Daily Times

The awakening in Indian society is very much visible to outsiders. Movies that have abandoned love stories and action thrillers in favour of highlighting social problems, cases of the public exercising the right to information, social activism to bring powerful culprits to justice, public protests to force authorities to take action such as in the Delhi rape case, and TV shows like Satyamev Jayate hosted by Bollywood actor Aamir Khan all indicate that a virtuous circle has been set into motion. Change is being driven from the grassroots and catalysed by the media. This wave of introspection and awareness highlights the stark differences between India and Pakistan.

The most recent manifestation of public activism in India concerned cases of sexual violence against women. Despite the spontaneous expression of public outrage throughout India at the gang-rape of a 23-year-old student in Delhi, commentators, women’s rights activists and even ordinary people feel that little has changed in the daily experiences of women. It is true that all pillars of the state, the executive, legislature and judiciary were forced to respond with stricter laws and improved procedures governing sexual violence in the face of public pressure, but these have proved insufficient to stop such incidents.

The media have continued to report horrendous incidents of sexual violence in various parts of India since the Delhi case. In August, a photojournalist was subjected to gang-rape in Mumbai. The dust had not settled on this case when the media spotlight shifted to the arrest of an influential spiritual leader Asaram Bapu who has been accused of raping a 16-year-old girl at his ashram.

These incidents make one feel that nothing has changed and that geographical, religious, caste and political considerations continue to play into how the police, media and state administrations would respond to these happenings, but the fact that ordinary people have risen to say enough is enough should not be dismissed lightly. Intense scrutiny of relevant laws and the justice system have brought significant changes in the way these cases are addressed. Numerous women have volunteered to share their stories of harassment through the media. This expression of public anger is not a one-off incident, nor confined to cases of sexual violence. In the past, people have organised to force the justice system to apprehend influential culprits.

One of the more notable examples was the case of Jessica Lal, who was shot dead by the son of a wealthy businessman and parliamentarian in the presence of several witnesses in New Delhi. When the murderer was acquitted by a court seven years later in 2006, intense media and public pressure caused the prosecution to appeal against the acquittal. The Delhi High Court put the case on a fast track and gave a verdict within 25 days, overturning the verdict of the lower court. The murderer is now serving a life sentence.

There have been numerous lesser-known cases of public activism and timely official response where the principles of justice were upheld and powerful individuals and interests were defeated. A number of TV serials have dramatised real cases in which criminals were finally brought to book. Crime Patrol and Saavdhan India are two such high quality productions that use recently resolved cases to create public awareness. This effort at creating awareness is visible in a number of other productions. For instance, the very well researched programme Satyamev Jayate hosted by Aamir Khan highlighted sensitive social issues such as child sexual abuse, female foeticide, honour killings, domestic violence, alcoholism, etc, and received a very positive response from public figures and the general audience.

Sexual harassment and other social problems are as common on our side of the border as they are in India. Almost every second girl that grew up in Pakistan could narrate to you an incident of harrassment ranging from staring, groping, to rape and incest. But there is deep silence surrounding these issues. Cases of rape are not even reported. Those girls and women that have had the courage to fight back have found little support from the government and law enforcement agencies. The public is indifferent at best, and participates in the victimisation of survivors at worst. The media has yet to outgrow the mindset of blaming the victim for what happened to them. It has yet to embrace the fact that a woman’s dress, behaviour, or presence in a public space at a certain hour does not entitle a man to violate her.

India has solidified into a democracy where different sections of society have found ways to voice their concerns and be counted. Pakistan, on the other hand, is taking baby steps towards creating and strengthening democratic structures. Two recent examples of the Pakistani public’s outpouring of emotions that signified an evolution were resistance to General Pervez Musharraf’s action of deposing the Chief Justice of Pakistan and condemnation of the shooting of the child activist Malala Yousafzai. While the movement for the restoration of the judiciary met its objectives, sympathy for Malala Yusafzai got quickly mired in controversy because it hurt deeply entrenched forces that would like to preserve militant groups as proxies of the state.

India and Pakistan achieved independence from the British Raj at the same time but subsequently trod different paths. While India has achieved political maturity, economic progress, diplomatic successes, tremendous reserves of soft power, and is undergoing a renaissance, Pakistan has regressed.

The writer is a freelance journalist based in Washington, DC. She tweets at @ishrats and can be reached at isaleem@syr.edu