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Journalism of Courage
In the last few weeks, we have been subjected to news and views about three reports, which although apparently unrelated are actually interlinked. The first was the news report on how a bride-to-be, Nisha Sharma, defied her dowry-seeking groom-to-be and his family and walked away from the mandap. This was followed by instances of other brave young women following suit.
The second was the debate on whether engineers and doctors should be allowed to compete in the 8216;8216;prestigious8217;8217; Indian Administrative Services IAS entrance tests.
With our future administrators who are eager to 8216;8216;serve the country8217;8217; up for sale to the highest bidder, it is not surprising that the obnoxious practice of dowry continues unabated even four decades after the stringent anti-dowry law was enacted and a widespread social campaign launched. Despite the tough law, women continue to be battered, brutalised and burnt 8212; all the dowry8217;s sake. What is more, the number of dowry deaths has risen from about 2,500 a decade ago to 7,000. This is not taking into account the several other cases of humiliation, harassment and homicide which go unreported in a community, which is as obsessed with marriage as it is with dowry.
Dowry, besides being a huge albatross around the neck of the girl8217;s parents, desecrates the very concept of womanhood 8212; the life giver. Still, the practice enjoys a kind of sanctity difficult to explain in logical terms. Even an educated woman with a well-paid job wants her parents to marry her off with a handsome dowry, making marriage nothing more than a barter. She becomes party to the evil, seduced into believing that a dowry with buy her marital peace and happiness.
So how does one tackle such a deep-rooted socio-economic menace? The best way, probably, would be to to tackle the unrestrained greed in society, starting with the members of the 8216;8216;prestigious8217;8217; civil services. It is highly disturbing to learn about the lifestyles of some young entrants in the civil services, particularly those in the IAS, IPS and IRS cadre, who have received huge dowries by putting themselves on the bidding block. How can one expect them to adhere to the basic tenets of simplicity and probity in public life? They have to perforce indulge in corruption and misappropriation if they are to continue with their dowry-induced lavish lifestyles. Becoming puppets, and even partners in the political skull-drudgery and public loot, is the obvious next step.
It is worthwhile to note that it is these very 1AS and IPS officers who are charged with the responsibility of enforcing the 8216;8216;stringent anti-dowry law8217;8217;. How can they do that when they themselves are guilty of the crime of receiving huge dowries, often through coercion and extortion? Their high price tag prompts questions about the real reason why doctors and engineers too want to join the IAS. Do they really want to 8216;8216;serve the country8217;8217; or do they want to make a killing in the marriage market? Instead of debating whether a particular profession should be debarred from competing in the civil services exam, it would be wiser, and more effective, to debar those who extort dowry from coming anywhere near these services.
Over the years, Civil Service cadre managers have miserably failed to eliminate this evil among budding civil servants. Some of them even seem to have colluded in this criminal practice. How else does one explain the fact that the lounge of the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration at Mussoorie is used as a 8216;8216;broker-house8217;8217; for 8216;8216;establishing alliances8217;8217;? And this despicable practice, going on for several decades, is accelerating by the year.
The fence of civil services, meant to protect the social fabric, is eating into its vitals. Unless they are ruthlessly dealt with, no amount of legal provisions or social reforms can ever eliminate this obnoxious evil called dowry.
The writer is a former IAS officer
