FEMINISM IN INDIA THROUGH THE AGES

Col Samuel Dhar

INTRODUCTION  

I am writing this essay to primarily drive home the point that Feminism in India is not a concept borrowed from the West and that too, as late as the nineteenth CE, notwithstanding the fact that the Church, especially the Catholic Church, has had a large role to play in the reformation of Indian communities in general and emancipation and empowerment of women in particular.

Most theologians/academics of today attribute the growth of feminism in India to Western influence. The theoreticians disregard the fact that, from ages past, unlike most other countries, feminism in India has been thriving, in a multipolar and multicultural environment. The needs and problems of women of different countries are dissimilar.

Unlike in the West, Feminism in India is age old. The truth is that we Indians do not have to borrow feminism from the West. It has been a set of movements, aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, social rights and to ensure equal opportunities for women. It has been a perennial pursuit of women's rights, within the bounds of the prevailing societies, in general.

Compared to their counterparts in the rest of the world, women in India, in the early middle ages, had greater gender equality: right to work for equal wages, right to equal access to health and education, and equal political rights; most of all, the right to walk shoulder to shoulder with their men folks.

In total contrast to the above, women from the 15^th ce onwards, were pushed to the other end of the Spectrum.

What changed?

In the middle of December 2012, a 23-year-old woman was attacked, gang raped, and an iron bar inserted into her private part, on a public bus in Delhi, India. She and her boyfriend were then pushed out of the bus onto the street. Her boyfriend was lucky to have survived the brutality of the beasts in human garb, but the woman was not, and she died not long after, struggling with massive internal injuries. This incident, which made the headlines worldwide, underlines a serious problem, not just in India, but also in all of Asia and, indeed, the whole world. It was not an isolated incident. A month later, another woman was raped in India, in similar circumstances.  There have been countless such cases since then, spread across the length and breadth of the Country.

What changed ?

The Aryans, whose heritage most Indians claim today, were themselves invaders, destroying a flourishing Indus Valley Civilisation and pushing its people not only out of their habitats, but continuously down towards the Southern edge of the geographic India, the present day Tamil Nadu; from where they could be pushed no further. There were other subsequent invaders, like Alexander the Great, who returned back after defeating the mighty Porus, leaving a part of his Army, as rulers. There were also the Gori and the Gazni, who looted as much as they could and returned to their own kingdoms.

Like all other ancient civilisations, the Indian societies, never a monolith, had to face vicissitudes of times. There were ebbs in the tide of women’s status in the Indian multi religious, multi linguistic, multicultural societies, as they reacted and adjusted to the changing times. A steady slide in the status of women has, however taken place since the early 15^th ce.

What changed?

I will first deal with the status of women in India, since the millenniums gone by and then trace its movement to the present days. Much change, some good, some not so, in the practised religion, its culture and traditions, had been wrought by the Muslim and Christian invaders who stayed to rule, perpetuating their regressive patriarchal system.

Education is the biggest tool in the emancipation and empowerment of the poor, the suppressed, the oppressed, the marginalised, the downtrodden, in general the suffering masses, especially the women.

Till the nineteenth century, people from orthodox Hindu families considered education of women almost a sin. They believed that a literate wife would lose her husband sooner than an illiterate one. Even in the eighties of the century the opposition to women's education continued to be strong. It was only towards the end of the nineteenth century that prejudice against women's education abated.

The Christian Church has always striven to spread universal education and therefore, has had a big role to play in the colonial period in India, even when and where the Church did not have a direct role in the process of emancipation and empowerment of women.

I shall deal with the above role of the Church in a separate section of this Article.

PRESENT APPROACH OF THE FEMINIST MOVEMENT

Studies show that in India, 53% of children have been sexually abused even before they have reached puberty. Parents, who do not wish to have female children, routinely abort a female fetus. It is common for female children to be intentionally malnourished and uneducated compared to boys. One of the major causes is the portrayal of women as  fetishize sex objects in the most sensational and vulgar ways in the Bollywood films.

While feminists around the world have differed over causes, goals, and intentions, depending on time, culture and country, most feminist historians assert that all movements that have worked/working to obtain women's rights should be considered feminist movements, even if they did not, (or do not), specifically apply the term to themselves. Some other historians limit the term "feminist" to the modern feminist movement and its progeny, and use the label "proto-feminism" to describe earlier movements.

STATUS OF WOMEN IN ANCIENT INDIA

Most of us would have read about ‘Swayambars’, (स्वयम्बरम्), being held, up to the early middle ages,      (10^th c e), organised by fathers for their daughters, to choose their own husbands, by themselves. There was no child marriage. Girls were married only when they came of age, by which time they were well educated. The evil of women’s oppression in the Indian society, came up only when foreign invaders started ruling the Country and enforced their regressive and outmoded customs and traditions.

From the legendary Amazons of Greek mythology to Queen Boadicea of Roman Britain, warrior women have fascinated the world for millennia. India, too, has her own share of history; of indomitable women, who proved themselves to be skilled leaders and fierce fighters, who crossed swords in battle fields, with mighty men warriors of their times.

From outlining military strategies to storming battlefields, these unflaggingly courageous Indian women were truly a force to be reckoned with. There are many whose deeds of valour and states-woman-ship, are well chronicled and remembered to this day, but there are many more, whose stories, even though chronicled, have been long forgotten.

Here is a look at the fascinating  journey of feminism through the Vedic India :

EARLY VEDIC PERIOD

Very few of us would, as children, not have read the story of Sati Savitri and Satyavan, as narrated by Muni Markandey to Yudhisthir in the Mahabharat. Her father, a king, let her choose her own husband, which she did by going out of the Palace to look for a life partner and chose Satyavan. Even when told by Narad Muni, that Satyavan would die within the year, she insisted on marrying him. When the fateful time came near, she fasted for three days and as Satyavan died, as predicted by Narad, she pursued Yamraj, the God of death, carrying her husband’s dead body on her weakened shoulders, (It was the 4^th day of her fast), till Satyavan’s life was given back.

LATE VEDIC PERIOD

There seems to have been some aberration during the Mahabharat period, when the status of women was reduced to that of an object of pleasure. Polygamy and Polyandry were both in practice. Levirate was an accepted custom. A wife was treated as a property to be traded with.

Madayanti, wife of Saudasa, commanded by her husband, went to Rishi Vasishtha and got a son called Asmaka by him.

The daughter of Saradandayana, a warrior woman begot three sons for her husband from a Brahmin ascetic.

Pandu was begotten of a levirate relationship between Vyasa and his mother Ambalika,

Karna was born of a ‘out of wedlock’ liaison between the Sun God and the adolescent Kunti.

After losing everything in a game of dice with the Kauravas, Yudhisthir pawned Draupadi, the shared wife of the Pandavas, for the next round of dice.

There, however, were some exceptions.

Around the time St Deborah (Judg 4:4ff), was blazing a trail of her own in Israel for over 4 decades, in the first millennium, bc, there were several Indian women sage-scholars, making history through public discourses and contributions in the literature of late Vedic period, (1000 bc) ; e.g., :

Lopamudra;  Princess of Vidharba, married the sage Agastya. Throughout her married life, she walked in step with her husband, reading, speaking and writing on Vedic theology; she is believed to have written a number of verses  of the Rig Veda.                                                                                                      St. Deborah

Maitreyi and Gargi Vachaknavi; both believed to be pioneers of feminism in the ancient times. During a public debate with Rishi Yajnavalkya, the foremost Vedic Theologian in ancient times, on  बृहदअरण्यक, (Brihad-aranyak), Upanishad, they have been credited for having bombarded the Theologian, with some of the most profound questions on Vedanta – the nature of the Soul (Brahman) and the origins of the Universe. In a court filled with male theologians, Gargi had fired question after question at the great sage, stumping a man who had never before been left at a loss for words. At one point, Yajnavalkya is supposed to have warned Gargi that her head would fall off if she continued but she persisted with her bold questioning since she did not elicit the answer she was looking for.

As Brian Black writes in his book, The Character of the Self in Ancient India,”Gargi was Yajnavalkya’s strongest opponent; stronger than her male counterparts”.

ANCIENT – MEDEAVAL PERIOD (up to 16^th ce)

Queen Didda, despite a severe leg disability, the lame Didda ruled Kashmir with an iron hand for over four decades, in the latter half of the 10^th ce, (958 - 1003). For her tremendous political skills, ability to rule and the stability that she brought in the fractious kingdom, she is sometimes called the Catherine of Kashmir, referring to the ruthless Catherine the Great (The longest ruling female Empress of Russia), even though the latter lived over 700 yrs later. In fact, Catherine should have been referred to as the Didda of Russia. Unfortunately, no picture, painting or statue of the legend Didda, the longest ruling Queen and Monarch in the History of India, has survived the turbulent centuries of Kashmir since her death.

Didda was not the only female Monarch/Queen who ruled Kashmir. There were at least four other chronicled Queens. The first woman ruler of Kashmir was the mythical Maharani Yashomati, during the times of Mahabharata;, the second was  Sughanda Devi, who ruled just for two years in the beginning of the 10^th ce; she was murdered by her own courtiers. After Didda, there were two more; Kota Rani , the last Hindu Queen and poetess Queen, Habba Khatoon, (1554 – 1609), the virtual ruler of Kashmir, (The last woman ruler of independent Kashmir), as her husband , the King, had no interest in the administration of his Kingdom.

Queen Naikidevi the Goa born Queen of Gujarat, (daughter of the Kadamba ruler

Mahamandalesvara  Permadi of Goa),  who defeated the mighty invader Muhammad Ghori, in 1178 ce, (One who later defeated the last Hindu king of Delhi, the legendary Prithviraj Chauhan at the second battle of Tarain in 1192), was the widow of a Solanki king (The dynasty is also referred to as the Chalukyas  of Gujarat), Ajayapala,

          
          Queen Naiki Devi  

It is sad that to this day, we sing pean to the valour of Prithviraj Chauhan, who was by Mohammad Ghori, but have obliterated from the pages of History, the description of the sagacity and bravery of the Queen, who routed and chased away the same marauding Ghori, in the battle of Gadraghatta, (Kyara), close to the foot hills of Mount Abu, in the Aravalli Range in Sirohi District  of  Rajasthan, bordering the State of Gurat. 

After the death of her husband, King Ajayapala, who hsd ruled for just 4 yrs, till his untimely demise in 1175 ce, Naikidevi ruled as the Regent of her son Mularaja II, who was still a minor.

Empress Rudramma Devi, (1247 – 1296), From her birth, Rudrama, was treated by her 

                                              father, Ganapati Deva, the founder of Kakatiya Dynasty, as       a son and given   as the male name Rudradeva. Her father       brought her up as a prince and made her learn every art of       war, the matters of State and how to administer                           the kingdom. At the age of 14, she shared the throne with         her father with the male name of Rudradeva. She
                                                 participated in public   meetings, in order to                       meet the common people of  her kingdom, to                 understand their sufferings.  
Empress Rudramma Devi                   
At the age of 15, she succeeded her father to the throne on his death. She led several battles
against the nobles in her kingdom who opposed her rule because of her gender. She was a 
great social reform. In those days, South India was dominated by male rulers  but 
Rudramma ruled as a Kakatiya Monarch for over three decades. 

MODERN FEMINIST HISTORY

Modern feminist history, (International), is conventionally split into four time periods, or "waves", each with slightly different aims, based on prior progress:

\·         First-wave; whereas in the West, feminist movement started in the 19th and early 20th centuries, focused on overturning legal inequalities,  in India, feminist movement started in the 17^th  c.e., aimed at the social evils of ‘sati’ and  against culture-specific issues within India's patriarchal society, such as inheritance laws ;

·         Second-wave; feminism (1960s–1980s) broadened                 debate to include cultural inequalities, gender norms, and       the role of women in society;

·         Third-wave; feminism (1990s–2000s) refers to diverse     strains of feminist activity, seen both as a continuation of         the second wave and as a response to its perceived failures.

·         Fourth wave; (2010 - Present day Me-too wave).

Although patriarchy is deeply entrenched in India since the medieval times , the Country has a very long tradition of women’s empowerment; of women who resisted conformity, even under severe societal pressure. These stories of feminism are as multicultural and diverse, as India itself is.

First Wave (17^th ce to mid 20^th ce)

Bibi Dalair Kaur, a 17th century Sikh woman, formed an all-woman army to fight Mughal forces. When taunted by Mughal commander Wajir Khan about the weakness of women in the battlefield, she is believed to have replied fiercely with the following words: “We are the hunters,not the hunted. Come forward and find out for yourself.”  

Maharani Tarabai Bhosle of Kolhapur, (1675 – 1761),  famous i Rajaram, son of  Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj                                                                                                                                                       Bibi Dalair Kaur          

in Maratha history as the indomitable        warrior queen. She was the wife of  Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. As the Regent of the Maratha Empire from 1700 till 1708, she kept alive the resistance against Mughal occupation  of Maratha territories after the death of her husband    in 1700 ce.                                             


                                                                                                         Maharani Tarabai                           

Equestrian Statue 
of  Maharani Tarabai                                                                                                                                                 

Queen Anubai Ghorpade of Ichalkaranji, (1700 – 1783), was the daughter of the first Peshwa, Balaji Pant, sister of the redoubtable Baji Rao, (The second Peshwa), daughter-in-law of Narain, (Naro), Mahadeo Joshi-Patwardhan, the founder of Ichalkaranji State, and the wife of Venkatrao Narain, the consolidator of Ichalkaranji as a state.  

After her husband’s untimely death, she ruled the State, (A part of the Maratha Confederacy), for over three decades as Regent Queen, first on behalf of her minor son and then for her minor grandson. Fully trained in martial arts, she was not only brave and skilled as a warrior, but also an able administrator, as well as an astute diplomat. Few Queens, in the History of the World, would measure up to Queen Anubai’s qualities of head and heart, as well as her multifarious talents.                                             

             Queen Anubai of                Few queens in the World history can equal Anubai’s  skillsd            Ichalkaranji  Kolhapur        sagacity, in the midst of enemies and trying times in the    

medieval history of India, when the Portugese had already established themselves along the Western regions of the Country and the British, in the guise of East India Company, were trying hard to be rulers of the ‘Golden Basket’ : India.

Anubai was indeed a jewel of India. Unfortunately, no picture or statue of hers is available today, except the painting above.

Velu Nachiyar of Sivaganga, (1730 – 1796), The first Queen to fight the British even before the Rani of Jhansi. She ruled over her kingdom for more than a decade. Rani Velu led her Army in numerous battles and even formed a special women’s army named Udaiyaal, in memory of her adopted daughter, who had perished in a battle with the British. She ensured justice for her female subjects.                          

                                           Velu Nachiyar was born in Ramnad, (Ramanathapuram in Tamil Nadu), to the royal couple Mannar Sellamuthu Sethupathy and Sakandhimutha. She did not have any brothers and she was brought up like a prince, trained in martial arts, horse riding, archery and handling different weapons. She was also educated in      many languages including English, French and Urdu. 

                                            When Velu Nachiyar was 16, she married Sivagangai Mannar  Muthuvaduganathur. Sivagangai is a district of Tamil Nadu.  In 1772, the Nawab of Arcot and the British troops belonging to the    East India  Company united and invaded Sivagangai. They killed   
Rani Velu Nachiyar          Muthuvadugananthur in a battle known as the Kalaiyar Koil war. 

Velu Nachiyar escaped along with her daughter and lived in Dindugal, from where she
plotted her revenge against the British with the help of the Maruthu brothers of Sivagangai 
and some other powerful friends. In 1780, she led the charge against her enemies with an
army she had built with the help of Sultan Hyder Ali of Mysore and was successful in
recapturing her kingdom and became the queen of Sivagangai once again, till her death
more than 10 yrs later due to illness.

Rani Chenamma, (1778 – 1829), of Kittur; the Rani who fought the British on the 
Battlefield of Kittur and defeated them in the first battle. Kittur was  a princely state in 
Karnataka. The Rani was one of  the first Indian female rulers to lead an armed rebellion 

against  the British East India Company and defeated them, at least in the first battle. Chennamma was born in Kakati, a small village in the present Belagavi District of Karnataka. She belonged to the Lingayat community (Who reject any form of social discrimination, including the caste system, and received training in riding, sword fighting and archery from a young age. She   was trained not only in archery, but aquickly became known for her bravery and skills.lso sword fighting and horse riding. Statue of Rani Chennamma       She At the age of 15 years, she was                   Rani Chennamma    in the Indian Parliament         married to Mallasarja Desai, the ruler of Kittur.Twenty three years later, in 1816, her husband passed away leaving her with a young son. Her son too died a few years later in 1824. Chennamma, then, adopted a boy named Shivalingappa and named him the heir to the throne.

From here on, the life and times of Rani Chennamma is a precursor to the last two years of the life of Rani Laxmibai of Jhansi, which happened a good 33 yrs later.

To both, the British applied their infamous ‘Doctrine of Lapse’. Both had adopted sons, who were locally declared heirs to the throne of their respective demised fathers. Both declarations were summarily rejected by the British, leading to war. Whereas Rani Laxmibai of Jhansi lost her battle, Rani Chennamma won her first battle at the age of 46 yrs, against a British force of 20,000 troops and 400 guns; she lost the subsequent battle though, leading to her imprisonment and subsequent death in 1829, a year after Laxmibai was born.  

Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi, (1828 – 1858), a legend of the First War of Independence of India, she is an inspirational figure of the Country. Her legendary bravery is enshrined in the opening verse of the famous poem “Jhansi ki Rani”, Subhadra Kumari Chauhan :  

बुंदेले हरबोलों के मुँह हमने सुनी कहानी थी,
खूब लड़ी मर्दानी वह तो झाँसी वाली रानी थी।  
(I had heard stories from bards of 
Bundelkhand, of the valiant battles 
that Rani of Jhansi fought like a man)                                                                                
Colonel Malleson of the British Indian Army wrote in The History of the Indian Mutiny; vol. 3; London, 1878, 'Whatever faults of Lakshmibai in British eyes may have been, her countrymen will forever remember that        she was driven into rebellion by ill-treatment and that she lived           Rani of Jhansi
and died for her Country, We cannot forget her contribution 
to Ind ia’s ‘Glorious History’.”

During the 19th century, the Indian woman’s quest for civil, political and religious rights arose from the belly of the great social and religious reform movements of the era. Historians refer to the abolition of Sati as the first water
shed   moment in India’s modern feminist movement.

Much of the feminist struggle in the 19^th century, saw educated middle class MEN in the forefront, such as :

·         Raja Ram Mohan Roy, (1774 – 1833), widely considered as the father of the     Indian Renaissance, who crusaded against social evils like Sati, purdah   system, polygamy and child marriage through the 18th and the   19th centuries. A child, who was born in an orthodox brahmin family and had 

       wished to be monk at the age of 14, Ram Mohan is a 
       shining example of how one can be totally transformed
       by exposure to all round education. Initially educated
       in a village school, he went to study the Quran and 
       other Muslim religious texts in   Arabic and Persian. 
       Thereafter he mastered Sanskrit and English while
       studying at Benares Hindu University and got educated 
       in the Hindu religious texts. He later studied the Bible   and the works of many Renaissance authors. This all 
       round education opened him to the larger world                   and led to his successful crusades against pernicious           social practices of the time. Founding of the                     Raja Ram Mohan Roy
       Brahmo Samaj by him led to sweeping   changes n the society, bringing   both low and   high caste men and women together under the same roof.                                                              

·         Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, (1820 – 1891), was as one of the pillars of Bengal       renaissance who, managed to continue the social reforms movement that was started
       by Raja Ram Mohan Roy in the early 1800s.  An ardent
       advocate of women education, he viewed education as the primary
        tool for women’s emancipation out of oppression they had to   
       face for centuries before. He exercised his influence and 
        lobbied hard for schools  for girls, to not only educate them,
       but also enable them to be self-reliant through vocational
       training. He went door to door, requesting heads of families
       to allow their daughters to be enrolled  in schools.
             
       Vidyasagar opened 35 schools for women throughout  
       Bengaland was successful in enrolling 1300 students.  
       initiated Nari Siksha Bhandar, a fund to lend support 
       to the cause. He lent full support to John Elliot 
       Drinkwater Bethune to establish the first                            Ishwar Vidyasagar Chandra    permanent in India, in May 7, 1849.



                              ·       Mahadev Govind Ranade, (1842 – 1901),
                                               founded the  Widow  
                                               Marriage Association,                                                     in 1861. 
      
·           ·      Keshav Karve Dhondo, (1858 – 1962), 
                 a Bharat Ratna, who,  while  teaching                       Mathematics in Ferguson College, Poona,               tirelessly worked towards eradicating                     bias against widows and education of the               girl child.  
Keshav Karve Dhondo            He pioneered  widow remarriage and
                                                   established a home for widows who could 
               not get married. He himself married a                                                       widow. established the first            Mahade  Govind Ranade, 
               university for  women (SNDT); and                                                                                           

 ·      Behram Malabari, (1853 – 1912), a judge and a member             of the Bombay Legislative Council. Poet, publicist, author               and  a social reformer, best  known for his ardent advocacy             of protection  of the rights of women and for his campaign               against child marriage. He demanded legislation to                           prevent it. 

      Behram Malabari

During this time some of the women who continued to challenge the status quo, struggling for their place in the sun and went on to become feminist ideals, include :

Savitribai Phule,  (1831 – 1897), an inspiring woman, who is often described as one of the first modern Indian feminists. 

At a time when people hardly acknowledged the grievances of  women in India, she, along with her husband Jyotirao Phule,
fought injustices against women with all their might and resources. In those days, widows had to shave their heads, wear a simple white sari and live a life of austerity.  It was Savitribai who decided to stand up against this practice and organized a strike against the barbers in order to persuade 
them to stop shaving the heads of the widows,  most of whom                  Savitribai Phule            were still children.

Savitribai also noticed the plight of sexually exploited women who, after becoming pregnant, either committed suicide or killed the new born due to fear of banishment by society. To cater to such women, she opened a care centre (called Balhatya Pratibandhak Griha or Infanticide Prohibition House) for pregnant rape victims and helped deliver their children. She also founded the first school for women at Bhide Wada in Pune in 1848.

Kamini Roy, (1864 – 1933), who spearheaded India’s suffragist, 
(Universal suffrage), movement  and fought for a  woman’s right to education.

                   Anandibai Joshi, (1865 – 1887),                           from a middle class family, was        
                   married at 14. She was the first
                   Indian woman to study abroad, (In 
                   America), and was one of the first
                   women to become a physician at 21. 
                   Unfortunately, she died at 22.      

    Kamini Roy 
                                                                                                                                
Kadambini Ganguly, (1861 – 1923), one of the first women to                   Anandibai Joshi 
study Western medicine and, one of India’s 
first two women graduates, 
                                               

Dr Muthulakshmi Reddy, (1886 -1968); a rebel with a cause, a Padma Bhushan awardee, who, in the 1900s, broke barriers in  

education, medicine and law; she studied in  a men’s college to become a doctor and went on to ensure abolishment of the devadasi system. She was the first woman legislator of Madras Presidency.                                                           Kadambini Ganguli      
                                         Muthulakshmi, daughter of a Devadasi

Chandrammal and Narayanaswamy, Principal of Maharaja’s College  in Pudukkottai, became the first girl student of the college. Also,       Dr Muthulakshmi Reddy  she was the first Indian girl student in the Department of Surgery at the Madras Medical College. When she was admitted to Maharaja’s High School, parents of boys threatened to withdraw their children from the school. Her father had been ostracised by his family for marrying a Devadasi and Muthulakshmi became closer to her maternal relatives and saw the situation first hand. After she became a doctor, among the first things Muthulakshmi began to fight against was the system of wet nursing, where women of the upper class got Dalit women to breast feed their babies. She fought to raise the age of marriage for girls, women’s right to property and for  choice in the matter of education and career. 

Muthulakshmi Reddy was appointed to the Madras Legislative Council in 1927. For her, this nomination marked the beginning of her lifelong effort to "correct the balance" for women by removing social abuses and working for equality in moral standards. She was one of the women pioneers who fought for liberating India from the British. She was a women's activist and a social reformer.

Muthulakshmi had many firsts.

Ø       She was the first female student to be admitted into a men's college;

Ø       the first woman House Surgeon in the Government Maternity and Ophthalmic   Hospital;

Ø       the first woman legislator in British India; 

Ø       the first Chairperson of the State Social Welfare Advisory Board;

Ø      the first woman Deputy President of the Legislative Council; and 

Ø       the first alderwoman of the Madras Corporation’s ‘Avvai Home’.                                             

Other Women include :

Pandita Ramabai, (1858 – 1922) who started a centre to                            support widows and studied the Kindergarten method of                                education,                         


      Dr Rukmabai Bhikaji, (1864 – 1955), who, like
      Anandibai, defied her child marriage to become 
      India’s first practising lady doctor. A child bride at
      11, she became India’s First Practising                    Woman Doctor. In the 1880s, at a time when          Indian women hardly had any rights to speak,              Rukhma, a gutsy and determined woman did the impossible. Rukhmabai Pandita Ramabai   Bhikaji contested her husband’s claim to conjugal rights in an an iconic court case that led to the passage of the Age of Consent Act in 1891. 

Cornelia Sorabjee, (1866 – 1954), the first female graduate                                                        
from Bombay University, the first woman                          Dr Rukhmabai Bhikaji  to study law at the Oxford University and the first Indian woman lawyer to practise in India and UK.




Cornelia Sorabji      

Early 20th Century;  

This too saw the rise of many courageous and strong-willed women who were instrumental in India’s freedom struggle. The stories of these women revolutionaries, a trade union activists, and nationalists have long been an unsung part of the historical legacy that independent India inherited.

Swarnakumari Devi Tagore,  (1855 – 1932). Rabindranath

Tagore’s sister, is a little known figure, but played
a committed  life as a social worker,. She started 
an initiative, Sakhi Samiti, in 1896, to help 
widows, orphan girls and poverty stricken women 
of Bengal. She also played an active role in the 
Indian nationalist movement.  

Swarnakumari Devi Tagore

Sarala Devi, Chaudhurani,  (1872 - 1945), Swarna kumari’s daughter, also grew up to be an independent  and confident woman who believed in following her convictions.  An   

accomplished musician and poetess, Sarala completed her         
education at Calcutta and challenged the social 
conventions of her time by taking up a job in a school in Mysore at the age of 23. After she returned to Bengal, she actively participated in the militant nationalist movement of the state. She also attended meetings of societies that had all male members and presided over boxing, judo, swordplay and wrestling matches organised by her.       
      Sarala Devi  
    Chaudhurani        Sarala Devi also formed Bharat  Stri Mandal in 1910 Women
of this Era, within the national movement had begun insisting on greater political and  economic  participation and pioneered a number of other
Sarala Devi also formed Bharat  Stri Mandal in 1910 Women like the :   

·         Women’s India Association, founded in 1917; and

·         All India Women’s Conference (AIWC) on Educational Reform, founded    in 1927.

The first meeting of AIWC, held at Pune, under the Presidentship of Maharani Chimnabai Saheb Gaekwar of Baroda, saw resolutions passed relating, almost without exception, to education, ranging from matters concerning Primary Schools up to those relating to College and Adult Education.  The sole and notable exception was the resolution supporting Sir Hari Singh Gaur’s Age of Consent Bill. While considering the educational requirements, it was found that social reform was inevitably bound up with it. It was felt that early marriage was among the main impediments in the path of education of girls.

Some of the leading lights of the Era were Annie Besant, Dorothy Jinarajadasa, Malati Patwardhan, Ammu Swaminathan, Mrs Dadabhoy, Mrs Ambujammal, Maharani Chimnabai Saheb Gaekwar and Sarojini Naidu.

Annie Besant, (1847-1933), led the Home Rule League 
and was elected President of the 
Calcutta Congress session in 1917.  
After the death of its original American 
founders, Annie Besant took over the
 helms of the Theosophical Society of 
India. She was the first woman President 
of the INC (1917-18).

            Sarojini Naidu, (1879 – 1949), also      
             became known in 1917, as a significant                             figure, leading  a delegation of women 
             to meet the Montagu-Chelmsford 
     Annie Besant                      Committee to demand a series of 
                                                reforms in the condition of Indian                                                            women.                                                                                                                                                                                                     Sarojini Naidu  
In 1925, Sarojini Naidu was the first Indian woman to be elected President 
of the Indian National Congress of the Indian National Congress                                      
It is easy to dismiss some of these achievements by pointing out that most of these women came from affluent, educated and urban households. But even within their spheres, they all fought uphill battles to establish themselves as   ·different and to speak out against the established norms.

2^nd Wave : Post Independence (1960s -1980s) 

The question of women’s rights appeared to retreat from public discourse for a few years. The second wave of the women’s rights movement began in the mid 1960s. The issues raised this time were wide ranging – from land rights and political representation to divorce laws and child custody to sexual harassment at work, dowry and rape. The women’s movement interrogated the existing laws, with their questions becoming central in public discourse.

Indian feminist writers, also made their presence felt globally, especially:

·      Toru Dutta                                        :  1856 – 1877;   ·      Ismat Chugtai         :       1915 – 1991 

·      Lalithambika  Anantharajanam    :  1909 – 1987;   ·      Mahasweta Devi   :      1926 – 2016

                                                                

   In 1974, the Committee on Status of Women presented its findings in the form of a

   watershed report ‘Towards Equality’ that laid the foundation of women’s movement in 
   independent India, highlighting discriminatory socio-cultural practices, political and 
   economic processes. Its authors included :

·     Vina Mazumdar, and |    the duo later founded the ‘Centre for Women’s
·       ·     Lotika Sarkar,              |    Development Studies in Delhi’
   
   In 1980, an anti-rape campaign was launched that led to emergence of autonomous women’s
   organisation in several cities of India. There was Saheli in Delhi, Vimochana in Bengaluru,
   and Forum Against Oppression of Women in Mumbai among others. Special Interest
   Groups that focused on legal aid for women also came into existence and several legal 
   reforms took place.
   
   3^rd Phase : (1990s – 2000s)
   The thrust on the issues taken up in the 2^nd Phase continued to be pursued vigorously. A
    great example is that of the landmark Vishaka Guidelines, that came into being in 1997, 
outlining the process for dealing with sexual harassment at the workplace.  (later superseded
by the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace Act of 2013).

    Entering the 21st century, Indian feminism engaged with a host of issues – from domestic 
    violence and rape, (Including marital rape), to victim shaming and consent.
    Indira Jaisingh’s tireless work was instrumental in the framing of the Domestic
   Violence Act (2005). Jaisingh was also the first woman to be appointed as an Additional

Solicitor General of India in 2009.

                Meenakshi Arora a senior advocate at the 
                 Supreme Court of India, made persistent 
                 efforts for the framing of the Vishakha

                Guidelines, which later culminated in the 
                 legislation of the Sexual Harassment of 

                Women at Workplace Act (2013).       



 Indira Jaisingh                                                                                                                          Meenakshi Arora,

Vrinda Grover, a senior lawyer, identified by TIME magazine as 
one of the 100 most influential women in 2013, 
was influential in the drafting of the Criminal 
Law Amendment,  2013.     , 

    Kavita Krishnan, an activist and Secretary      of the All India Progressive Women's                    Association (AIPWA), set in motion a series 
    of protests and uproar after the 2012 
    Nirbhaya rape case, which eventually led to 
    the legislation of the Criminal Law                  Amendment, 2013, that made changes 
  Vrinda Grover           in the existing rape laws in the Nation.                                                                                                                                                 Kavita Krishnan 
4^th Phase : Me Too Movement.

A regional precursor to the "Me Too" movement in India was a 2017 rape case in the Malayalam film industry in the state of Kerala. While the case did not gain national coverage or social traction on a large scale, it did inspire a select number of individuals within the industry to speak out against abuse of women and to take a stand for women's freedom, similar to the Harvey Weinstein case in the US.

After allegations against Harvey Weinstein, the use of the MeToo #(hashtag) on social media with respect to the event spread quickly in India.

Jasmeen Patheja, an activist  is head of Blank Noise, stated #MeToo's power is in demonstrating India can no longer ignore the scope of the problem. 

Sheena Dabolkar, a blogger; her #Me Too tweet went viral and
resulted in the boycott of Khodu Irani's popular 
Pune pub, High Spirits, by several well-known  performers.                                                                              Jasmeen Patheja                                                                                                                          

Several women mentioned Mahesh Murthy, which initiated a police           
case in January 2018. 

Sheena Dabholkar

Trends Desk of The Indian Express wrote that many Indian men are  speaking up as a part of #MeToo, including discussions about consent and how some men are also abused. 


One of the views about women's emancipation, as expressed by  
Rina Chandran of Reuters is, "‘#MeToo’ ignores the 600,000 sex 
workers against their will, and are typically poor without education or 
family.

A number of cases have come up of late and it is yet to be seen if the              movement will gather momentum in India.                                                               Rina Chandran

ROLE OF THE CHURCH DOWN THE CENTURIES

Over the last few centuries, the Church in India has played an important role in the empowerment of women, specially through education, but it must be acknowledged that India is a much older civilisation than the antiquity of Christianity. The first Christian to land in India was Apostle Thomas in 52 ce. As we know now, St.Thomas the disciple of Lord Jesus Christ had visited the palace of Gondophorous during his journey to India. This fact has found a place in the history text books of primary schools in Gujarat. Historian George Mark Moraes in his “History of Christianity in India” makes mention of a community called ‘followers of Thumma Bhagat’, which once lived in the Kutch-Sindh area. It is believed that Thumma Bhagat was none other than St.Thomas. St Thomas, then sailed to the port of Muziris, (Present-day Pattanam).

After Apostle Thomas landed on the shores of Kerala in 52 ce and converted a considerable number of Indians to Christianity, the numbers grew substantially over the years till the arrival of the Portuguese in Goa, who then spread along the Western coast till Daman and Diu.

Unlike St Thomas who befriended Indians and made a large numbers as his followers, the Muslims and the Europeans, imposed their own culture at the point of their swords.  There was a concerted effort by the Colonial rulers to change the religion, language and culture of Indians; first by the Muslims followed by the Portuguese, the French and the Dutch. The last three went to work, to change the Indian Christian Church to Roman Christian Church, leading to religious and cultural strife. Their areas of influence, therefore, remained confined to their subjects in their Principalities of Goa, Daman and Diu, Chandonnagar, Pondichary, the Dutch Ceylone, the Dutch Coromondel, the Dutch Bengal and the Dutch Malabar, where Roman Catholicism, along with the European culture, were imbibed by substantial numbers.

After the Synod of Diamper in 1599, convened by the Archbishop of Goa, which imposed Latin Rites on the Syro-Malabar Church, the local patriarch of the Church was forcibly deposed and was replaced by a Portuguese Bishop. Most of the literature, documents and archives of the first Churches in India, were systematically reduced to ashes by the Portuguese, in an effort to obliterate the existence of the Church. No written records remain of the antiquity of the Church.

But for the oral traditions, we will have known nothing of the past of the only indigenous Church in India established by Apostle Thomas. And yet the Church survived and is flourishing to this day, due to the committed defiance of the members of the Church in those dark days.

What we know through the oral tradition is, that in the 20 years of his Ministry in India, Apostle Thomas established seven churches in Kerala and then moved Eastward, preaching and converting members of all castes and communities till he reached Mylapore in the present day, Chennai, where he was speared to death by the Hindu ‘Kali’ priests. His followers built a tomb there, around which, a shrine was built and rebuilt more than once and stands today at Santhome, as the Cathedral Basilica of St Thomas.

What has the Syro-Malabar Church contributed to the cause of women in Kerala? Through conversion to Christianity, the extreme excesses of the extremely regressive Hindu caste system were brought under a modicum of control by the casteless Christian faith. he old divisions, however, remain till date, with all its prejudices.

CONCLUSION

Although we must be proud of our heritage of feminism of the ancient times, there still remains a lot of work to be done towards emancipation. Empowerment of women in India has been showing some encouraging trends and has come a long way, thanks to those mentioned  here and many more inspiring and fierce personalities, aided and abetted by the Church in India, especially from the 15^th ce onwards.  The empowerment of women in India gained upward mobility by their relentless struggle against the forces of patriarchy.

Today, the Church, especially the Catholic Church, which committedly works among the poor, the down trodden, the marginalised, the deprived lot and the youth, is in the forefront of women’s emancipation and empowerment, and its efforts are paying off.

First, increasing economic liberty is allowing women to fight stereotyping;

Secondly, what women want is changing – from economic rights to social and sexual rights;

Thirdly, women are not vacating their spaces – they are negotiating harder to expand their field of activities;

Fourthly, there is genuine partnership and collaboration among men and women, particularly youngsters, to embrace meaningful gender equality; and

Finally, the internet and information revolution is helping women form communities and networks, giving them a bigger voice and tools to organize themselves, forge partnerships and demand their rights;

Throughout history, Indian women have asserted themselves in multiple ways and broken free of oppressive social norms. These whispers of rebellion were bypassed or ignored by patriarchal documentations, but they were always there and they must be remembered.

I AM THE DAUGHTER OF AN ARMY OFFICER

I am the daughter of an Army Officer. I was born privileged and I am aware of it. Yes, I grew up in safe cantonments, amidst greenery and civility. As a child I had access to beautiful swimming pools and large lawns. I had access to tennis courts and skating rings. I could go to fantastic libraries and attend wonderful socials. In short, I had a childhood that people only dream of. Every two or three years, we would move to a new city and I made new friends. I was encouraged to take part in sports and extra-curricular activities. I was always surrounded by children of my age and most neighbors had very amicable pets. As a family, we had access to ‘canteens’ and military hospitals. For vacations, we would go trekking to remote corners of the country because of the privilege my father’s profession offered us. When children of my age were playing hide and seek, my sister and I were exploring activities like tank riding and rifle shooting; paragliding and horse riding. While they watched series on TV, we would be out on the ground watching the Army Day parade.

Most kids, whose parents have served in the Indian Army, will paint you this beautiful picture. And it is as true, as it is incomplete. Growing up, life was also, about wondering why my father couldn’t take time off from work to attend my annual day. I never understood why only my mother would attend my PTA meetings in school. I knew my father was fantastic at tennis, but I could never understand why he couldn’t spend more than one evening a month, to teach me how to be that good. I never understood why annual trips in June, to my Grandparents’ hometown would never involve my father for more than a week, why did he have to return abruptly on ‘call of duty’? Why did he coach me for all my debates over the telephone? Why was he not there for so many of my birthday celebrations? Why was I not allowed to put on his uniform for fun? When I was in grade two, for weeks we had drills in the middle of the night, in preparation to evade bombs attacks. Why was only my mother present then, to hug me and say “It’s okay, we are going to be fine”? Where was my father when I was growing up? Why did he leave for work before I left for school and return after I went to bed? Why did he wake up every single day; snow or hail to go for his morning run? Why did some of my father’s friends have bullet injuries? When I was a kid it took my mother five minutes, to distract me from those questions. But today I know better. I have my answers.

My father is an Army Officer. A passionate and intelligent man who has dedicated every day of the past 25 years of his life, to this nation. He has worked on holidays and through the nights. He has served with pride and conviction; two emotions I never fully comprehended till last year. Because last year, I had the opportunity to visit Ladakh. All those dormant tales of men with courage and zest suddenly came to life. As I am writing this narrative, far away from that paradise; there are men sitting with rifles at altitudes of more than 15000 feet, at temperatures of -35 degree Celsius, vigilantly monitoring the Indian borders. If there’s a lapse in their attention for even a second, they might lose their lives. Is that what motivates them to get frost bites, to celebrate Diwali and their children’s birthdays in an isolated, deserted mountain far away from civilization? Or is it the discount in prices of canteen items? Oh no, it must be the ‘discounted’ medical facilities they would have access to, if the enemy shot at them. I am so sorry; it must be the glorious salaries. But hold on, the money does not seem to be too much; in fact that’s why the Army has catered for reduced prices of groceries in the canteens. So why would any man with a sound mind, sacrifice everything; his family and comfort of living, and risk his life for an ungrateful nation which sits back and talks only of the “privileges” he gets? I don’t know. I honestly don’t know.

I don’t know how in every war that independent India has fought; our men have effortlessly scaled up altitudes of 20,000 feet overnight, without a day of medical acclimatization. I don’t know why they didn’t think twice about their families that they left behind. The father who’s growing old and can’t walk anymore, the daughter who needs to be educated, the infant who doesn’t even recognize him yet; the wife who might get widowed at 21. What gave them the courage to spend days in trenches without food or water, ensuring that a fellow soldier doesn’t have to spill a drop of blood as long as he is breathing? How did they breathe at all for that long? At that altitude? And for those who didn’t, what fire must have burned in them, to die fighting a war, for a nation that didn’t give tuppence for what happened to them. How is it that these men didn’t once think about the religion or caste of their brothers fighting with them in that trench, for a nation, that burns buses and loots shops in the name of caste reservation? How is it that a Hindu was willing to give up his life for a fellow Muslim so long as the ‘Tiranga’ was afloat on the highest peak of Kargil? Why did Christians fight on behalf of the Sikhli regiment and Sikhs on behalf of the Gorkha regiment? Why did an officer take a bullet for his soldiers and die with a smile on his face? Why do we not even know the names of these martyrs whose last words were “Jai Hind”? What could possibly motivate any man to live a life of anonymity and sacrifice everything for the glory of a nation that fails to recognize his contribution? I don’t know.

All I know is that I am an immensely proud daughter. A proud daughter of a man who has given his everything, for a cause he’s believed in. The proud daughter of an exceptionally talented woman who sacrificed her career to raise a family almost single-handedly; and taught it to respect her husband’s contribution to the nation. I am proud of all those times when my mother had to fill in for my father, because he was on duty. I am proud, because all those times, my parents were looking at the bigger picture and serving a larger family, expecting absolutely nothing in return. I was NOT born privileged because of all those perks I had as a child. I was born privileged because I had parents who taught me that living only for yourself is a life not worth living. I am privileged because I learnt through their actions and the lives they have led. They taught me that as long as you live in accordance with your ideals and beliefs, a life of passion and courage, you can hold your head high. They taught me that you don’t serve, expecting returns. You serve because it’s your duty to give back to the society, to think beyond yourself. And they did just that.

Yes, growing up as the daughter of an Army Officer was a privilege and I’ve always valued it. But it was only last year that it hit me, that all the chivalry and courage I had seen in the people around me, the ridiculous amount of patriotism they had; the spirit of expectation-less commitment, the pride they took in adorning their uniforms and the fervour with which they saluted the ‘Tiranga’ shouting Jai Hind, was unique. Does it infuriate me, when people don’t value it? Yes. Do I expect them to understand the lives the soldiers and their families lead in return for a salary they could have got anywhere else; but choose to remain in the army, serve and sacrifice because of the pride they have for their nation? Yes. But if they fail to comprehend this, will these exemplary men and women stop serving us? No. They signed up for a lifetime of commitment to “Service Before Self”. It has taken me long enough, but I now understand that serving in the Indian Army is not just a career; it’s a way of life.

 

FRDI ‘Hajamat’: Don’t Worry I Won’t Shoot, 

Then Why the Gun ?

Finance Ministry’s assurances are illusory

S.G.VOMBATKERE | 11 JANUARY, 2018

The Financial Resolution and Deposit Insurance (FRDI) Bill 2017, is intended to resolve the financial distress that may develop in financial institutions (called “financial service providers”), specifically in banks.

It is also intended to provide a basis for providing depositors in banks with a degree of assurance that a specified minimum of deposits will be secure in the event of a financial crisis in the bank. The method of doing this is by raising a Resolution Corporation (RC) with appropriate powers.

RBI’s Financial Stability Report, 2016, mentions that by forming a Resolution Corporation (RC), India would be adhering to the Financial Stability Board’s (FSB) “Key Attributes of Effective Resolution Regimes for Financial Institutions” published in October 2014. FSB is an international organization established in 2009, to regulate international financial reform. So apparently, the FRDI Bill is intended to comply with international best practices in our national financial management.

Since this is about banks and their financial stability, it is well to note that banks survive by providing loans and earning interest on the loans provided. The capital for providing loans is from institutional and individual depositors, both small and large, who as creditors, earn interest on their deposits from the bank.

The bank uses its capital to provide loans. Simplistically put, when interest is not paid by a borrower, the bank takes measures to recover the interest and the principal. These measures include recovering the security based upon which the loan was provided, issuing legal notice to the guarantor to pay up, legally auctioning the borrower’s property to realise the moneys due, and taking civil or criminal action against the borrower.

If the amount due is not fully realised after auctioning the assets of the defaulting borrower, the unobtainable balance is “written-off” from the books with the concurrence of Ministry of Finance (MoF) and RBI. These methods are in use, but when the amounts are very large and the borrowers are politically very powerful, and in particular for public sector banks (PSBs), Government of India (GoI) provides money to the PSBs from public funds to “bail out” the bank. This is not unlike the case of a person arrested by police being bailed out of judicial custody by a friend who pays the bail money.

According to one estimate, GoI has been providing the big corporations tax holidays by excusing corporate income tax and excise and customs duties of around Rs.90 lakh-crores in the 11-years period 2005-2016, reflected as “Revenue foregone” in successive budgets. That is, revenue which would have been available for use in the health, education and social welfare sectors including MNREGA has been foregone, even while GoI rues lack of funds for these very sectors. To be fair, this is a legacy problem, but the present government has done little different from its predecessors.

Benefit to the corporate sector through “Revenue foregone” is merely one half of the dodgy benefit to the corporate world. The other half of the dodge is providing enormous loans to the beneficiaries of “Revenue foregone” in the name of boosting the industrial sector in pursuit of the Holy Grail of economic growth. And when these loans are not serviced, the bank either declares the loan as a non-performing asset (NPA) or else proffers another loan which is used to pay back the earlier loan (this is termed “re-financing”), so that the NPA is taken off the books.

Of course, the names of corporates which avail the holiday on corporate tax and excise and customs duties may not all figure among the names of defaulting borrowers, but many really big corporates benefit by tax holidays and also borrowing money which become NPAs which are then written-off. Impeccably smart footwork by successive finance ministers in consultation with their prime ministers, to keep the corporates in good spirits, using public money! Today, PSBs are finding it difficult to lend because around 40 large corporate groups owe around Rs.10 lakh-crore rupees.

That borrowings from PSBs are used by big corporates to finance mega-projects which cause population displacement, impinge adversely on the environment, and exacerbate global warming and climate change, is another dimension which is outside the scope of the present article.

With this mode of financial operation within the oversight of MoF and RBI, PSBs have NPAs which are treated as “losses incurred” and are a significantly dangerous proportion of their balance sheets. Thus, PSBs are in a position of precarious financial stability. These same PSBs are where you and me and umpteen others have invested our life savings as deposits, which are entered as liabilities in the balance sheet of the bank.

And so we come to the matter of resolution of financial crises and insurance for the deposits made in banks by members of the public, which is the reason for the FRDI Bill, 2017.

Journalist P.Sainath says: “A large part of the trillions in NPAs ... was run up by the wealthy who can’t be named due to ‘secrecy laws’ ”. Hence in the past, to resolve the problem of financial stability, GoI has bailed out banks, re-financing them by pumping in tax payers’ money. But that is not deemed sufficient in the present precarious financial condition of financial institutions, and hence the need for a bail-in option, described in FRDI Bill Section 52, to “absorb the losses incurred or reasonably expected to be incurred”.

The FRDI Bill caused fears among depositors principally due to the implications of the bail-in option available to the Resolution Corporation. However, Government made an attempt to allay these fears. [“Fears over FRDI Bill misplaced, says Government”; January 3, 2018; The Hindu;http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/fears-over-frdi-bill-misplaced-says-government/article22354147.ece"].

MoF is reported to have made the following statements to allay fears:
1. “Most certainly, it [bail-in] will not be used in case of a public sector bank as such a contingency is not likely to arise”.

2. “The implicit guarantee for solvency of public sector banks remains unaffected as the government remains committed to adequately capitalise them and improve their financial health.”

3. “Cancellation of the liability of the depositor beyond insured amount will be possible only with the prior consent of the depositor”.

4. “In case of injudicious and unreasonable exercise of bail-in power by the Resolution Corporation, for example, where the depositors of a bank get less value than in liquidation, such affected depositors will have the right to get compensation from the Resolution Corporation on an order of the National Company Law Tribunal”.

Basically, Government assures depositors that

- Depositors’ misgivings regarding the depositor protection in the context of the bail-in provisions, are entirely misplaced,

- bail-in has been proposed as merely one of the resolution tools in the event a financial firm is sought to be sustained by resolution,

- the bail-in clause will only be implemented with the consent of depositors, and

- it reiterates its implicit guarantee for the solvency of PSBs.

Let us consider these assurances together with the quoted statements of MoF. First off, the depositors concern is precisely why at all the bail-in provision should be made available – at least in the case of PSBs – when the cause for resolution is primarily NPAs, mostly due to default of the big borrowers, possibly in collusion or connivance with bank officials and MoF officials. Assuring a depositor that bail-in will not be used as such a contingency is not likely to arise, is akin to holding a gun to a depositor’s head and assuring the depositor, “Don’t worry, I won’t shoot”.

Next, MoF’s assurance that the bail-in clause will only be implemented with a depositor’s consent is patently illusory, because not a single depositor in all of India would be crazy enough to consent to MoF taking away deposits made with his hard-earned money representing his life savings, to settle the banks NPAs in the resolution process.

It is bad enough that the bail-out process using tax-payers’ money to balance the books of banks which have huge NPAs is being used, instead of recovering dues from borrowers and punishing colluders and connivers among bank staff and MoF staff.

Stating that if the RC injudiciously or unreasonably exercises its bail-in powers, the “... affected depositors will have the right to get compensation from the Resolution Corporation on an order of the National Company Law Tribunal” involves a decision concerning judiciousness and reasonableness which is outside the depositor’s control. Several questions arise at this point.

Even if the decision favours the depositor, would this apply to all the millions of depositors, how would they know the decision and demand compensation, what is the quantum and process of compensation, what is the depositor’s access to the RC and NCLT, how will the inevitable corruption in the compensation process be handled, etc.

Saying: “Most certainly, it [bail-in] will not be used in case of a public sector bank as such a contingency is not likely to arise”, containing the phrases “most certainly” and “not likely to arise” at the start and finish of the very esame sentence, bringing the “Don’t worry, I won’t shoot” message to mind. If the man with the bail-in ‘gun’ assures that he will not pull the trigger, what indeed is the need for the bail-in ‘gun’?

The statements: “The implicit guarantee for solvency of public sector banks remains unaffected as the government remains committed to adequately capitalise them and improve their financial health “(presumably by bail-out using tax-payers’ money) and also that bail-in “... will not be used in case of a public sector bank as such a contingency is not likely to arise”, do not create confidence, but on the other hand cause apprehension whether these are duplicitous statements.

In the FRDI Bill, "haircut" is one of the terms used concerning bail-in. It means a percentage reduction in the amount that is payable to the creditors (depositors) as a means of adjusting for losses due to non-recovery of NPAs. It is piquant that the word “hajamat” is Hindi for “haircut”, with the alternate meaning of fleecing somebody, with words or phrases carrying precisely the same double meaning in other Indian languages. The FRDI Bill does not inspire public confidence.

____________________________________________________________
AIM of the FRDI BILL: To provide for # the resolution of certain categories of financial service providers in distress; # the deposit insurance to consumers of certain categories of financial services; # designation of systemically important financial institutions; and # establishment of a Resolution Corporation for protection of consumers of specified service providers and of public funds for ensuring the stability and resilience of the financial system and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.

*********************

The bail-in clause in Sec 52 of the Financial Resolution and Deposit Insurance (FRDI) Bill, 2017, reads as follows:

52. (1) Notwithstanding anything in section 49, the Corporation may, in consultation with the appropriate regulator, if it is satisfied that it necessary to bail-in a specified service provider to absorb the losses incurred, or reasonably expected to be incurred, by the specified service provider and to provide a measure of capital so as to enable it to carry on business for a reasonable period and maintain market confidence, take an action under this section by a bail-in instrument or a scheme to be made under section 48.

(2) The bail-in instrument or scheme referred to in sub-section (1) shall be in such form and manner as may be specified by regulations made by the Corporation, and contain—

(a) a bail-in provision; or

(b) a provision for the purposes of or in connection with any bail-in provision made by that instrument or by another instrument.

(3) Subject to sub-section (5), a bail-in provision means any or a combination of the following, namely:—

(a) a provision cancelling a liability owed by a specified service provider;

(b) a provision modifying or changing the form of a liability owed by a specified service provider; and

(c) a provision that a contract or agreement under which a specified service provider has a liability shall have effect as if a specified right had been exercised under it.

(4) The Corporation shall, by regulations, specify the liabilities or classes of liabilities of a specified service provider, which may be subject to bail-in.

(5) The appropriate regulator may, in consultation with the Corporation, require specified service providers or classes of specified service providers to maintain liabilities that may be subject to bail-in and the terms and conditions for such liabilities to contain a provision to the effect that such liabilities are subject to bail-in.

(6) In addition to the actions laid down in sub-section (3), the Corporation may, in consultation with the appropriate regulator, take the following actions in respect of a central counterparty, namely:—

(a) direct the haircutting of the collaterals and margins;

(b) direct the issuance of equity to the creditors.

Explanation.—For the purposes of this sub-section, “haircut” shall have the same meaning as assigned to it in section 44.

(7) The bail-in instrument or scheme under this section shall not affect—

(a) any liability owed by a specified service provider to the depositors to the extent such deposits are covered by deposit insurance;

(b) any liability that the specified service provider has by virtue of holding client assets.

Explanation.—In this clause, the expression, “client assets” shall include such assets as may be specified by regulations made by the appropriate regulator;

(c) any liability of original maturities upto seven days;

(d) any obligation to a central counter party;

(e) any liability, so far as it is secured;

(f) any liability owed to employees or workmen including pension liabilities of the specified service provider except for liabilities designated as performance based incentive under section 51;

(g) any transaction covered under section 47; and

(h) such other liabilities as may be specified by regulations made by the appropriate regulator in consultation with the Corporation and the Central Government.

(8) The Corporation shall forward the bail-in instrument made under this section to the Central Government together with a report in such form and manner as may be prescribed, which shall contain—

(a) the reasons why a bail-in instrument under this section was made;

(b) the effect of the bail-in instrument; and

(c) the deviations, if any, from the requirements of sub-section (3) and the reasons therefor.

(9) A copy of the report received under sub-section (8) shall, as soon as may be after it is received by the Central Government, be laid before each House of Parliament.

(10) The provisions of sub-sections (3) and (6) of section 49 shall apply, mutatis mutandis, to the bail-in instrument or scheme under this section.

Major General S.G. Vombatkere, VSM, retired as Additional DG Discipline & Vigilance in Army HQ AG's Branch. His area of interest is strategic and development-related issues.

THE TIMES OF INDIA

January 6. 2018

BJP’s ARTFUL ILLUSION

By

Pavan K. Varma

A word that has gained increasing currency in recent times is ‘fringe’. Every excess, outlandish statement, aberration, deviation, derogation from the law, or arbitrary act of violence, is ascribed to the ‘fringe’. This fringe is distinguished from the ‘mainstream’. The aim is to portray the fringe as the extreme, and, by contrast, the mainstream as its opposite.

But it is now becoming increasingly clear that the categorical divide between the two is artificial and expedient. Indeed the two are not different entities. A fringe has an organic connection to the mainstream because, after all, without the mainstream there cannot be a fringe. And if it is from the mainstream that the fringe derives its strength, then the difference between the two becomes only a matter of convenience.

Let us test this thesis against some recent examples. In December 2014, Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, a minister in the central government, made the atrocious remark about ‘ramzadon and haraamzadon’. Obviously, she represented the fringe, because Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s lofty slogan on assuming power was ‘sabka saath, sabka vikas’. His approach was the mainstream, and the Sadhvi’s comment was the loony fringe. But when only a perfunctory apology was sought from her by the PM, and she was not even asked to resign, one is entitled to ask who was the fringe, and who the mainstream?

The raging controversy about the film Padmavati offers another good example. The Rajput Karni Seva, described as a fringe group, demanded a ban on the film because it ‘distorted history’. Consequently, it openly resorted to violence, the issuance of threats, including beheadings of the film crew, and payments of vast amounts to those who would kill the director, Sanjay Leela Bhansali, and cut off the nose of Deepika Padukone. But, it was soon apparent that the Karni Sena fringe had substantial support from the mainstream.

Suraj Pal Amu, who held the responsible post of BJP’s chief media coordinator in Haryana, openly doubled the bounty – to Rs 10 crore – for eliminating Deepika and Bhansali. Rajasthan chief minister weighed in to say that no community’s sentiments should be hurt. And, in an unprecedented move, even before the designated authority, the Central Board of Film Certification, could pronounce its verdict, five BJP ruled states, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, UP, Rajasthan and Bihar banned the film!

Sangeet Som, a two-time BJP MLA, made the outrageous comment in October 2017 that the iconic Taj Mahal is a blot on India’s history. Obviously the assumption would be that his is an insane voice from the fringe. But his comments were subsequently endorsed by Vinay Katiyar, who has been the national general secretary of BJP and three times member of the Lok Sabha.

What is worse, GVL Rao, the national spokesperson of BJP, while disagreeing perfunctorily with Som, proclaimed the mainstream view in a generalised indictment of epic proportions: “The period of Islamic rule – around 800 years – was a period of extreme exploitation, insane barbarism, and unprecedented intolerance.” Ergo, the fringe and the mainstream were identical.

The umbilical cord between the fringe and the mainstream is both transparent and verifiable. If the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, one of the larger affiliates of the Sangh Parivar, makes a clarion call for India to become an exclusive ‘Hindu rashtra’, it is the fringe. But if a Union minister, Anant Kumar Hegde, said last month that BJP is here to change the Constitution to rid it of the word ‘secular’, is he fringe or mainstream?

Sakshi Maharaj, who had once said that Nathuram Godse’s martyrdom should be commemorated, is definitely the fringe. In September 2017 he announced that couples who indulge in ‘vulgar behaviour’, (read being physically affectionate in public), instigate rape.

But his statement had the support of Manohar Lal Khattar, no less than the chief minister of Haryana, who said in 2014: “If a girl is dressed decently, a boy will not look at her in the wrong way.” When queried about whether girls should have freedom of choice, he reportedly retorted: “If they want freedom, why don’t they roam around naked?”

Dina Nath Batra, and his unverified assertions that ancient India – for all its creditworthy achievements – had achieved everything that science has discovered today, is definitely the fringe. But, no less a person than PM Modi, echoed what Batra said when in October 2014 in Mumbai, he claimed that the manner of the birth of Karna in the Mahabharata, and Ganeshji’s adorable form with an elephant head, showed the existence of advanced genetic science and plastic surgery in ancient India. Is Batra the fringe, or is he the mainstream?

In April 2017, Pehlu Khan was carrying cattle for his dairy farm in Nuh, for which he had a valid licence. He was lynched in full public view, by a mob of cattle vigilantes. In spite of substantial evidence to nail the culprits, they were all let off. Was the Rajasthan government the fringe or the mainstream?

The truth is there are no such distinctions. The fringe reinforces the mainstream, and the mainstream nurtures the fringe. They are two sides of the same coin. One should have no illusions on this score