Justice for sale 31 May 2007
Posted by bornonacusp in Dateline: Delhi.add a comment
It’s so familiar it’s not funny.
A TV network here in Delhi last night aired a sting operation exposing an attempt to let off the hook the main accused in a 1999 hit-and-run case that killed five people. The sting operation — filmed with a hidden camera by a key witness to the case — has caught the public prosecutor and the defense lawyer conniving to stop the witness from testifying against the accused, a young heir to an old-rich family.
That young man, Sanjeev Nanda, is alleged to have been the intoxicated driver behind the wheel of a speeding BMW car that mowed down six people — killing five of them — here in the capital eight years ago. Over the years, all witnesses save for one have reversed their testimonies, saying it was in fact a truck that had run over the victims.
This solitary witness has now revealed video footage that show four different conversations — with the public prosecutor, the defense lawyer, and a middleman — that speak of a deal being negotiated for him to bail out Nanda in exchange for Rs 2 crore (1 crore=10 million).
An uproar has followed the exposé. Last night’s viewers were quick to ask for the two lawyers’ heads; or at least their disbarment. There is widespread condemnation of the entire Indian justice system: Justice is for the rich, of the rich, by the rich, people say. The police, meanwhile, are now busy going back to their “scientific” evidence — including bloodstains found on Nanda’s BMW — and rethinking their strategy to pursue the case.
The events are familiar to me in many ways.
Not the least of which is the slow grind of the courts and justice system. In the Philippines too, the pursuit of justice for those who are wronged can take the form of an epic, where the wait may just be as painful as the result of the crime itself. And there are many reasons for this. For one, the courts perennially suffer from severe case backlogs that you can hardly blame the judges and the personnel for the pace. But there is influence-peddling too, where ties are tightened and bribes are paid in exchange for a favorable course of action either this way or that. Clearly, in this Delhi case, the prime suspect is not an ordinary guy and he could have the means for maneuvering. He is, after all, the grandson of a former Navy Chief and a son of an international arms trader.
I am at the same time reminded of the power of the mass media, and especially, of television. In the Philippines, television has become so ubiquitous that the poorest families will have TV antennaes jutting out from their thatched roofs, even when they probably have only instant noodles to eat for the whole day. There, television is king: It can sell anything, from shampoos to politicians, and it can influence and shape public opinion, trigger uprisings even. The BMW case has clearly shown the power of television too. Seeing video footage of one of the country’s topnotch defense lawyers — a former Member of Parliament, bespectacled, his hair white with the proverbial wisdom of old age — casually discussing the payment of millions of rupees in exchange for a favorable testimony, was enough to send viewers to a rage.
Even the journalist interviewing the defense lawyer could not veil her emotions last night. She pushed, and pushed, and pushed: ‘Did you speak to Kulkarni (the witness) a second time inside a car? Did you or did you not?’ And the defense lawyer says, ‘No.’
And there again is something that smells sadly commonplace: The sight of people in power who can tell lies with a straight face, you can actually imagine them sleeping perfectly soundly at night without a hiccup.
Super-sasta India 28 May 2007
Posted by bornonacusp in Delhi life, Food trip.add a comment
That Hindi word means cheap.
FrenchBeard never fails to go ballistic over the prices of almost everything in Manila. ‘25 pesos for an apple?!’ Which will then prompt me to say, ‘Shush. There’s one billion of you.’ Vegetables? Milk? Even junk-food addicts will thrive here for half of the price of Lay’s. Haircut? Barbers sitting in street corners here, 10 pesos; in an air-conditioned salon, 30. Ironing of clothes? 1.50 per piece.
We’re not even talking about pharmaceutical products, for which there are other (political) reasons why India can afford to sell cheaper, besides having the far bigger volume market. Biogesic versus Paracetamol? (The brand, which is more accessible and preferred by most Pinoys versus the generic, which is how Indians know it)? The branded is easily ten times more expensive.
Among Bengalis actually, they’ve come to call foreigners in India, ‘Damchi.’ Because once upon a time when tourists would come and shop, all the locals could hear was a nonstop exclamation of ‘Damn! Cheap!’ The sound stuck, and the ‘damchi’ name came to be.
But three things which, as far as FrenchBeard knows, are cheaper in the Philippines than here: cigarettes, beer, and Nescafe. For these three, Philippines is at least a third of the price of what it is here.
Which is why before I moved here to stay, whenever I would come he would ask me to lug big sachets of Nescafe for himself and packs of Marlboro Lights for a favorite uncle. Chats with friends will also normally segue to him raving about how cheap San Miguel is. To which will follow a chorus of Ooooh’s. Because Indians (at least those that I’ve met so far) like their ice-cold beer too.
And while their Kingfisher is nice, it is not nearly as fulfilling for me as San Mig Light. Not that I’m a beer-guzzler — far from it — as the drink is mostly an excuse to listen to some good music and have long chats with friends and eat some more. But if the beer I’ll get here is not as good as San Mig anyway — and it’s so much more expensive — why bother? There’s lassi and aam panna, yoghurt-based and mango-based drinks with cumin and mint and other spices — two of all these drinks that I’m only starting to discover and like.
Corruption continues to stalk India’s judiciary 26 May 2007
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The watchdog, Transparency International (TI), says in its latest global report that corruption is “increasingly apparent” in India’s justice system. This despite clear provisions in India’s Constitution establishing the independence and accountability of the judiciary — and resulting in the denial of justice to huge sectors of the population.
India is not alone, for sure. In its Global Corruption Report 2007, TI said bribery has become a “thread” in the “fabric of the judicial process” across the 32 countries covered by its examination. The report said judges, for example, accept bribes to delay or expedite cases, accept or deny appeals, influence other judges or make a decision in a certain way. But with India being India (I mean a country with a staggering one billion people) the numbers will naturally send a shock to most people: The TI report noted with much trepidation that here, some Rs. 2,630 crore (US$580 million) is paid in bribes in a single year.
But whether petty bribery or grand-scale political influence, corruption, in general, undermines judicial systems across the globe. “Everyone loses when justice is corrupted,” TI says, “in particular the poor, who are forced to pay bribes they cannot afford.”
As a Filipino, this is the kind of report that rings too familiar with me. Investigative journalists in the Philippines have reported extensively about corruption in the Philippine judiciary; one seasoned reporter referred to the country’s courts system as dispensing justice “to the highest bidder.” For, indeed, the Philippines has witnessed numerous cases — some petty, others grand — of influence-peddling in the judiciary. Trust in the justice system is low; which I think is among reasons why citizens, especially the poor who will inevitably lose in the “bidding,” choose to turn to other institutions such as the mass media for a quicker fix to their woes.
TI’s 2007 report, however, has positively noted efforts by Philippine lawmakers in pushing the Supreme Court early this year to begin conducting lifestyle checks on judges. It is hoped that by demanding more accountability from judges, the system will be more transparent and thus, less prone to wrongdoing.
I think that building confidence is key, whether in India, the Philippines, or elsewhere. Citizens have to begin to trust the system more, that it will grant them a fair day in court and will issue decisions justly. And quickly. But is it too much to hope for? India, for example, has a judge-to-population ratio of 12 judges per one million. With a caseload like this, even TI admits, they become vulnerable to taking shortcuts, including payoffs.
What does TI propose? A host of solutions, including: promoting more transparent, performance-based appointments; encouraging the media to monitor and report on judicial proceedings and judgements; and fostering the active participation of civil society as watchdog.
These are all long-term solutions. Meanwhile, will the scales of justice continue to tip in favor of the moneyed and well-connected?
Let the tiger keep roaring 24 May 2007
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A century ago tens of thousands of tigers roamed India’s wild. Four of every ten tigers in the entire world called India their home; and India made the regal creature its national animal.
Slowly and surely, the big cat then began to lose its home. Five years ago, studies pegged tiger numbers in India at 3,500. (No missing zeroes there.) Now a major survey of the tiger population is showing that the 2002 estimate was too optimistic: India, in fact, is on its way to losing its tigers. And much of it is to be blamed on human activity.
According to the Wildlife Institute of India, the populations of tigers in some states have dropped by a huge two-thirds in only the past five years. While the report is preliminary and will be completed at the end of the year, what it has found so far is enough to create panic among those working to help preserve India’s tigers. “The results are depressing,” conservationist Belinda Wright was quoted by the Associated Press news agency as saying of the ongoing survey.
Wildlife experts say the tiger population is dying out because of large-scale poaching and illegal trade. While the animal is protected under the United Nations convention on international trade in endangered species, it continues to be hunted down and killed for its prized body parts — skins are used for high-fashion, while bones, for oriental medicine. Activists who trace the trade routes say most of the smuggling happens between India and China, and through Nepal. These groups have long been calling on the governments of the three countries to discuss solutions to the rampant illegal trade.
The most rapid decline appears to be in the state of Madhya Pradesh in central India: In 2002, the number of big cats was 710; today it is a sad 255.
Finding ways to a smaller ecological footprint 23 May 2007
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In the language of sustainable development, “ecological footprint” refers to the demand imposed by a population on nature’s resources such as energy, water, and land. As things are, environment experts are saying that humanity has strained the world’s resources beyond their capacity to regenerate.
Comparatively, India remains closer to the bottom of the list of countries with the highest imbalance between resources and demand. The group, Redefining Progress, pegs India’s overall ecological imbalance at (-)0.10 in a perfect scale of 1.0; a country such as the United Arab Emirates, for example, has an imbalance rate of (-)213.
Still, India can feel the heat, and quite literally. Two priority concerns are the growing scarcity of water and the increasing demand for energy. The population is simply putting too much pressure on available resources. Now the country is on its toes finding ways to reducing its ecological footprint.
People are calling these proposals, “Making a Smart Start.”
One is to harvest rain. The idea is to catch rainwater and direct it into a harvesting tank — the bottom of which is a filter bed made of layers of boulders, gravel, sand, and charcoal. From the tank, filtered water is used either for non-drinking purposes or sent deep down into the ground through a PVC pipe to recharge groundwater. Experts say the system is not difficult to install, and requires maintenance once or twice a year at little cost, especially if managed by communities.
The other idea is to commute wisely. Meaning, that citizens must avoid wasting their fuel consumption, by not taking their private vehicles when they can either use public transport like trains and buses or hitch a ride in a car pool. Or better, walk or ride a bicycle. The reason why this makes sense in Delhi, for example, is in the numbers. As much as 10.8 percent of Delhi’s urbanised area is required to park the 1.3 million cars that ply the city’s roads — just a little less than the city’s entire forest cover. And, this: the more than a million private cars on Delhi’s roads actually carry only one-third of the city’s commuters.
See, they really are smart ideas.
Which again reminds me of the Philippines. In the capital, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority has been trying to declog the city’s roads through various means, including disallowing public buses that are at least 20 years old. Officials there have also tried launching a campaign to promote the use of car pools, given that, much like India, the private vehicles plying the streets carry a small volume of the entire commuting population and thus, result in the waste of energy. Sadly, the roads are still jammed, and energy is still not efficiently used. Maybe it’s time to step up.
And water-harvesting will make sense in the Philippines. After all, when the monsoon rains come, the archipelago becomes one huge catchment area altogether.
Indian traders lose out to supermarket chains 21 May 2007
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I have a theory. And I’m not saying it’s thoroughly original, maybe it’s been said somewhere before but now I’m thinking about it. My theory is that there is so much more in common between the Philippines and India than most citizens of both countries are aware of, but it’s just that everything in India is magnified a thousand times for sheer population size.
I read a report on BBC online that only seeks to reinforce it. The growth of supermarket chains, says the report, is beginning to kill small-time Indian traders. As more Indians choose to shop in air-conditioned, sprawling complexes where everything is under one roof — from spices to books, to clothes and electronic commodities — the noisy and colorful street retail vendors are being abandoned.
The story, of course, that we have been hearing more of in the last two or three years is that as India’s economy is booming, the country’s middle-class is growing at an exponential rate. This huge section of the population possesses the purchasing power that allows them to participate in consumerist activities, one of which is shopping in so-called “western-style” supermarket chains. The market volume is growing fast enough to make businesspeople salivate with mere thought of their potential sales.
While the Philippine economy is not growing as fast as that of India, the parallelism is in the David-versus-Goliath theme, the manner in which shopping complexes have taken over the traditional role of the public markets. In the Philippines, these shopping complexes — or malls — have been mushrooming like mad. In the process, the small retailers in public markets are seeing a huge slump in business, with many of them eventually giving up.
Indian shoppers interviewed by BBC say convenience is key to why they have taken to shopping malls like lovestruck teenagers. An executive of Spencer’s — owner of hypermarts here in the capital Delhi and the suburbs — puts it this way: “We would like to provide consumers a 360-degree solution: the husband can browse through the bookstores, while his wife shops and their children grab a snack at the cafe.” A sexist remark, definitely, but his point is who will argue against convenience?
Indeed, who will? FrenchBeard and I were just at Spencer’s a couple of days back, buying fruits and bread and other stuff to fill the fridge and cupboards. With some of the produce, we refused to purchase from there because they were too pricey compared to those stocked in our small neighborhood stores, but we still did go home from Spencer’s with quite a big loot.
Turmeric leaves a nasty stain 20 May 2007
Posted by bornonacusp in Delhi life, Domesticity, Food trip.1 comment so far
And my fingertips are still yellowish.
Turmeric is an important spice in India that is bright yellow in color and is aromatic. It is used in cooking a variety of dishes, for medicinal purposes, and religious rites as well. I have turmeric stains on my hand because we had just used the spice to make dahl, a dish of lentils and spices that is a staple of Indian homes. (While Indian cuisine widely varies depending on where you are in this vast sub-continent, dahl may be one of those dishes which you can find everywhere.)
Dahl is inexpensive, easy to prepare, and rich in protein. I am told that there are thousands of ways of preparing dahl, and what we cooked is from one of FrenchBeard’s own recipes. Dahl itself has different sorts: red, yellow, black. The size of the beans also vary. We used yellow dahl of the big variety.
The dahl is rinsed, placed in a bowl and mixed with water (one part to five), quartered potatoes, some salt and turmeric. It is mixed, best with the hand (the right one, never the left). Then it is soaked for half an hour, and pressure-cooked for five minutes. (And you get that turmeric smell out which just really whets my appetite.)
While it is cooling down, prepare all the rest of your other ingredients and spices. For this recipe, we decided to jazz it up with thinly chopped tomatoes, onions, some ginger, cumin seeds and green chillies. The boiled dahl is transferred to a pot with all the other ingredients, and cooked in low fire for another five minutes.
Voila! You’ve got your dahl. Now bring out that chapati (flat whole wheat bread, very healthy).
The closest that I can think of to a parallel is the Pinoy ginisang mungo. Though in that dish (at least in my mother’s recipe) the predominant taste would probably be the talbos ng kamote (tender leaves of the sweet-potato). And Pinoys will of course say, We don’t eat mungo with bread!
Sleepless in Delhi 20 May 2007
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Today I learned that an increasing number of women here in Delhi are starting to show signs of “dissomnia,” or a condition where good, peaceful sleep simply eludes you. Sleep experts are saying the number of women suffering from sleep disorder has increased three times in the last few years. Why? Because of stress brought on by a host of triggers, including long commutes from office to home and staying up for late-night parties. Doctors note that patients flocking to their sleep clinics largely belong to the most productive age group of 25 to 45. And for those working in call centres, the problem is even more pronounced. Keeping odd hours at work, they are deprived of their normal biological cycles. The lack of sleep makes them anxious, which, in turn, keeps them from sleeping well. A vicious circle indeed. So what is the doctor’s obvious advice? Lessen the stress. But how exactly to do that, when you have a career and a home to take care of, plus recreation activities to boot (which, ironically, are supposed to give us rest but make us lose precious sleep too.) As always, life — the urban, cosmopolitan kind in this case — gives some, and takes some. Moderation may be the key; but then I’m not one to talk about that.
Have rupees, will travel 19 May 2007
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A first-time flier looks out his window and asks a steward, “Wo rui kya ha?” And he is gently told, That isn’t cotton, it’s clouds.
Flying has gotten so cheap in this country, that the skies have been opened up to a huge number of small-towners able to make use of the power of their rupees to travel. (Often, say crew members interviewed recently by the newspaper Times of India, the results can be hilarious such as in the dialogue above; most first-timers can be overwhelmed by what to them are the complexities of an aircraft.)
Yet it is not only the mushrooming of low-cost carriers that have become the boon of the Indian economy. Life just really continues to get better and better for certain sections of the population that, today, travelling is a luxury that more of them can afford. The Times’ weekend supplement, for example, devotes half of its 40 pages to travel adverts and has a cover story too on the travel bug. The markets of these ads are a mixture of the most exotic spots in India as well as foreign destinations as varied as Hong Kong and Turkey, Singapore and Ireland. There is a surfeit of travel packages here and there, and the airlines, hotels, and other related industries are having a ball. To me that is quite a clear indication that things are changing.
The world beckons, and India heeds. Even among, says, government rank-and-file bureaucrats, or teachers, and other wage-earning families, travel for leisure is now an option.
And that may be something to crow about. After all, in the Philippines for example, travelling is still more of a luxury that most families will choose to place on the back burner. As a proportion of the standard monthly wages, expenses for leisurely trips are comparatively higher there than how it is here in India.
Of course, when we talk about the exciting vibrance of India’s consumer population, we are talking about families whose heads have work and are thus able to spend first, on necessities, and perhaps then on other commodities like travel. We are not talking about the “other India,” that which is, sadly, being left behind by the economic growth. But that would be a whole new matter to blog about.
Assaulting art 17 May 2007
Posted by bornonacusp in Dateline: Delhi, The Arts.1 comment so far
“Don’t sing, write, laugh. Only live in fear.” – a placard reads in an artists’ protest for freedom of expression held in Mumbai on May 16
Events of the last week have been cause for outrage among India’s art community; and it’s not that they are reacting too quickly. In what would be the straw to break the camel’s back, a group of activists barged into, and vandalised, an exhibition of work by visual arts students at the Maharaja Sayajirao University in the northern state of Gujarat. The activists, members of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad party, then manhandled 23-year-old student Chandra Mohan whose paintings of nude religious figures they particularly disliked.
The policemen present at the scene acted after the vandalism and arrested — not the VHP activists who created the ruckus — but the artist Mohan. The student spent five days in jail, obtaining temporary liberty after posting bail; he faces several years in prison if found guilty of obscenity. The Dean of Fine Arts refused to close down the exhibition on orders by the University’s vice-chancellor and was suspended. He has gone into hiding for fear of his safety.
The episode has prompted protests from artists in many parts of the country; the newspapers and broadcast news are filled with angry comments. At a rally outside the biggest art gallery in Bombay, film director Saeed Mirza was quoted to have said, “Something has gone wrong, so we stand up and protest.”
Why all the concern? Because in a country where freedoms of expression and speech are among the most tightly guarded constitutional rights, the Gujarat episode only served to reinforce what many observe is a rising intolerance over how artists express issues related to religion and sex.
An Indian sociologist interviewed by BBC News theorises that this divide may be attributed to the “internal dynamics” of the country’s progress: while one section of the country has moved ahead, another is lagging behind.
Long before the Gujarat incident, there have been pockets of protests against other works of art, books, and even Bollywood movies which might have dwelled on themes or provided images that were “offensive to Indian culture” — leaving in their wake workers of art who are left with no other choice but to obey. Perhaps the most missed is renowned Indian artist MF Husain, living in self-exile in London after he was accused of obscenity in various court cases and faced threats to his life. The 91-year-old painter’s sin? Depicting a nude woman in the shape of India.
To a foreigner like me, it is sad. Because you witness these things side-by-side with signs of progress, and it boggles the mind the way archaic thinking can still ram its way through.
And if there is anything that the Hindus that I know will always be proud of, it is that they are tolerant. And eroticism has always been a vital element of Hindu art. So why Husain, Gujarat, and the rest of it? As in many other things in this country, I am only beginning to work on an understanding.
