Assam burns, Chief Minister plays blame game

It is generally believed that when the great city of Rome was burning in 64 AD, the Roman Emperor Nero was playing his fiddle. Although, over the years, many well known historians have questioned the credibility of this account and modern research studies have all but ruled out the possibility of a "fiddling" Nero, the same cannot be said about the present Chief Minister of Assam, Mr. Tarun Gogoi. for quite some time now, Assam has been hogging the headlines for all the wrong reasons. And, the Chief Minister, through his own handling of the media, has created an image of honest but inept administrator.
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First, it was one of the legislators from the CM's own party, Rumi Nath, who created quite a stir by eloping with a state government employee named Jakir, after abandoning her husband and a two year old daughter. Her elopement, conversion and illegal marriage to Jakir and the subsequent thrashing, that the pair was subjected to by a mob, catapulted all the actors to national stardom.
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Even before the ripples of this incident died down, a girl, barely out of her teens, was brutally molested, beaten up and almost stripped on the main arterial road of Guwahati, the G.S. Road, by a group of 15-20 youths and the whole incident was filmed too! Despite identifying the perpetrators from the video footage, the police simply sat on it and only after national media started highlighting the incident, they woke up. Ultimately, all the perpetrators could be arrested, but not before, the CM himself, created controversy by first disclosing the identity of the victim to the media and then by asking them to ignore it.
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Then came the unfortunate murder of a budding research scholar Pritam Bhattacharjee, who was mugged, kidnapped and ultimately murdered at Naugachia station in Bihar. In this case too, both the Bihar police and the Assam government were accused of being inactive by the deceased boy's family members, as well as, by the national media.
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And, then came the biggest and baddest of them all, the ethnic riots in Kokrajhar, Chirang and Dhubri districts of Assam, that led to more than 50 persons losing their lives and more than 170,000 persons to take shelter in relief camps after being displaced from their homes. In this instance too, the state government was caught napping.
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If we consider the demographic profile of the lower Assam's districts on the north bank of the Brahmaputra, the majority of the population can be divided in to three ethno-linguistic groups - Assamese, Bengali and Bodo. The Bodos, who had been fighting for their own homeland, were granted the status of an autonomous region within Assam, called Bodoland Territorial Areas District (BTAD) administered by the autonomous Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC). The territory came into existence under the BTC Accord and the territories under BTAD overlap with the districts of Kokrajhar, Baksa, Chirang and Udalguri in Assam. These are the very districts, where tensions between the Bodos and Bengali Muslims have been simmering for some time now. The Bodos fear that the continuous influx of Bengali Muslims from Bangladesh will eventually lead to a situation, when Bodos will become marginalized in their own homeland. On the other hand, the non-Bodo communities living in the BTAD territory fear that the Bodos would either deprive them or force them to leave the BTAD areas. This ill feeling between the communities have resulted in clashes earlier too, but those were much smaller in comparison.
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Since the partition and independence of India, there has been a steady inflow of illegal immigrants from East Pakistan and then Bangladesh. It has been claimed that this illegal influx is primarily responsible for changing the demographic profiles of different districts in Assam, especially the ones bordering Bangladesh. There have also been multiple agitations in the state demanding the detection and deportation of illegal immigrants.
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However, the situation has not changed much, over the years, and the influx continues till date, although at a much reduced scale, as per the claims of government agencies. Not only the Bodos, but Assamese and other indigenous communities also, have been vocal about this problem. Even a barbed wire fencing on the international border seem to have little effect on the illegal infiltration.
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The immediate trigger for the latest round of clashes was the news of the murder of 4 ex-Bodo Liberation Tigers rebels, ostensibly at the hands of Bengali Muslims. As the news spread, armed posse of Bodos attacked villages with substantial Bengali Muslim population. Those who could flee, were lucky to have escaped death, but their houses were burnt down. After the first wave of attack, the Bengali Muslims also retaliated in the same manner and the clashes resulted in more than 170,000 people from both the communities to flee their homes and take shelter in the camps set up by the state government. Those who were not lucky enough, were killed and the death toll, according to official estimate, has been put at 58, while unofficial sources point at a much higher figure.
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When these clashes started, the state government was conspicuous by its inaction. By the time the state government woke up from its slumber, full scale violence had erupted in Kokrajhar, Chirang and Dhubri districts, with both the communities baying for the other's blood. The Chief Minister, known for keeping a "smiley face" always, came across as an inept administrator, who had no clue whatsoever as to the happenings in his state. His statements lacked conviction and the words were seldom backed up by law and peacekeeping actions by his administration. Instead of mobilizing the central forces, in addition to the state police forces, the government allowed the rioters to have a field day for more than 48 hours. It was only when the central government started to breathe down the state government's neck, the army were called in. Had the Chief Minister and his government been proactive, the situation might not have escalated in to a full blown war between the communities. A timely intervention by the government could have saved many lives. It could also have prevented several thousands of people from suffering the trauma of being displaced from their homes, loss of their properties and livelihoods.
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On his part, Tarun Gogoi, the Chief Minister, blamed the Indian Army, claiming that the army top brass had wasted precious time by not taking any action, despite repeated requests from the state government. He also claimed that had the army personnel been deployed in time, the casualties would have been much lower. He also refused to accept that his administration had failed miserably in maintaining the law and order in the state and to protect the lives and properties of innocent citizens.
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I understand that as the administrative head of the state, it was and it is, Mr. Gogoi's duty to ensure the safety of life, livelihood and properties of the inhabitants of the state. And, however much he may deny, ultimately the buck stops at his door only. It seems that inaction has become the new mantra for his administration, as has been highlighted repeatedly over the period of last few months. Instead of owning up the responsibility and accepting the mistakes, the CM chose to play a round of blame game. The only parallel that I can think of is that of Nero, as has been outlined in the first paragraph. Perhaps, Mr. Gogoi is serving his last term as the state's CM and when the time for the next assembly election arrives, he will have to pass the mantle of leading the ruling party in to the election, to one of his junior colleagues. Already, the political circles of the state are abuzz with such a possibility and the name of Mr. Himanta Biswa Sarma, the Education Minister in Gogoi's cabiner, is doing the rounds as the hot favourite to succeed him.

Lawlessness on Guwahati road - A Bar, a hapless girl, 20 ruffians and non-existent humanity

Are we, the citizens of India, on a progressive or regressive path? The question popped up because of numerous incidents of human rights violations, which have occurred in recent times. Ideally, such incidents should not have occurred in a law-abiding, genteel, cultured and to a large extent, educated society. Unfortunately, there is no sign of a decline of similar incidents; rather, these have, over the period of time, grown in numbers. It has almost become a routine for us to be greeted with some news of abuses and tortures being committed on, common citizens, especially women. In spite of our senses being somewhat blunted by repeated occurrence of these, the free for all attack on a hapless girl on the late evening of 9th July at Guwahati, came as a real shocker. The brazen manner, in which a group of around 20 men pulled the girl by her hair, slapped and kicked her, torn her dresses and all the while smiled and posed for the benefit of the camera crew capturing the incident, clearly showed the perpetrators to be appallingly imperious and devoid of any respect or fear for the law of the land. That the incidence took place on the busiest road of Guwahati, the GS Road, at 9.30 pm, only makes it more chilling. 
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The perpetrators of the crime, as identified from
the video, that was recorded by a news crew.
Image source: IBN Live.

When I first saw the clippings of a girl being slapped around, manhandled, abused and insulted in every conceivable manner, by a group of men, who were least bothered about the fact that they were being captured live in the act, I was shocked to the core. Was this the same Guwahati which I know, or should I say, I knew? What happened that late evening was not a part of Guwahati that I hold so dear to my heart.
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The different pieces of the Monday night's jigsaw, when added, show a really disturbing pattern. There have been multiple versions of the incidents that led to the public humiliation of the girl, who had lost her parents at a very tender age and was staying with a friend's family.
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According to the official statements by the police chief of Guwahati, the girl, along with some friends, had gone to the lounge bar for celebrating a friend's birthday. Once inside, a fight broke out among them and all members of the group were thrown out of the bar. Outside, a group of youths passed some lewd comments and the girl protested, leading to the abominable incident. There are some counter arguments too. According to some eyewitness account, two girls had come out of the bar. Seeing them alone, a group of youths standing by the nearby pan shop, tried to act in a vulgar way, and when the girl slapped one of them, all hell broke loose. 
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Main accused Amar Jyoti Kalita, in a red tee, is
seen abusing the girl. I have "jittered" her face.
Image Source: Captured from YouTube Video.

But, noted social and rights activist Akhil Gogoi, has altogether a different story to tell. He told NDTV that Gaurav Jyoti Neog, a reporter from NewsLive, the television channel owned by Congress leader and Health Minister of Assam, Himanta Bishwa Sharma, was the mastermind behind the ghastly attack. He alleged that Neog had tried to pull the girls to a waiting car and when they resisted, he incited the mob to attack the girl, while her friend somehow ran away. Mr. Gogoi also held a press conference to claim that he had the necessary evidence, in the form of raw video footage of the incident, to implicate Neog. He also alleged that Neog was heard telling the leader of the mob, to bring the girl to a well-lit area, because the video quality was suffering due to low light. It has to be noted that the incidence occurred at a place that was barely 300-400 meters from the News Live's office and the whole incident was captured by the on duty correspondent and camera crew of News Live.
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Mr. Mukul Kalita, Editor, Ajir Oxom. He was the only
person to come forward and save the girl.
Image Source: OhFish.

Whatever may be the cause, the fact remains that a 20 year old girl was abused on the main arterial road of Guwahati, the G.S. Road, for 40 minutes, without anybody raising their voice in protest. More surprisingly, the place was barely one kilometer away from the nearest police station and also from the seat of power, the state secretariat. After being informed, probably by NewsLive personnel, it took the Assam Police more than 40 minutes, to cover the 1 kilometer distance. While the ordeal of the girl lasted for 40 odd minutes, no one came forward to help her, although hundreds of vehicles passed through the road. Some of the passersby were seen capturing the incident in their mobile, while others simply looked the other way. Only when Mr. Mukul Kalita, editor of the Assamese daily Ajir Oxom, reached the spot, the girl found a savior. He valiantly saved her from her attackers and in the process was himself heckled too. Soon afterwards, the police ultimately arrived at the scene and the girl was handed over to them. Surprisingly, they did not even try to arrest the attackers and were seen chatting with some of them! Mr. Kalita told NDTV that even after the police had rescued the girl, the mob followed her into the police jeep that was filled with armed cops, and hit her. One need not be a rocket scientist to understand the nexus between the protectors of the law and the lawbreakers.
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Although, this incident happened on 9th July, Monday, the Assam Police did not do anything till Wednesday, 11th July. They simply sat on the incident without even conducting an inquiry or recording the statement of the victim. On 10th July, Tuesday, News Live showed an edited footage of the incident during their evening news. The next day, Mr. Atanu Bhuyan, the Chief Editor of News Live, uploaded the same clipping to YouTube from his personal account. It was then that the national media and the rights group picked up the incident and gave it a wide publicity. Only after this happened, the Assam Police woke up from the slumber and started a probe. From the video taken by News Live, 13 persons could be identified, including the supposed leader, Amar Jyoti Kalita. But, even after 5 days had passed, the police could only arrest 3 persons, including one, who was identified by the local people of Bijni and handed over to the police.
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Hoardings put up by Assam Public Works,
asking the people to inform the police
on the whereabouts of the perpetrators.
Image Source: India Today.

Meanwhile, activists have been demanding stern actions against the perpetrators of the crime. Local rights groups have put up hoardings at public places in Guwahati, with the mugshots of the perpetrators, with the aim of shaming them publicly. People have also come down heavily on the state government for the lawlessness prevailing in the state. They have alleged that due to the continued patronage by the corrupt and inept political leaders, criminals are enjoying a free run, leading to an increase in such incidents. Even the National Commission for Women (NCW) member Alka Lamba, who had been sent to Guwahati on a fact finding mission, has drawn flak from all quarters due to her inept handling of the case. It may be noted that Alka Lamba has been an active member of the ruling Indian National Congress' student wing NSUI and she is also one among the handpicked new generation leaders, as chosen by Rahul Gandhi. Quite logically, her actions are being seen as trying to protect her brethren in the state government. She has committed the cardinal sin by releasing the name of the victim at a press conference, which is a strict no-no as per Supreme Court of India's directive. Subsequently, Lamba was removed from the investigating team by the NCW Chairperson. In unrelated incident, both Gaurav Jyoti Neog and Atanu Bhuyan have resigned from their respective positions at News Live, purportedly to help conduct a free and fair inquiry in to the role of Neog and News Live in the incident. Although, Neog came out with a written statement claiming innocence, it was subsequently disclosed that the tormentor in chief, Amar Jyoti Kalita, is a close friend of his. A Senior Superintendent of Police has also been transferred.
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But, to me, all these are too little and came too late. The way, the girl's identity was released by Alka Lamba and even the Chief Minister of Assam, Tarun Gogoi, shows their insensitivity and the lack of respect for the law. The CM even had the guts to tell the media persons afterwards, to ignore the matter and not to report the name. However, till today, in one of the YouTube videos, the girl's face is visible and her name, address, class and name of the college can be clearly heard.
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And the way, the perpetrators were behaving in front of the camera, clearly exemplified that they did not fear the law. This "don't care" attitude might have resulted from the fact that they were part of a mob, and thought that the sheer numbers made them invulnerable and beyond the reach of the law. They might also have thought that their "connections" with the persons wielding power, would act as the protective shield. Or more simply, they might have thought that the toothless administration would not be able to do anything against them. The group might have been peeved at the "courage" of two girls going to a bar for drinks and probably took "offence" because one of them had dared to fight back. They might have wanted to teach the girls a lesson for being independent and probably wanted to show her the "true place", where she belongs. Such incidents, almost always, result from the perverted, medieval mentality of the perpetrators, who want to show or stamp the so called "male superiority" over women. It may be noted however, that, individually, most of these men would behave otherwise, and only when they are a part of a larger group of people, their basic instincts come out.
guwahati attack, molestation, stripping girl
Having being born and brought up in Assam, anything related to the state is close to my heart. And, the recent incidents, be it the elopement and conversion of a much married MLA and the subsequent beating, which the pair were subjected to, or the abuse heaped on the girl the other day, only pains me. Probably, people like me can only feel the deep anguish, and cannot do anything actively on our part, to change the scenario. And, the ones, who have the power to affect the changes, choose to look at the other direction. That's the irony of the situation, which makes me, and probably many other citizens, feel so helpless!
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Is there a solution to this? Is there any full-proof way to ensure that no such incidence will take place in future?
guwahati attack, molestation, stripping girl
Many have argued that exemplary punishment should be meted out to the perpetrators of such crime. Social networks are full of messages baying for blood of Amar Jyoti Kalita & Co. People are calling for capital punishment, for stoning to death a la Saudi Arab, for castrating the accused and so on. These type of extreme intolerance is also worrying. But, probably, the common man, like in "A Wednesday", is fed up by the miscarriage of justice, by the lawlessness prevailing in many areas of the country, by seeing the moneyed and the powerful breaking the law and getting away with impunity, repeatedly. In any case, has the hanging of Dhananjay Chatterjee stopped the rapes of women? No. So, at least, I don't know of any full-proof method to ensure that no more atrocities on women are committed in future. For the time being, we can only hope that all those responsible for scarring the girl for the rest of her life, would pay for their crime according to the Indian law, and such incidents will be prevented by the law enforcing agencies in future. After all, we, the common citizens of India, can only hope against hope and nothing else!

Does Pinki Pramanik deserve to be treated like this?

Pinki, at the podium
Image Source: India Today

It was 10th of April, 1986. In a remote area Tilkodi of Baghmundi village of Purulia district in West Bengal, Durgacharan Pramanik and his wife, Pushpa, became the proud parents of a daughter. The family named the baby daughter Pinki. They did not know that in due course of time, this daughter would become a champion athlete, winning medals for the country. Neither they could imagine that after 26 years, they would be facing questions on the gender of their daughter. Theirs was a poor family, like most others in the village, and being from Paramanik clan (traditionally barbers), they fall under the Scheduled Caste (SC) under the Indian law.

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Baghmundi, which borders the state of Jharkhand, is one of the backward villages in West Bengal and lacks even the very basic amenities. Pinki was a natural in athletics and for her, practicing in the early years meant running about 10 km per day by the riverside. She was spotted in her early teens, while participating in an inter-district meet and brought to Calcutta (Kolkata) in the year 2002. In the same yer, Pinki set four state records in her age group. This prompted the Sports Authority of India (SAI) to take her under their fold. In SAI, she was initially trained by Geeta Zutshi, who herself was a champion runner and ex-national record holder.

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In a career, which effectively ran between 2002 and 2006, Pinki won a number of international medals for India, including 2 Gold medals from Asian competitions and a further 3 from the South Asian Games. She also won a team Silver in the Commonwealth Games at Melbourne. After 2006, she has hardly taken part in any competitive events, either due to injuries or as some speculate, due to a hormone imbalance in her body.

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In the recent years, Pinki has been in the news, always for the wrong reasons, be it for carrying an improvised firearm in her bag, for leaving training center without informing anyone or for her reckless lifestyle.
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Whatever may be the reasons for being in the headline, it is well understood that Pinki Pramanik has been a well known person and cannot be considered as equivalent of the helpless and hapless wronged women, without any formal education. Even then, the treatment meted out to her, over the period of last one month or so, has come as a shocker to the most. The episode also raises the question, "If an India international is subjected to such inhuman torture, what would be the fate that would befall an ordinary woman in similar circumstances?"

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Many of you might be thinking as to how Pinki managed to land in such a tight spot in the first place! To understand that, let's go back to the day when Pinki was arrested.
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On 14 June 2012, Pinki was arrested by the Kolkata Police, after her female partner for the last couple of years, a divorcee and a mother of one, filed rape charges against her. She also claimed that Pinki is actually male. The police took Pinki for a check up to a private nursing home in Baguihati, where she was declared to be a male by the attending doctors. And, from here, her ordeal really started.

pinki pramanik gender test man woman boy girl

Since her arrest, she has been remanded in judicial custody by the Barasat Sessions Court. The court also asked that Pinki should undergo gender determination test, in order to be certain about her sex. Since her arrest, she has been lodged at Dum Dum Central Jail. It has been claimed that Pinki has had to tolerate "inhuman torture", both mental, as well as physical, during her stay at the jail.

pinki pramanik sex gender determination test male female organ

As the court could not be certain about Pinki's gender, the police kept Pinki at a separate cell as per the court's directive. However, it has been alleged that Pinki's cell is located within the male ward, thereby causing her considerable mental trauma. As her lawyer rightly pointed out, Indian law demands that an under-trial is presumed innocent till proven guilty. Based on this, Pinki's cell should not have been allotted within the male wards.
pinki pramanik sex gender determination test male female organ
Although, the private nursing home at Baguihati, where police had taken Pinki for getting a gender determination test done, had identified Pinki as male, the court did not accept this. Under the court's directive, Pinki had to undergo further rounds of tests, first at Barasat State Hospital and then at SSKM Hospital. Unfortunately, in both the cases, the teams of doctors could not arrive at a definite conclusion. The one test, which could have solved the riddle - the chromosome and hormone test - could not be conducted at Calcutta and so, her blood samples have been sent to institutes outside of West Bengal.

The gathering at SSKM for a glimpse of Pinki.
Picture Source: The Telegraph, Calcutta.

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During multiple rounds of gender determination tests, Pinki has been treated like a caged animal, put up for show in a zoo. Human rights activists have strongly criticized the “insensitive” handling of the case, resulting in the arrested athlete being repeatedly subjected to insult and public ridicule. The venue and the timings of the tests, have always been publicized beforehand, resulting in huge crowd gatherings at the designated hospitals to catch a glimpse of her. These crowds, at several points of time, have derided Pinki openly.

pinki pramanik sex gender determination test male female organ

"Man"handling of Pinki by the police
Picture Source: BBC World

Rights activists have also criticized the manner in which Pinki has been forced to expose herself repeatedly before male doctors. They further alleged that only male constables were escorting her and even they were behaving inappropriately at time, as the picture on the left side suggests.
pinki molested
Even worse, a 29 seconds MMS clip, showing the athlete completely nude and undergoing gender determination tests at the private Baguihati clinic has been uploaded over the Internet, and has gone viral in no time. Till I write this, police officials haven't even bothered to investigate this issue. Official statements from the department of police have pointed out that till a formal complaint is filed, they cannot do anything on their own. However, critics point out that police could have taken suo moto cognizance in the case and should have started an official investigation to nab the culprits responsible for recording and circulating the MMS.
pinki pramanik sex gender determination test male female organ
Pinki herself, told The Telegraph while coming out of SSKM, “I have never been harassed like this in my life. I feel so embarrassed... I can’t express my feeling!”
pinki pramanik sex gender determination test male female organ
Her father, Durgacharan Pramanik, also told The Telegraph, “People are gathering to watch her as if she is a caged animal. Even lawyers and policemen are making fun of my daughter. She has done so much for the nation. Does she deserve to be treated like this?”
pinki pramanik sex gender determination test male female organ
Activists and social workers have theorized that Pinki's rural family background and the lack of monetary resources, have emboldened the perpetrators in to believing that they will get away with impunity. They further contend that as Pinki's parents or direct family members are not in a position to strongly object to the inhuman treatment being dished out or as they are unable to take up cudgels on her behalf, the concerned persons have taken Pinki for a free ride. They also point out the social status of the so called "lower caste" Pramaniks as another contributing factor to Pinki's ordeal.
pinki pramanik sex gender determination test male female organ
Some people on the know of things related to the whole incident, have expressed their reservation over the original allegation of rape itself. It has been variously speculated that Pinki's troubles started when she refused to pay her female partner a specified amount, which the partner had demanded in return for vacating Pinki's flat. This refusal prompted the partner to file the charges against Pinki. They have also pointed out to the passage of more than two years of time, during which, the alleged victim did not raise the issue at all.
pinki pramanik sex gender determination test male female organ
Whatever may be the reason behind the complaint, the entire episode has highlighted that even in the twenty first century, the mentality of our people and society as a whole and even the protectors and upholders of law, i.e. the police force, are yet to change. It seems that we are caught in a time warp, and it will take more time and effort to leave our nineteenth century ideas and ideals behind us.
pinki pramanik sex gender determination test male female organ
The episode has also highlighted another dangerous trend, that of the treatment meted out to single woman, who would want to live life on their own terms. It shows the entire conservative society in a poor light and emphasizes that the society is yet to accept women as  equal to men.
pinki pramanik sex gender determination test male female organ
Lastly, the episode has sounded a very timely alarm bell, that even today, the caste and clout matter a lot. Had Pinki been from a so called upper class background or had a wealthy family backing with urban upbringing, probably her ordeals would have been considerably lesser. That I have to write this in 2012, pains me a lot, but unfortunately, this is how the Indian system functions.
pinki pramanik sex gender determination test male female organ
No amount of legislation or fear of punishment can change the way Indian society treats its women members. Only a sustained effort at changing the perception of the society, which should start at the grassroots level and gradually move upwards, may bring about the positive change, that is so desired by the rights activists and victims alike. Till that happens, we may see many more Durgacharan Pramaniks asking helplessly, and with tear in their eyes, 

"Does she deserve to be treated like this?"