#kathua

OLD MAP OF JAMMU AND KASHMIR

This week, two cases of rape and murder — one of a shepherd girl in Kathua in Jammu and Kashmir, the other in Unnao, in India’s most populous state, Uttar Pradesh — have been moments of acute national shame. They have proved how the powerful conspire to enable and protect sexual abusers. Worse, they have exposed the ugliest underbelly of India. Political and societal responses to these charges of rape have revealed entrenched misogyny, religious hatred and a shameful class bias. They have held up a mirror to the worst in us. The silence of the top women ministers in the Modi cabinet on both the Kathua and the Unnao cases has been disturbing, and only undermines their track record as trailblazers. Women hold key portfolios of defense, foreign affairs, and information and broadcasting, among others. But what good are these path-breaking positions of authority if the women don’t speak for female victims of violence and abuse? Not that men shouldn’t lead by example. In 2012, the Nirbhaya gang rape in Delhi raised similar questions about whether it made any difference that a female politician governed Delhi and that the then-ruling party — the Congress — was helmed by a woman.Finally, we must reflect on our own responses. Sure, Indians are angry. We are tweeting furiously and writing posts on Facebook. But our class bias, especially in the media, has been unveiled. The Delhi rape of 2012 was close to the bone; it could have been any one of us or those who watched and read us. So the coverage that case got was instantaneous and intense. It has taken months for these cases to get to prime time. And even so, how many of us will move beyond our keyboards and spill over onto the streets — as we did for Nirbhaya?Kathua and Unnao are now known not just nationally but internationally. And yet, some will complain about this column appearing in a “foreign” newspaper. How “anti-national,” I will be told on social media by people missing the irony. These Hindu “nationalists” who spoke for accused rapists have shamed India, our constitution and, of course, Hinduism.

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As per media reports coing in , The gunfight took place at Kahog village of Billawar this evening when security forces launched a search operation following information about the presence of two to three terrorists, they said. Read More....