ISLAMABAD – Barkha Dutt, the renowned television journalist’s “This UnquietLand: Stories from India’s Fault Lines” is a firsthand account of “the realIndia”. Ms. Dutt’s bold and incisive exposé of India’s fault lines isidentified from her quarter century career in television journalism.Journalists have a front row view of history; their description maybecoloured by their biases, the impact of the unfolding events or influenceof the celebrities they have rubbed shoulders with.
Hailing from a privileged class, Barkha Dutt is cognizant of the advantageshe had, but instead of being impressed by the glitterati, glamour orimpact of The Gandhis, Yadavs, Narendra Modi, the Obamas, the Clintons,Nawaz Sharif, Kejriwal and a host of other political bigwigs, mentioned inher book, she focuses on the “nobodies of India, the people who are on theoutside looking in on the political tamasha (drama) in the country, withreligion and caste distinctions forming the backdrop.
This Unquiet Land reveals the ugly face of India, where women are deniedtheir rights, lower class is trampled by “superior” Brahmins and Hindutvaprevails over power politics and rampant corruption stunt’s growth despitetall claims by its politicians.
Quoting personal examples from how she was castigated by her own colleaguesapparently on the payroll of the Establishment and Government functionariesfor revealing ugly facts while covering the 1999 Kargil War.Ms. Dutt minces no words when she lifts the shroud from the naked fact ofthe use of unconstitutional violence by India’s Deep State.
Critically describing her own maiden experience of covering the GujaratRiots, she concludes that Hindutva was operating on an alienating agenda.To prove her point, she reasons that the triumph of the political wing ofthe extremist centre of power Sangh Parivar‘s radical political face theBJP emanates from the 1992 December demolition of the Babri Mosque.
The heinous act of a frenzied mob razing to ground a historical Muslimplace of worship led to the rise of the fringe elements and Hindu Mob whowould not stop at anything.The writer censures the Indian strategy to counter the Naxalite Movement byits alienated population through coercive measures like the formation ofSalwa Judum—private militia of locals, which proved counterproductive (page107).
While dwelling on women’s issues, the denial of equal opportunities forwomen, she touches a raw nerve when she divulges that even the educated andwell off women are victim of harassment and abuse. She ironically chastisesthe Indian Judicial system, quoting an incident on page 7 of her bookwhere, steeped in illusions of grandeur of the upper class and bias againstwomen, no relief was provided to a low caste rape victim.
When the woman went to court against her culprits the judge acquitted theaccused on the basis, “An upper caste man would not rape someone of a castehe considered untouchable”. So, there is no respite for Indian women evenin the legal system of so-called democratic and secular state.The author discloses that the caste system of Indian society is so deeprooted and intact that even economic status and education do notsignificantly change the plight of lower castes.
While dwelling upon women issues in her hard hitting book, Ms. Dutt revealsthat women trafficking is rampant in India. According to the Ministry ofHome Affairs, there were nearly 5,000 reported victims of sexualtrafficking in India in 2013 alone (page 21). Female infanticide is acommon practice. According to 2006 UN report everyday 7,000 baby girls wereaborted or killed right after birth in India (page 4). Apart from othercrimes against women, acid throwing, honour killings and dowry deaths arealso very common in India.
Upholding the principles of objective journalism, the author is not afraidto expose the links between the rise of Hindu terrorism, quoting incidentssuch as Samjhauta Express Blasts 2007 and Malegaon blasts 2008, where RSSSwami Aseemanand and Lieutenant Colonel Shrikant Purohit were involved(page 97).Her ire is not directed against the BJP alone as she finds the IndianCongress to have colluded with state police to unleash the 1984 riots (page115). Miss Dutt opines that the two pogroms of 1984 (anti Sikh) and 2002(anti Muslim) although orchestrated by different political parties weresimilar.
Both were methodical in their madness while masquerading as spontaneousexpression of violence (page 117). In the chapter “A Society in Flux”, thewriter elucidates that seven out of ten households in India remain ruraland live on less than Rs. 200 a day (page 271). India is home to more poorpeople than anywhere else in the world. One third of the world’s poorest1.2 billion people live in India where 1.4 million children die beforetheir fifth birthday (page 290).
The epilogue concludes with a shocking incident from September 2015, whichpoints to emerging fault lines that can create fissures in the fabric ofsecular India, historically famed for its tolerance. This refers to Dadri,(Uttar Pradesh) where a Muslim man was brutally battered to death and hisson’s skull was cracked open, by a lynch mob, on the mere suspicion thatthey had stored beef in their home, egged on by announcements from thelocal temple.
India’s pretensions to favouring freedom of speech receives a serious blowbecause Ms. Dutt’s book has been trolled, ridiculed and criticized by Hinduextremists and RAW agents in the garb of opinion builders.
Sultan M Hali —The writer is retired PAF Group Captain and a TV talk showhost.