Dear members of End-violence, My message concerns the general problem of sexual violence against women in all types of communal rioting. However, it is illustrated by recent actions in Gujarat, India, and draws on excerpts from the report "How the Gujarat Massacre Affected Minority Women: The Survivors speak" by a women's panel and contributions from Citizen's Initiative.
In India, every communal riot has experienced violence against women, right from the days the country secured Independence. As is well known, Indian Independence from the colonial legacy of the British rule emerged as a result of long drawn out freedom struggle led by Mahatma Gandhi. The Indian independence also led to the partition of the country -- areas where there was a Muslim majority became constituted as Pakistan. India became a secular state where all religions enjoyed equal respect & freedom. The modern Indian State's founding fathers, Gandhi and Nehru, believed that India should be a secular state and practiced the same. Nonetheless, in India, from time to time there has been communal violence between the Hindu community and the Muslim community, causing a lot of loss to lives on all sides, as well as material loss. Certain areas in the country have been communally very sensitive and there has been constant conflagration as well as violence. Gujarat, Mahatma Gandhi's home-state located in the western part of India, is one such area facing perpetual communal violence. Recent violence in Gujarat, which occurred in late February/March 2002, claimed over 800 lives, many of them being women. Given the fact that the data on crimes against women has not been systematically collected, it is impossible to ascertain the extent of the outrage. The crimes against women have been grossly under-reported. It has been strange that the National Commission for Women, mandated as the apex body for protection of the Indian women's rights guaranteed under the Constitution of India, did not visit Gujarat during the recent violence. This raises concerns regarding the understanding and commitment of the institutions responsible for protecting women from violence. The District Collector of Panchmahals District of Gujarat told a team investigating the cases of violence against women: "Maintaining law and order is my primary concern. It is not possible to for me to look into cases of sexual violence. If something is brought to my notice, I can take action, but nothing more than that?" During our visits to the camps, we were besieged with detailed testimonies from rape victims and eyewitnesses, both activists and family members who witnessed the crime. In the short time, the team at Halol camp (Panchmahals) we got information about four incidents of rape. We also saw video footage where women spoke of witnessing rapes. Some of the testimonies are : * Witnessing Mass Rape (including minor girls), Naroda Patia, Ahmedabad, February 28: "The mob started chasing us with burning tyres after we were forced to leave Gangotri Society. It was then that they raped many girls. We saw about 8-10 rapes. We saw them strip 16-year Mehrunissa. They were stripping themselves and beckoning to the girls. Then they raped them right there on the road.. Then they were burnt. Now there is no evidence." (Source : Kulsum Bibi, Shah e Alam Camp, Ahmedabad, March 27) * I saw Farzana being raped by Guddu Chara. Farzana was about 13 years old. She was a resident of Hussain Nagar. They put a rod in Farzana's stomach. She was later burnt. Twelve year old Noorjahan was also raped. The rapists were Guddu, Suresh, Naresh Chara and Haria. I saw Bhawani Singh who works in the State Transport Department kill five men and a boy." (Source : Azharuddin, 13 years. He witnessed the rapes while hiding out on the terrace of Gangotri Society. The Chara Basti is located just behind Jawan Nagar.) Whenever there is widespread violence, the specific acts of violence against women, including the crime of rape, are often considered to be just another part of the overall problem. Yet often women are targeted by the perpetrators to make a political statement, or by terrorists to try to inject fear into a community. It is important to recognise that violence against women needs to be identified as a special form of violence, and actions need to be taken by the authorities which may be different from the steps taken to put an end to overall violence. Furthermore, women victims of rape often need additional treatment, including psychological treatment, and sometimes protection from their own community, which may see the rape victims as "soiled" and expel them from the family and community -- thus they are victims twice over. I hope to see recognition of the need to address this form of violence, and effective steps to end it and to serve the victims. Chetan Sharma-Founder, Datamation Foundation, New Delhi (India) www.datamationindia.com Ph# 91-11-2167230/2169162/2167973/2168017 Email : [EMAIL PROTECTED] ***End-violence is sponsored by UNIFEM and receives generous support from ICAP*** To post a message, send it to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To subscribe or unsubscribe, send a message to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. In the 1st line of the message type: subscribe end-violence OR type: unsubscribe end-violence Archives of previous End-violence messages can be found at: http://www.edc.org/GLG/end-violence/hypermail/
