Recent public outrage in India following the brutal gang rape of a young woman in Delhi, the nation's capital, has brought to light some of the subterranean tensions which the country is confronted with today and which have ramifications for the country's future.
Thousands of people took to the streets, demanding immediate action against the perpetrators, five of whom have now been charged with rape and murder, and also changes in the existing laws.
Though the news of the barbaric torture inflicted on the victim was the immediate trigger for the outcry, the ensuing discussions have resulted in a plethora of issues being raised, which, at their core, have two distinct narratives.
The first is on the abysmal policing in metros and elsewhere, and the second on the social ethos that is fast changing and often colliding and conflicting with residual social dogmas of the past centuries.
At the top of the mind of citizens in general is the urgent need for improvement of institutions responsible for law and order, which are rapidly becoming incapable of responding to the growing population and changing socio-political landscape.
Alongside this clear governance "gap," what has outraged the people is the deployment of a large number of police personnel for the personal security of politicians and VIPs, often at the cost of the security of the common citizen.
The protests also showcased acute anger against the political class. The feeling is that the politicians, especially the ruling alliance, are living in the proverbial "ivory tower" and are increasingly alienated from the realities of young India.
The popular sentiment in India is that the politicians have let them down, and this applies to both the ruling and the opposition political parties.
In a democracy, the opposition holds a crucial place. It is a conscience-keeper of the ruling party, and its fundamental responsibility is to deconstruct, critique and normalize government policies.
For this, it must also ensure that policies are debated and parliament is allowed to function. The government and the opposition have both failed miserably on many counts.
The heinous crime and the ensuing protests are also the story of India undergoing dramatic yet uneven and unequal social changes. It is a story of a liberal 21st-century India colliding with the India of the 18th and 19th centuries.
The conflict is not only about the role of women in society. It is also about the framework of governance and a challenge to feudal structures. It is a collision between the rule of law and tradition as it is a cry for readjusting the moral compass that was calibrated in times with no meaning today.
The economic reforms launched in the early 1990s not only liberalized the economy, but also led to significant social transformation. The increased interaction with societies across the globe, growing urbanization, higher literacy rates, access to technology and information have all resulted in rapid and unequal social change. One of the examples of this change is the presence of greater numbers of women in the work force.
Today, many Indian women are no longer merely confined to their traditional roles of wife, mother and sister, subservient to the male members. In today's India, an increasing number of women want to shed old restrictions as they seek gender equality.
The rape of the young medical student, who was returning from a movie with a friend, is a failure of the law and order system, but it may also showcase traditional India's incapacity to accommodate the 21st century nation.
Unfortunately, this traditional India is not limited by geography, class or gender, and there are many educated people including many elected representatives who champion regressive ideas.
Nonetheless, this liberal and modern India has more voice and, aided by technology and the media, is ready to confront the traditional India which, at the moment, still holds sway.
(The author is an Associate Fellow at Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi)
Courtesy: Global Times, Beijing, January 5, 2013
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