caste system and find little place in new Indian cities, some commentators have argued. Others blame "the values of liberal consumerism". |
| Shoma Chaudhury, the Tehelka managing editor, said the fallout from the most recent incident had "consolidated the conservative view" even if it had inspired a newly "assertive and self-confident expression of feminism". Her magazine recently surveyed male attitudes in India. | Shoma Chaudhury, the Tehelka managing editor, said the fallout from the most recent incident had "consolidated the conservative view" even if it had inspired a newly "assertive and self-confident expression of feminism". Her magazine recently surveyed male attitudes in India. |
| "The conservative argument does have purchase. Modernity is seen only as wearing skimpy clothes, not plurality and the assertion of the individual's rights. There is agreement even from conservatives on issues such as women working … [the conflict] is all over sexuality," Chaudhury said. The faultlines run deep. Even at Delhi University, students were at odds. "We want to be [economically] developed but without losing our culture," said Neha Singh, 22, an ABVP activist. | "The conservative argument does have purchase. Modernity is seen only as wearing skimpy clothes, not plurality and the assertion of the individual's rights. There is agreement even from conservatives on issues such as women working … [the conflict] is all over sexuality," Chaudhury said. The faultlines run deep. Even at Delhi University, students were at odds. "We want to be [economically] developed but without losing our culture," said Neha Singh, 22, an ABVP activist. |
| Standing under a Delhi police poster saying "Being a woman should not make you feel vulnerable", student Kanika Sharma, 19, disagreed. "It is all about the mentality of the boys. They think because they are men they can do anything. But girls should get equal rights and opportunities. They wear western clothes but [their] mentality stays the same," she said. | Standing under a Delhi police poster saying "Being a woman should not make you feel vulnerable", student Kanika Sharma, 19, disagreed. "It is all about the mentality of the boys. They think because they are men they can do anything. But girls should get equal rights and opportunities. They wear western clothes but [their] mentality stays the same," she said. |
| Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning. | Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning. |