Kusum Choppra

After those banners, candles, petitions,, rants and slogans,  the slog overs. What have we in hand? A death penalty. Who will locate the rapist, stand witness for death penalty, for surely the girl will be killed. Is anyone aware of the volume of studies on death penalties and their actual deterrence value? Especially when murder is cheaper than rape? What after the Ordinance? Legislation? How?  All those MPs and MLAs are hard boiled politicos, many themselves involved. What would it take to make them vote for a Bill to offer India’s females security? Did legislation work after Mathura and Nirbhaya.  Read and find out. Patriarchy has always existed; but from ‘Avuncular’ in the recent past, it has moved  Now to Rabid! The present lot of ragamuffins and their minders in Parliament will go much beyond That “ cut balonwali” stigmatisation, bolstered by the saffron ladies brigade, to stall any legislation. Now, if wishes were horses— any those ‘ek Dhaka macro’ bri...

Sunday morning the center page story of a leading paper talked about what could be a modern version of the Scorched Earth policy of yore, when retreating forces would torch villages and fields to deny resources to conquering enemy forces.  So often in our history and so dramatically by the Russians to foil Napoleon. Until sometime ago, the last villages on our borders were our Defense  Forces’  eyes and ears that reported the first signs of intrusion. In the northern areas, having at least one family member in the Forces was a matter of family honor.  Post retirement, ex servicemen, especially the lower ranks with inadequate pensions would settle in ancestral homes and till the soil for an additional living, keeping a wary eye all round their segment of Uttarakhand’s border with China, thanks to ingrained training.     Now, while State data reveals 37 attempted intrusions between  2006 - 2011, in July 2017 alone, twice! How has this hap...