:: Kishwar Desai

Our theatre of the absurd

Kishwar Desai

Augest.08 : Back in Goa. Perhaps, one’s mind should have been on the rain and the fabulous weather — but with Buta Singh’s Sach Ka Saamna, and the fragile Sweetie Baba’s antics engrossing us, it has been difficult to drown all our sorrows in narial pani. One wonders what it is that poor Buta Singh did that finally made all his misdeeds catch up with him: suddenly we have been inundated with information about the number of shoes he polished in 1984, the various income tax cases against him, etc etc. Was this backlash only because Sweetie Baba allegedly tried to make a quick buck? Or, more importantly, was it because someone somewhere was very displeased with Messrs Buta, Sweetie and, maybe, Lovely. It does not take rocket science to figure out who that all-powerful person could be. Besides, this is not a good time to be seen to be ripping off the poor, the dalits or the dispossessed. Not because most of our dear leaders really care about the poor, the dalits or the dispossessed, but because there are elections round the corner in Maharashtra and other states.

Yet, this selective anger is reserved only for those who are politically expedient. For the others who are much needed by the powers that be, many sins are forgiven. The recent furore in Jammu and Kashmir over the "sex scandal" in which the chief minister was alleged to have been involved, is a case in point. The over-riding issue should have been that the "sex scandal" has never been properly investigated nor have the details been properly revealed to us, the taxpayers, who pay the salaries of all these ministers and chief ministers. The fact that the chief minister’s name was being bandied about in the Assembly as being one of the accused is merely an outcome of the disinformation which routinely surrounds high-profile cases.

Had there been a transparent inquiry and less effort to hush it all up, it would have been impossible for anyone to level a false accusation at the chief minister. Since the various political parties involved are either present or former allies, it is quite apparent that all the major players would have been more keen to bury the "sex scandal" than they would care to admit to us. And, therefore, it is imperative that we learn the details of the case soon, with the CM promising a quick and thorough inquiry, rather than receiving a thumbs up from everyone, including the home minister. We, however, got totally diverted by the theatrical resignation of Omar Abdullah — and forgot the real issues at stake.

Unsurprisingly and shockingly, most of the time was spent in persuading the chief minister, who has been gaffe prone since he took over, to stay on, rather than asking the important question — why the true story behind the "sex scandal" has not been allowed to surface? Should a chief minister, who does not have the power to reveal to us what exactly the "sex scandal" case is all about, remain the chief minister? Do good looks and good breeding, as Mr Abdullah undoubtedly possesses, give immunity from rigorously honest behaviour in this madly-telegenic world?

After all, this is a story which has the potential to still shake up the administration. Kashmir has been, for far too long, ruled from behind an iron curtain — the Parliament furore was an indication that it is time to change to a more transparent system. There are enough hints and "revelations" for us to understand that this story involved the abuse of young girls — and probably would be shocking enough to end the careers of many in power.

The suspicion is that if this "sex scandal" had the whiff of communalism, it would have led to all kinds of human rights activists baying for the blood of the predators. If some third-rate celebrity had been involved, there would have been websites all over piling on censorious comments, as well as candlelight vigils. But because it reeks merely of the sordid exploitation of ordinary women and innocent young girls by other women and men, because it smells of cruelty of a powerful ruling class over the young and the defenceless — who cares? There are no bleeding hearts volunteering to fight for the truth in this story — because this will be a thankless job. It will not get anyone any cushy government sinecures. Sex workers are hardly a traditional votebank. The enemy in this may turn out to be members of the government, and that will be dangerous for us: we would rather support a corrupt but secular government, than any other alternative. Unlike a communal riot, where we can always name and shame the "enemy", this time the foe will be difficult to confront.

Sadly, the men and women running the sex-abuse racket probably destroyed hundreds of young lives. But, according to media reports, while the case is still "under investigation" eight years later, the file which had detailed confessions by some of the alleged sex workers and a man who was involved, has already been lost. Sabina (who has now changed her name to Mehnaz), allegedly the woman at the centre of the scandal, roams free. Yet the records of Sabina’s cellphone had apparently revealed links to politicians, police and security officers. Ironically, the fact that she appeared to enjoy powerful patronage means that she is now immune to punishment. Even the organised alleged horrific rape of a minor, in which high officials in the government were involved, was not enough to move the then coalition government to take action.

The problem it seems was that the fallout could be extreme. Therefore the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which had taken over the case, was allegedly ordered to go slow. In our topsy turvy world, unlike the poor defenceless girls whose lives had been destroyed, the lives of the sexual predators themselves had to be protected because they were all far too important.

It is an ironical situation that when the issue was raised in the Jammu and Kashmir Vidhan Sabha, the uproar was over the fact that the CM had been named in the case.

And like all the other suspects, he too was outraged at the attack on his modesty. There was no regret or apology, however, about the unpunished attacks on the young victims of the sex abuse scandal.

Therefore, I assume that we can only hope (as in the case of Buta Singh) that once the favoured partners and members of the present government have fallen foul of each other, we will finally learn the truth of what happened in the sex abuse scandal. Think of the rigmarole even over the Scarlet Keeling case. It will take at least 20 years to unravel… if we are lucky.

The writer can be contacted at kishwardesai@yahoo.com