Editor,
Looking at the scenario of the present society, the structure and values of the family have degenerated due to the growing number of separated families. Abuse based on gender has never been a stranger to us and has been better identified with the victims being isolated. Previously, domestic violence was a private family affair, but is now viewed as a social issue due to the increasing number of cases that have been recorded. Domestic violence has often been studied as an abusive expression triggered by financial stress, mental stress and fear which has given rise to cases of financial abuse and sometimes even murder.
According to the National Family Health Survey, Meghalaya has the highest rate of domestic violence in the North Eastern region of India. Countering the notion that violence against women was not an issue in the matrilineal society of Meghalaya, Angela Rangad, a member of the Freedom Project, said that the state had the highest rate of domestic violence in the region, where 32% of married women interviewed admitted to have been beaten or physically maltreated. In addition, studies have also shown that one in four women will experience domestic violence in their lifetime. The risk of domestic violence affects not only victims but also their families and children, as children are exposed to violence and are eyewitnesses to abuse.
Domestic violence is not easy to identify at first; abuse often begins subtly and gets worse over time. It is extremely difficult to detect and prove domestic violence, as most victims cannot share or open up because they are under threat. Domestic violence is identified when the abusers believe that they have every right to control their partners for every detail and also their movements. The main objective of the abusers is to exercise control over their partners. So how can the victim get help? When one encounters or experiences violence, one should seek help, as there are counselling centres and support groups in different communities for women in abusive relationships.
In the last two to three years, the Family Counselling Centre has recorded quite a number of cases of domestic violence, and it seemed to be increasing with each passing year. Although women in Meghalaya enjoy a little more mobility and visibility than their counterparts in the rest of the country, their lives are not free from violence, as counsellors have come across women who have experienced violence at home. After a long conversation, the woman expresses feelings of shame, worry, frustration, embarrassment, and it takes her a long time to say what she had gone through. She is supposed to carry this burden with her until she can no longer tolerate the abuse. Only then she decides to seek professional assistance.”
The Women’s Security Policies that we have already put in place have had little impact. While most of the reforms are underway, there are a number of issues, such as micro- aggressions, marital rape, which do not even have separate provisions to be addressed. The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 reached out to some women, but was largely flawed by an exhausting procedure and a non-uniform protocol for service providers that the victim has to go through. Due to this lack of seriousness, the majority of systemic measures related to gender-based discrimination has received little attention.
While the more overlooked aspects are still at issue, the Bosco Integrated Development Society has set up a Family Counselling Centre, sponsored by the Central Social Welfare Board, New Delhi under the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development and currently monitored by the Meghalaya State Social Welfare Board to combat violence and trauma through counselling to individuals who have experienced it so that they can reach out until the problem is resolved. In addition to providing guidance, the Centre also serves as a service provider under the Domestic Violence Act, 2005 to resolve family disputes and restore conjugal life through mutual understanding, as well as to serve all women victims of atrocities.
Since its inception, the Family Counselling Centre has been able to meet the needs of women by providing counselling assistance to victims of domestic violence, or to any individual facing family disputes, with a marital maladjustment problem. By providing guidance, the centre is able to help the individual cope with their problems and bring about positive changes in their lives.
Yours etc.,
Name withheld on request,
Shillong
Mamata’s injured ankle
Editor,
On Wednesday, March 10 after filing nomination for contesting the Assembly election from Nandigram on her way back to Kolkata Mamata Banerjee met with an accident. In a statement she said that she made a short stop-over at Birulia Bazar, Nandigram for interacting with the local villagers but she was ‘heckled’ by goons and suffered severe left leg injuries while getting into her car after her public interaction. Her security guards rushed to help her get into the back seat of her vehicle. Banerjee informed her guards that she suffered severe leg injury and also complained of chest pain. She further claimed that the attack was a premeditated and a well- hatched conspiracy to kill her. She complained that there were no policemen around her and a couple of men from the crowd pushed the door of her car and left her badly injured.
Later Banerjee changed her statement from PG hospital. She said her leg was caught between the swing door and the body of the car while hurriedly closing the door. There was no CCTV coverage to prove that miscreants attacked her. Eye witnesses also denied any such attack. They confirmed that her car hit an electric post when the incident occurred inflicting injury to her ankle.
The incident has raised serious questions about the safety of Banerjee. It also raises doubts as to how the crowd came so close to her and why police failed to control the crowd. It is also unclear why Banerjee occupies the front seat of the vehicle on her outstation tours thereby breaching protocols expected to be strictly maintained by a VVIP. Also what made her stop at an unscheduled location? No VVIP with Z+ security has a record of ever breaching protocol as Banerjee does. In the preliminary investigation report the police and state administration discounted the attack theory and termed the incident an accident.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) took stern action and suspended the top cops in-charge of Banerjee’s security. The ECI also dismissed the allegation of attack on her. Thereafter the state administration had to toe the same line. In fact this is also a glaring failure of Mamata Banerjee as the Home Minister of West Bengal.
Prashant Kishore, appointed by the TMC is an election strategist to help the Party win the 2021 West Bengal Assembly polls. Kishore had earlier scripted a similar plot for Jagan Mohan Reddy in the last Assembly Election of Andhra Pradesh. As directed by Kishore, Jagan Reddy played his role perfectly, inflicted a leg injury, was hospitalized and discharged with a bandaged-foot. He campaigned in a wheel-chair and received huge publicity. Mamata is emulating the same script as prescribed by Prashant Kishore to win the polls!
But history repeats itself. The anti- land acquisition movement led by Suvendu in Nandigram in 2007 had catapulted Mamata Banerjee to power in 2011 by defeating the longest-serving democratically elected communist regime of the world. This time a battle of titans is on the cards as Mamata takes on Suvendu in Nandigram. as an incident and not an attack on Mamata Banerjee. Time will tell whether Mamata’s injured ankle would prove to be Suvendu Adhikari’s “Achilles heel” in the elections after a dramatic “wheel-chair” campaign!
Yours etc.,
Samares Bandyopadhyay,
Via email